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May 15, 2006
Purple for Peace
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
May 16 is Wear Purple For Peace Day: The First Intergalactic Holiday.
That last part is important, because this is one of the very few clues
we have to the origins of this holiday.
According to HolidayInsights.com, this holiday is about projecting
peace from this world outward, to aliens, so that they know we are
peaceful and will visit us. Currently, however, this holiday is being
used to promote peace globally.
Within the USA messages such as blue and red join to become purple for peace
project a mission of national unity and peace. Schools are using the
color and the message, if not the official holiday date itself, to preach
peace and non-violent coping skills to their students. Among such
lessons are the lives and work of Martin Luther King and Gandhi, tools
such as this Kid’s Creating Peace Pledge, and discussions on
bullying. Who can complain about this? Apparently, some folks not only
can, but do...
I've seen a number of bloggers upset that the promotion of peace and
"Wearing Purple For Peace" is a horrible thing to do. Specifically, they
point to the war in Iraq and state that those who support peace do not
support our troops. I don't see the correlation. How can anything be
more supportive of our troops than peace and bringing our boys and girls home?
One blogger wrote "peace is not an option right now. I
feel like this is 1) poorly thought out as I think it belittles the
sacrifices our troops are making -or- 2) a political move using children
that are way too young to understand matters of war and peace (and the
tangible relationship between the two)."
In the case of point number one, I fail to see how praying for peace
equates belittling the sacrifices of our troops and their families. If
they are 'fighting over there so we don't have to fight them here',
isn't that at least in part saying we want peace for the majority of our
citizens? Aren't they supposedly fighting for freedom, American values
along with The American Way? If so, isn't peace one of our values? At a
very base level, isn't the primary objective of going to war to win, end
the war, and have peace? Valuing peace not only supports the very
notions, the mission, of their war duty, their sacrifices, but also
values the very lives of each soldier. Peace is the most supportive
prayer I can imagine.
In point number two, the blogger makes two points. Point 2. A states that
children are "too young to understand matters of war and peace." This is
a large broad statement. In the context of "Wear Purple For Peace", what
is too complicated? Who isn't 'for peace' ideally? Certainly "Wear
Purple For Peace" and non-violent conflict resolution skills are notions
deemed appropriate for all ages. Why would we not want out children to
be trained to persue this priority? As for point 2. B, the "tangible
relationship" between war and peace, I'm not sure I'm old enough
to understand... Unless she means what I stated above, that the primary
objective of going to war is to win, end the war, and have peace, I'm at
complete loss for how the two are related -- at least in any positive
manner.
So again, I have to wonder, how do prayers for peace belittle our
troops? How can Wear Purple For Peace, as May 16th or as a display of
one's hopes, do anything other than value the lives of all involved? How
can peace be anything other than wonderful?
Personally, I'll be wearing purple -- both for peace for our nation, our
world, and a desire to meet friendly aliens. How about you?
Posted by photocartoonist at May 15, 2006 10:09 PM