by Scott Cressman
We are lucky that Remembrance Day is when we reflect on war. If they don’t want to, no Canadian needs to think about the fear, violence, and turmoil that war carries. But one man, a man who had more to remember than most people, did not enjoy Remembrance Day. War is a waste, [...]
Harry Patch: Remembering War
Real Peace-Makers: Love Thy Neighbour
by Scott Cressman
Retold from the book “War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning,” by Chris Hedges.
The year is 1992. The Bosnian War has begun, using ethnicity and religion to tear neighbours apart based. Violence is rising between the nation’s three groups of people, Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats.
Rosa and Drago Sorak live in the town [...]
A Day to Build Peace
by Scott Cressman
Did you know that Sept. 21 was the International Day of Peace? Since 1982, the United Nations has devoted one day in September to stopping war and the pain it creates. For years, the world has been slow to embrace this occasion, but now the peace movement may gaining speed.
This was a [...]
Real Peace-Makers: Muriel Duckworth
by Scott Cressman
Most Canadians have probably never heard of Muriel Duckworth, the pacifist and activist from Nova Scotia who died Saturday. Neither had I, but now I wish Canadians knew this peacemaker better. She seems like the kind of Christian who grabs Jesus’ ideas of peace with both hands and won’t let go. Judging from [...]
Real Peace-Makers, part 1
Believing in a peaceful revolution needs to be more than just reading (or writing) a blog. It should be more than a bumper sticker or a catchy slogan. How can we reject violence in our daily lives? How can we inspire others to see peace in our actions and attitudes?
In a new [...]
Military Saviour
The world spent $1.46 trillion (USD) in 2008. That number is mind-boggling, so big that it’s nearly impossible to imagine so much money. How many ways could that money have improved the world? Even more scary, global military spending grew by 45 per cent in the last decade.
When it comes to military spending, the United [...]
Korea and War
by Scott Cressman
I live in a country at war. The conflict that split Korea into North and South has never formally ended, just cooled to simmering rhetoric and threats. Enough time has passed that the new generation of South Koreans have never met their estranged relatives stuck on the other side of the demilitarized border. [...]
Towards an Architecture of Peace
By Lucas Redekop
In the December edition of the The Walrus, Charles Montgomery asks the question “Can the shape of a city really change the psychology of its inhabitants?” The question is asked in an article entitled “The Archipelago of Fear: Are fortification and foreign aid making Kabul more dangerous?” where Montgomery hypothesizes that fortification architecture [...]
Prayer, A peaceful beginning
by Lucas Redekop
Recently as I was riding the bus, a young well-built man stepped on the bus with a visible bruise on his face and calmly sat down next to an older gentleman. As the bus rambled on, the older gentleman turned to his seat partner and kindly asked what had happened to his [...]
The Guts of Peacemaking: Feel the Frisson
by Matthew Bailey-Dick
more about “The Guts of Peacemaking“, posted with vodpod
When I was an undergrad student at the University of Waterloo, I took a “psychology of music” class that introduced me to all kinds of astounding facts about how people experience music and sound. One of the tidbits that sticks with me is the term [...]
