A just and sustainable peace

In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. writes that he is fed up with the

...white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action;" who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season."

King's frustration and disappointment with white moderates is palpable and still resonates with many of us today. The oppressed and neglected communities throughout the world are still imprisoned, still waiting for their white moderates to do more than agree to the principles of a resolution and to actually take steps towards realizing them. But so often, the moderates of the world community tell the oppressed to wait just a little bit longer, to not be so reactionary, to let things happen according to dominate society's timetable and in accordance with their sensibilities. It is easy to tell the hungry to wait when you yourself are full.

In his letter, King challenges the moderates to look beyond simply establishing order and to immersing themselves in justice. Implicit in his juxtaposition is the idea that justice is not orderly and that peace must be more than just the absence of war. Peace is an active, messy process of building ties, seeking justice, and extending active, stubborn mercy. Sometimes in order to strengthen those who have been denied access, those of privileged have to live with a bit of chaos and relinquish a tinge of control. Sometimes we must invite a bit of disorder in to break free of institutionalized and fossilized inequalities.

In doing so, in opening ourselves up to change, we must never forget the purpose of our mission. If we seek only negative peace, i.e. the absence of destruction, then our efforts will ultimately not be sustainable nor satisfying. But if we seek positive peace, i.e. the creation of a new order based in mutual justice and cooperation, then a self-perpetuating peace can be established and nurtured. To tend to the garden, we can mow down the weeds. But they will simply grow back. We can tear the weeds out by the roots. But the seeds have already been spread. Or we can change the nature of the soil, make it inhospitable to weeds. Plant new flowers and grasses to crowd out the weeds. Ultimately, the choice is not either-or. It is through some combination of these that the garden is ultimately sustained: remove the threats and change the context.

Gordon Bennet writes that positive peace-building "involves helping nations develop more just and democratic systems in which poverty, illiteracy, and other root causes of terrorism and conflict are eliminated and the poorer nations are given a 'hand up' the ladders of economic development." This path is more complex, time consuming, and (seemingly) more prone to failure than negative peace. Negative peace is relatively easier - take away the bombs, the guns, the knives and presto change-o, we have peace!

But true peace is not the absence of struggle. Rather it is the presence of perpetual struggle, struggle to join with others, to lift up and be lifted up, to prosper and grow, and there's no better time to get our hands dirty and to start planting the seeds and irrigating our minds and hearts than now.