Peace Be With You…

“…And also with you” is the response on Sunday mornings and on occasions where the peace is “shared” or “passed” as a part of the liturgy. These are important words which are expressed as we extend a handshake, a hug, flash a peace sign, or other acknowledgement to those present in our worship communities. This ritual is a sign of the giving and receiving of God’s peace, a symbol of reconciliation and unity in the church.

Peace is an important part of the well-being of all people, a quality that should be present for all and is often elusive. Peace is often pondered as an absence of war which could be easily inferred from a dictionary definition of peace as “a state of tranquility or quiet.” Yet, peace is much more than a quest for the absence of war and armed conflict in people’s lives.

The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights is currently monitoring over 110 armed conflicts globally, noting: “Some of these conflicts make the headlines, others do not. Some of them started recently, while others have lasted for more than 50 years.” The desire for resolution in these matters is a desire for peace to prevail, for residents to live without the fear and despair, the death and evil that comes with the on-going dismissal of human life.

In 1985, the 15th General Synod voted to adopt the pronouncement “Affirming the United Church of Christ as a Just Peace Church.” The adoption of this pronouncement has been an important part of the life of the church, with theological frameworks and affirmations of what it means for such a designation and the accompanying commitment to justice. The resolution states: “As a Just Peace Church, we embody a Christ fully engaged in human events. The church is thus a real countervailing power to those forces that divide, that perpetuate human enmity and injustice, and that destroy.” Countervailing means offsetting an effect by countering it with something of equal force.

The church made a commitment in 1985 to push back against forces that divide, perpetuate human enmity and destroy. We are living in times when the commitments to being a just peace church must be understood and addressed as a commitment to the human life and flourishing of people with the intention to be countervailing against the forces of oppression. A countering force of equal weight is required when we see the dismissal of people’s rights, when we experience the injustices of our day, and when we know there is an absence of love and compassion for all.

The 15th General Synod affirmed thirteen marks of a Just Peace Church, calling upon each local church to become. These marks include:

• A community of spiritual nurture and support, loving one another and giving one another strength in the struggle for a Just Peace.

• A community of honest and open conflict, a zone of freedom where differences may be expressed, explored, and worked through in mutual understanding and growth.

• A community of solidarity with the poor, seeking to be present in places of oppression, poverty, and violence, and standing with the oppressed in the struggle to resist and change this evil.

• A community of loyalty to God and to the whole human community over any nation or rival idolatry.

• A community of resistance, standing against social structures comfortable with violence and injustice.

Recent research is studying the obstacles to peace where conflict exists. Among the problems identified are misinformation and disinformation, which both of which are about the spread of untruths, yet one is intentional and meant for harm while the other is not, with similar results. The spread of misinformation and disinformation has affected our ability to improve public health, address climate change, maintain a stable democracy, and more. Lies hurt communities. Lies are robbing people of peace. The manufacturing of stories is detrimental to our ability and commitment to live in peace.

The presence of inaccurate information is challenging for peacekeeping forces and for those who are involved in peace missions. We live in a time where the occurrences of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech are prevalent and problematic for communities where peace is fragile, tenuous or absent. And, even in places where all appears to be well and void of conflict, alternative sources of information such as streaming services and independently created news items carried on social media are eroding our ability to trust and communicate openly with each other.

As people of faith, our quest for peace must address the weaponization of words and the manufacturing of lies to divide communities and perpetuate wedges and fear, rather than love and compassion. Our commitment to truth-telling as a part of our just peace commitment should include the fact checking we need to ensure we are not spreading disinformation or misinformation. The fractures in our communities may not be at the levels of those living in armed conflict zones, however, our peace is threatened when we do not have: “A community of honest and open conflict, a zone of freedom where differences may be expressed, explored, and worked through in mutual understanding and growth” as the General Synod Resolution suggests.

The prophet Jeremiah warned: “They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14). The passing of the peace is more than ritual, it is a symbol of our commitment to peace and reconciliation, a commitment to living God’s love for all the world.