the three threats to peace

everybody knows that 1 jan is new year’s day but i guess that only catholics knows that 1 jan is also the feast of mary, mother of god and… maybe this is more well known… it is also world day of peace. yes, 1 jan had been declared by the catholic church as world day of peace. therefore on 1 jan when we celebrate mass in church, it is not only to welcome the new year. in fact we celebrate it more for the feast of mary mother of god than for new year since new year is a secular event.

well at every world day of peace, the pope will come out with a message, that is to circulated not only among catholic churches but also to other religions. after all, a message on peace is suppose to be universal.

the link to the message i highlighted here comes from the vatican website and is the full original text. you might get confused reading it because well i do!… because the pope’s message is always too deep for me. so what you can do is to read a summary of it from the catholic paper, the herald. go to my mentaljog extra to read.

an excerpt of the pope’s message:

I wish on this World Day of Peace to encourage everyone to reflect on the theme: The Human Person, the Heart of Peace. I am convinced that respect for the person promotes peace and that, in building peace, the foundations are laid for an authentic integral humanism. In this way a serene future is prepared for coming generations.

in his message this year, he had highlighted three major threats to peace, which are, nuclear weapons, the unprecedented race for energy resources and the lack of respect for human rights.

do you agree or disagree? i mean agree to those three as major threats. being one of the threats, i’m sure all will agree those are the threats but maybe not as the major threats.

well i suppose nobody can dispute about nuclear weapon being a threat to peace as it is obvious. when north korea launched its nuclear test sometime back, you see so many world leaders condemning north korea.

‘unprecedented race for energy resources’ – well… true but i would also add ‘race for power and status’ too.

‘lack of respect for human rights’ – hmm… i’m sure all those human rights group like suaram, hakam, amnestry would nod their head eagerly at this point. well i suppose the respect for human rights does sort of form the basis of everything, to ensure peace.

ok, today being new year, and a holiday, plus tomorrow too a holiday, you might not be in a mood for such heavy stuff, but to talk about peace on the first day of a new year is something good. well at least i did not go and make my new year resolution – “i wish for world peace”! (ala miss universe style). while we all know that world peace is impossible, surely we can still hope and pray for a year (2007) that is more peaceful than last year!