TOWARDS GLOBAL PEACE

A peace-loving person ignores problems and avails of opportunities, while a violent person leaves opportunities untapped and remains locked in a futile struggle with problems. While an act of peace causes the orchard of love and well-wishing to blossom, an act of violence sows the seeds for a whole jungle of enmity and hatred. The culture of peace is, in short, the culture of goodness, while the culture of violence is the culture of evil. In peace, God’s rights as well as human rights are honoured. Where violence reigns, human rights as well God’s rights are violated. If peace is paradise, violence is hell. Where the opposite courses of peace and war are open to man, peace is the true choice for him. War is only a proof that he has made the wrong choice. That is a test in which he has failed. The truth is that war and violence are in no way valid options for any individual, community or nation. Although many allurements exist in this world, they are there purely to put man to the test. They are not something desirable for man. For instance, alcohol is available, but it does not exist for man’s consumption. It is there rather for man to refrain from indulging in it and thus prove his ability to distinguish between good and bad. It is a temptation, in the avoidance of which he shows that he is prudent and a man of principles. The same is true of war. Although the way of war is open to all, the noblest line of conduct is to refrain from opting for it. The conditions prevailing in ancient times allowed for war in selfdefence. But this permission to go to war conformed to the law of necessity. Now, in the present situation, this need no longer exists, therefore there should be a general ban on war. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE AGRICULTURAL AGE AND THE INDUSTRIAL AGE As regards war, all religions and all ethical systems are agreed upon one principle, and that is, no matter how great the justification for waging war, i.e. even in an entirely lawful war, non-combatants must not be assailed or killed. The attacking of non-combatants is totally unacceptable. Now let us look at how this principle is carried into effect in wartime. This kind of condition, i.e. the attacking only of combatants, could be fulfilled only in the agricultural age. Today, owing to scientific and technological developments, war is waged with explosive weapons which do widespread damage. When a bomb is dropped over an