THE IDEOLOGY OF PEACE

THE IDEOLOGY OF PEACE ~ 18 ~ This shows that violence is in no need of any ideology. Violence flares up, or can flare up on its own. But, so far as peace is concerned, it is a course that we adopt by choice. One has to make oneself intentionally peace-loving. That is, while violence occurs on its own, restoring a state of peace requires a positive and determined struggle. Willingness to keep the peace—a matter of conscious decision-making—is a noble human quality. For peace, man has to curb his anger and be forgiving. He has to control his feelings of hatred and project feelings of love for others. If peace is to be maintained, negative thinking has to be suppressed and replaced with positive thinking. For peace to be a reality, he has to be a well-wisher rather than an ill-intentioned person. For violence to erupt, provocation is enough, while for peace to prevail, man has to nullify provocation with moderation and restraint. In the use of violence, man simply follows his basic instincts, while to promote peace, man has to give himself a complete moral overhaul. Only after such