in light of it all..

i posted the following in my weblog last night.

in light of it all.. being called idealistic, and a fantasizer. being told that i am not patriotic and i hate my country. having people say that i don't support the people that this government has sent to iraq. reading the comments placed here recently in an attempt to engage me in argument over war vs. peace. in spite of it all, i refuse to give up on my belief in peace and non-violence.

there are times when to let go and there are times when to hang on, this is one of those times when i choose to hang on to something i have believed in all my life.

i used to say that i wished i'd been around during the 60's, during the peace movement. i've got my own now. i've got a president who is off his rocker, a man who believes in holy wars, a man who claims to be the leader of this great country but chooses to forget the very tenants which he has been elected to move forward. i've got a country full of people who tell me how anti-american i am because i won't tow the line. i've got people who go for the quick fix of violence all around me. i don't need the 60's anymore, i've got the 00's. this is my time in the line and i will walk it proudly until the day i am told the line has finally reached the end.

there were hopes last week amongst the peace community. leaders of other countries saying that for once the world is not waging war, instead it is waging peace. there were reports that the father of this president, a former president himself, had joined with a bunch of plutocrats to say that this was bad. i was told that tony blair is under such scrutiny by his populace that if he supports this war he will be out of office in a millisecond.

but tonight the hopes have died down. the hopes of the millions who's voices people refuse to hear have been crushed. i found myself near tears. i found myself seeking out comfort, where comfort couldn't be found.

but i will tow this line. i won't let it go. in light of it all, everything i have known all my life, everything i have believed in, everything i have clung to and made a part of my heart-- that each life is a miracle, that no human being is worth more than another, that we should strive to love even our enemies-- has not left me. tonight, in light of it all, i refuse to give up my belief that peace and non-violence are the only answers.