Peace Messenger

The Cross and King's Commitment to Nonviolence

Martin Luther King, Jr's convictions about the cross of Jesus were "the source of his absolute commitment to nonviolence," explains theologian James H. Cone, in this excerpt from his superb study, Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare, first published twenty years ago:

Justice, love and hope -- these three themes shaped the heart of King's faith and theology.  Each theme must be interpreted in the light of the other two, and all three must be defined in the light of Jesus' suffering and death on the cross.  The centraility of the cross for King's faith was what separated him from liberal theology and placed him solidly in the heart of the black religious tradition....For him the cross of Jesus was not primarily a religious idea to be explicated in a theological text or proclaimed in a sermon, or even something one summoned in Sunday worship so as "to get right with God." "The cross is an eternal expression of the length to which God is willing to go to restore broken communities," King proclaimed in a sermon at Dexter Baptist Church....

Awash in Violence

LaVonne Neff comments on the "Violent Stories That Change Us for the Worse," at the God's Politics blog:

A public figure is shot. School children are shot. A building explodes. A package explodes. And immediately we look for someone or something to blame: Republicans? The Tea Party? Democrats? Muslims? The National Rifle Association? White Supremacists? The devil? Mental illness?

The sad fact is that all of us are awash in violence....

[M]ost of us voluntarily surround ourselves — and our children — with metaphors far more potent and pervasive than anything ever produced by a political committee.... full text

LaVonne Neff also blogs at Lively Dust and the Neff Review.

Why Adventists Should Be at the Forefront of Interfaith Peacemaking

Skye Jethani makes a powerful case on the "Religion" page of The Huffington Post that evangelical Christians should help lead the way in interfaith cooperation.  Adventists, as much or more than any group, need to hear his message, and if we were to heed it, we would be building on a sometimes-overlooked but authentic strand of our heritage.

Time to End the Counterproductive, Military-first Strategy

From a statement by Congresswoman Barbara Lee:

In response to reports that an additional 1,400 US troops will be deployed to Afghanistan in the coming weeks, I must state that I categorically oppose a further escalation of the US troop presence in Afghanistan.

In 2001, I placed the lone vote against the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force in Afghanistan because I believed that it might pave the way to open-ended war.

Unfortunately, each week brings additional news that my worst fears have been realized.

This action will further entrench the United States Armed Forces in Afghanistan on the false premise of a military-first strategy that has consistently proven itself ineffective and counterproductive....

As we enter the 112th Congress, we must make it a top priority to end this war.