THE IDEOLOGY OF PEACE

THE IDEOLOGY OF PEACE ~ 20 ~ with cowardice. They thought that there was everything to be gained by violence, but that peaceful methods would bring them nothing. This misapprehension caused them to think that violence meant advancement, and peace meant regression. In other words they had an ‘ideology’ of violence, but no ideology of peace. Yet they became convinced by my arguments that there was no real ideology in favour of violence, and that positive ideology was only in favour of peace, in the real sense. Furthermore, the realization dawned on them that the violent course of action which they had taken in order to advance their own interests was ultimately suicidal, while the peaceful course of action which they had thought unproductive was, in fact, the true path to advancement. After this intellectual discovery, their lives underwent a transformation. From being violent activists, they turned into peaceful activists. Indeed, in various parts of the world, there are a great number of youths who, after becoming fully aware of the truth of this matter, have abandoned violence in favour of engaging their energies in peaceful