The path to peace requires one-sided change.
The prophet Isaiah describes the world we want and how to get there. It comes with sacrifice and compromise. But it won’t be the same for everyone. At all.
We can’t find peace while the violent are allowed to be violent. Nor can we find equality while…
…the bigots are allowed their bigotry…
…the excluders their exclusion…
…the haters their hatred…
…for the the only path to equality is to prevent inequality from destroying us.
The violent need to disarm.
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
Isaiah 11:6-9
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
Peace doesn’t come from neutrality or civility. It comes when oppressors stop oppressing. Peace can’t tolerate the presence of violence.
Carnivores can’t meet herbivores half way. They don’t get to say “we should all be omnivores.” To the carnivore, this seems like a true compromise. A real win-win. They get to keep killing and eating their prey, just not as much.
This isn’t peace, of course. Nor is it a compromise that makes any sense to the cow or the ox. They’re still dying. Just not as much.
The reality is that the vegetarians don’t need carnivores at the party. They’d be way better off without them ever showing up.
The price of peace is disarming. Completely.
Carnivores have sharp teeth, designed for killing and tearing.
Herbivores have flat teeth, designed for grinding.
The prophet is quite literally talking about carnivores changing their diets, grinding down their teeth, changing. For the sake of everyone’s freedom.
Today, we see oppressors claim victimhood (to muddy the waters). And we have constant calls for civility and peace through bothsidesism.
What we lack is the conviction to name the real requirement for peace is not a call for unilateral disarmament. But to first recognize how often one side is aligned entirely away from true peace. And they need to change their stance before they destroy us all.