War has existed since the dawn of humankind. This fact alone articulates the barbaric quality of war. Do we not liken ourselves to be more advanced – more evolved – than the Neanderthal? Yet, here we are, ready to declare war against Iraq because we believe that, in the end, we will be “safe.” Who are we kidding? If anything, this war will unleash an onslaught of terrorism, with the United States as the primary target. What then? Should we plan to take away more civil liberties, declare more wars, and kill more innocent people, so that we can, once and for all, defeat hatred and bring about peace? As rational as we are, why can we not see that war has never been – and still isn’t – the answer? Why do we tend to ignore exemplary figures like Mahatma Gandhi (who so beautifully liberated India from the seemingly-immutable British force, who gave “lower class” citizens rights they so badly needed, and who did all of this using nonviolent means) and Martin Luther King Jr. (whose movement became the epitome of “Love in action”)?

Our plans for war remind me of something Einstein once said: “You can’t solve any problem in the world with the same consciousness that created the problem.” It is time for us to rid ourselves of our primitive consciousness and to become the evolved beings that we already claim to be!

Jonathan Meier

Senior

Religious Studies