On Peace

 

“Blessed are the peacemakers,” runs one of the Beatitudes.

But who are the peacemakers? 

One naturally thinks of the Nobel Peace Prize. It is given for making peace, right?

Officially, it is given “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

It is dubious that the reduction of standing armies leads to peace. That was a dream of the 1920s—and arguably, World War II was the result. Disarmament is an invitation to invasion.

The logic is akin to the logic of defunding the police.

“The holding and promotion of peace congresses.” Here too we have a problem. Often enough, indeed almost inevitably, the same guys who started the war sign the peace. Yasser Arafat and Menachim Begin are previous laureates: both arguably terrorists.

Among recent laurates were Barack Obama, "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." Which seem invisible to many not on the Nobel committee. And Al Gore, "for efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change.” Whether or not you worry about climate change, what does this have to do with peace? Why not, in this vein, a Peace Prize for campaigning against tooth decay?

People do not seem to have a clear idea of how one makes peace. Perhaps people do not have a clear idea of what peace means.

St. Augustine defines peace properly. Peace is “the tranquility of order.” Peace comes with all things in their proper place, with clear lines, rules, and boundaries: passing on the right, stopping on red. No left turn. One can imagine if no one knew or kept such rules.

Peacemakers are those who establish clear boundaries, advocate for clear boundaries, and administer and enforce them consistently. Those who respect the rules.

The lawgivers, the peace officers, the justices of the peace. The honest referees.

The inclination of our postmodern world is instead to obscure all boundaries: the roles of husband and wife, of men and women; the distinction between male and female; the significance of borders; the distinction between citizen and non-citizen; the distinction between beauty and ugliness; between truth and opinion; even between right and wrong. 

This is satanic. This is pandemonium.