conflict is inevitable, but combat is optional

max lucade

Before you read this and judge the entire casa thing we have established here, just know that we are not a bunch of hippies - although they seriously have the important parts of life more figured out than most people (other than the excessive drug use). There are, however, a few people who never take showers and a couple who have a past with Mary Jane and one who really really dances like a hippie, but other than that, we are not hippies... just some who think redemptive violence is an oxymoron.

So, unfortunately I am not intelligent enough to write some inspiring, heart-changing thing about the iniquity of violence and the healing of grace. But, what I can do is copy what smarter and wiser, (got most of their lives together) people have said and give you the opportunity to see the lives and hear the voices of a few crushed by the guns and bombs we so easily pass as a just means of creating peace.

force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived
abraham lincoln

the true democrat is he who with purely nonviolent means defends his liberty and, therefore, his country's and ultimately that of the whole of mankind
mahatma ghandi

God would rather absord the violence and the evil of the world than reflect it
dave polly

too often the patriotic values of pride and strength triumph over the spiritual values of humility, gentleness and sacrificial love. it's easy to have political views - that's what politicians do. but it's much harder to embody a political alternative - that's what saints do.
shane claiborne

you become a monster
so the monster will not break you
u2

the nations do not lead people to peace; rather, people lead the nations to peace
shane claiborne

they argue the scriptures, argue the laws
argue the signs, argue the gods
argue for hatred, argue for fun
argue their side is the only one
but the one argument no of us can hide
is the one that's raging down deep inside
it ended in a great big fight and when its done
nobody right, nobody wrong
michael franti

i destroy my enemies when I make them my friends
abraham lincoln

darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that
martin luther king, jr.

we can bomb the world to pieces
but we can’t bomb it into peace
michael franti

Recently, some of us in the house watched a video made by Michael Franti of his trips to warring countries in the Middle East.

"This film came out of my frustration with watching the nightly news and hearing generals, politicians and pundits, explaining the political and economic cost of the war in the Middle East, without ever mentioning the human cost. I wanted to hear about the war by the people affected by it most: doctors, nurses, poets, artists, soldiers and my personal favorite, musicians. So I bought some plane tickets and headed to Iraq, Isreal and the occupied territories of Palestine."

To see a movie trailor and learn more about the video, go to: iknowimnotalone.com. You can also buy it there... or you can just come over here and watch it... or you can borrow it!