Katharina, it is true that one’s volition is critical, that good can come only from action taken with wisdom and compassion. It is also true, as the Buddha said, that hatred can not be overcome by hatred; it can be overcome only by the cessation of hatred (in each individual). But that does not preclude strong action, sometimes strong action is necessary. The issue is whether those leaders who take strong action do so with wisdom and compassion, the role of those who can see clearly is to help others see clearly.

I saw Aung San Suu Kyi interviewed by Maxine McKew, and she seemed to epitomise Buddha Dhamma in practice. As a leader, she has rallied support against the evil Burmese junta; but she has no hatred for the Burmese junta, only compassion, seeking to overturn the actions which harm both the junta and others but not to harm those in the junta, never being cowed by her opponents. But that is not to say that, if she were the leader of a country under attack from fanatical ideologues with whom there can be no dialogue, she would necessarily turn the other cheek. Acting with all wisdom and compassion, she might (I don’t know) find it necessary to resist as well as sending metta (loving-kindness) to all concerned.

In your own case, you might ask whether you are applying the same standards to all parties, there’s just a suggestion in your article that those in the west are more culpable than, say, Hezbollah which for six years has been building up its capacity to attack and provoke Israel, which is responding to this broader threat rather than the immediate issue of two soldiers being snatched (which may well have been a deliberate provocation).

Faustino,
the tragedy is that *both* sides see themselves being victims and *both sides* committ atricities.

Both sides focus on others' faults and crimes and use it to justify their own ruthlessness.

both sides are prisoners of their own perception, their own agression; as a result they provoke even more aggression.

that's the tragedy.

Perpetuating agression is not good for anyone.

P.

Sadly, Leigh was on the money. The world is the way it is.

Those who choose violence to achieve their ends, can only be opposed by those prepared to resist by violence. It’s tragic, but it is a reality confirmed by history.

Ms Weiss reference to the fall of the Berlin wall actually undermines her argument. The Berlin wall didn’t fall because of peaceful resistance, it fell because of the collapse of the Soviet Union’s political and economic system, which in turn was a consequence of the incredibly wasteful and costly arms race. Only because the USA demonstrated a willingness to match Soviet militarism, was peace maintained. The best way to prevent war is to prepare for it.

Ms Weiss’s comment “love, compassion and non-violence are at the heart of religions such as Christianity, Islam and Judaism” leaves me wondering at her sources. Read the Koran and you will find that love and compassion is only reserved for those who follow Islam. For others there is only contempt. Her suggestion that violence is not a part of Islam is naive in the extreme. Read the Koran!

It is all well and good to take the moral high ground and claim to be against killing babies, but leaders who choose war aren’t always choosing violence over peace, rather they are often choosing violence now in the hope of preventing violence later. The opposite pacifist choice would be an acceptance of the preventable later violence.

It follows that by their failure to act, pacifists kill babies too!

The Western world is seeing the outcome of compassion in the undermining of its authority by the very 'refugees' it took pity on.
It would be so nice if the world could live happily ever after but unfortunately that only happens in fairy tales.
One side of the world could go on giving and giving, the other side taking and taking .That would be self defeating on both sides.

Leigh, despite your condescending and blatantly sexist remarks, Katharina has a much better understanding of reality than you do. Your attitude has prevailed for years and certainly prevails now, hence the war-ridden state of the world.

Compassion, turning the other cheek, and talking and empathising with your enemy (something your bible strongly advocates) is far more difficult than war mongering, Leigh.

You simply have problems thinking outside the square Leigh, perhaps it a result of all that pent up bitterness inside of you that becomes very obvious in many of your posts.

Good article Katharina, your innovative thinking is much more akin to the teachings of Jesus Christ than any of the Christian fundamentalists that inhabit this forum.

History is littered with peace activists, do-gooders and bleeding hearts; yet the world in the 21st Century remains dangerous, cruel and unfair. It is still wise to get your boot on the other fellow’s neck before he does it to you.

In the past we saw a few strong men and women with the will and ability to influence matters of social concern such as slavery and equal rights before the law. But the pale imitations of them, two of whom have been referred to today, have achieved absolutely nothing except cult status from naïve adulators who think that they have just discovered something that the rest of us didn’t know.

Who else can we throw in? Nelson Mandela is hailed as a hero, but what has he done for black Africans in any practical way? Nothing. Black South Africans are no better off. On the other hand, one of Mandela’s legacies is the current President – a black president who stormed out of a public gathering when a tiny, black African boy pleaded with him to do more against the AIDS epidemic.

All that these peace-preachers do is make us weak. As long as there is Islam, there will be no peace in the world; and, for all of you who don’t like what I say, the terrorists you want to go soft on will not differentiate between you and me when the time comes