Peace: The Invisible Weapon

Here we go again, as the adage goes. The Media did the drumming, the Congress obliged a debate, and the UN made the deals and US is about to begin the destruction. The stage is set and the drama will begin in the world theater. Amidst this, the spectators are expected to play their role of "quietly" watching the show or else!

Let us this time try to respond in a different way rather than either buying a ticket for the play or holding a protest sign outside the theater. 

Many American people I have talked to oppose war. They want peace and they are trying to find it. Let us lead them to the innately peaceful place, our homes and our hearts. Let us break a piece of bread together and learn to be peaceful.

Each one of us must invite our neighbors to explore and recognize the commonalities. Abraham, Moses, Jesus (may God's peace be upon all of them) are not exclusive to any of us but belongs to all of us. They came generations apart but preached the same message of Goodness, Life, Happiness and Peace for all.

Our modern civilization, for whatever that means, claims to have evolved into a new century and a new millennium. Among many great discoveries and greater developments, one is the science of statistics. Numbers do not lie, it is said. Here is a random sample for our reflection:

• US maintains No.1 position among Top 10 Arms Suppliers Worldwide 2000 [1]
• Total Sales Agreements by United States were $18.5 Billion (54% of the world total) and the combined total of other top 9 countries were $16.5 Billion [2]
• Most arms sales by US were to the Middle East and Asia between 1997-2000 [3]
• United States Department of Defense Budget - $371.1 Billion [4]
• United States Department of Education - $47.6 Billion [5]
• Total 2001 Revenues of Wal-Mart Corp - $219.8 Billion [6] (this is more than the total GDP of 100 countries)
• Bangladeshi workers work seven days a week stitching shirts for Wal-Mart, are paid 9 cents to 20 cents an hour
• 10% of all women aged 15 - 18 become pregnant in the US. Unmarried girls conceive 78% of the pregnancies. 56% result in births, the remainder end in miscarriage or abortion [7]
• About half of the students in the United States try drugs before they graduate from high school [8]
• A total of 28,663 people died from firearms in 2000 [9]
• Nearly 20,000 Americans died of drug-induced causes and another 20,000 died of alcohol-induced causes 

All of us carry an invisible weapon within ourselves that is pervasive enough to penetrate everything. Let us use this weapon and use it freely and abundantly, regardless of the labels that will be pasted on our foreheads.

Let us offer a simple and sincere prayer from the depths of our heart to the One Creator of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (may God's peace be upon all of them) and all of us.

Our Lord, we pray and we know that You alone can grant us:

• Our intellect and senses back so that we recognize the human dignity and honor
• An understanding of what is truly right and what is wrong
• The courage to proclaim what is good and forbid what is wrong
• Your protection alone and that we look toward no one else for protection
• The wisdom to strive and give of ourselves rather than gaining for ourselves
• The determination to pursue the goal of "peace and justice for all" firmly and with bold steps
• The ardent love in our hearts to find freedom in absolute slavery to You alone
• To remain an awakened witness to the injustices being done to the humanity
• Perseverance to withstand the wrongs being done in our name