Parakalein

Tragedies happen every day that are out of our control, like the earthquake in Japan.  Other atrocities are humanity doing violence to other members of humanity.
While President Mubarak was being removed form power in Egypt two young people were dating.  One happened to be a Christian the other a Muslim.  The Muslin girl's father was told by the priest in the village of Sohl, Egypt said that he should kill his daughter for such sacrilege.  The next day the priest's church was torched.  Violence produces violence.  When point and counter point cycle dominates the point that everyone gets is a sharp destructive. point.  If we could tip the arrow on its down side,  the > (arrow) becomes a "V" chalice of surrender.  This is at the heart of the Christian transformation message.  The only thing that will ever transform a violent world into a world of peace is when each of us see the evil inside of us and as forgiveness for that evil "defend attack" part.  When we see and heal the axis of evil inside of us we will never see clearly that it is not about the axis of evil in our enemy but in us.   Yet  the defend attack part in us is just human not evil.  What is evil is to be blind to our part in securing peace.  To naively and blindly see the problem in :them not us".

Additionally we need to see that the system of religion that fosters an over and against, win-lose, orientation is "systemically sick".  The chalice of surrender suggests that when we surrender the goal to change the other person but shift to challenging the system to shift dynamically we are on the road to peace.  It is not about conquest.  It is about surrender.