U2 have a song called 'Peace on Earth' which I take as a song of frustration at the lack of peace at a time of year when we see those words on Christmas cards and hear them in church services the world over. That song became real to me again after hearing of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Once again a person looking for democracy in their country has been cut down in an act of violence. I felt shocked when I first heard of it while listening to the cricket on the radio. When will we ever learn that violence simply begets more violence and hate begets more hate? Violence will never ultimately achieve what its perpetrators want. That is simply a fact of life, as surely as night follows day. While this is not the space to go into the details of the ultimate motivations of terrorists and suicide bombers, even if they got what they ultimately wanted, it would still be a society based on fear, which can never be a society at peace, either with others or with itself. Perhaps some of the words of U2's song say it best: Heaven on Earth, we need it now I'm sick of all of this hanging around Sick of the sorrow, sick of the pain Sick of hearing again and again That there's gonna be peace on earth .....it's already gone too far Who said that if you go in hard you won't get hurt Jesus could you take the time to throw a drowning man a line Peace on Earth Tell the ones who hear no sound, whose sons are living in the ground Peace on Earth .....Jesus sing the song you wrote The words are sticking in my throat Peace on Earth We hear it every Christmas time But hope and history won't rhyme So what's it worth, this peace on Earth? Pretty much my sentiments exactly. Benazir Bhutto lies dead and her country is in turmoil. Despite the allegations of corruption surrounding Bhutto's past, she was a leader in a country looking to the future. Just like Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy, Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln in years gone by, the murder of Benazir Bhutto will not achieve the end goal that its perpetrators seek. Only love will do that. Love, peace and justice. Fear and rage have boiled over in the streets of Pakistan because people created in the image of God decided that violence was the best course of action. They are wrong. Martin Luther King said that there can never be true justice without peace. His words ring true this Christmas time as we once again witness the cutting down of a political leader and lament the lack of peace on Earth. by Nils von Kalm
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