Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 9, 1991 TAG: 9102110249
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
I take umbrage at the insinuation that I am unpatriotic because I make protestations for peace. According to Webster, a patriot is a person who zealously supports one's country's authority and best interests.
I am at least half a patriot. My zeal for my country's best interests forces me to the front line for peace. I acknowledge the authority, but fear that the persons representing this authority too often forget the best interests of the many in their hurry to get results for the few.
Fighting resolves nothing - be it with a spouse, a neighbor or another country. After this war ends, the old problems will still be there and new ones will have been created.
These new ones include environmental damage, debt and the psychological damage to our men and women in battle. We are teaching our young people to resolve their problems with violence.
Many of the people serving in Saudi Arabia grew up in Christian homes, where they were taught to turn the other cheek. What a conflict they must be experiencing within themselves. I appreciate their willingness to defend their country, but this is an aggression. The only thing they are defending is our excessive use of oil and our desire to control the affairs of the entire world.
If we would use the techniques of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Jesus - the "soft answer [that] turns away wrath" - we would patriotically work not only for our best interest, but for that of all the earth. SELENA PEDERSEN ROANOKE
by CNB