6. The Solution for Peace on Earth – or – Why Didn’t We Think of This Sooner?
My team of middle school helpers were assisting me with unloading and reloading the kiln at school. One of them, while carefully lifting fired projects, wanted to run an idea by me. He seemed very excited, like he was on the brink of starting a worldwide revolution. Anyway, here is what happened:
Him: Mrs. Lewis? I think I know how we can have peace on earth.
Me: After thousands of years of horrific bloodshed, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Him (growing more excited): Okay. So, I was thinking that a lot of the fighting is between different religious groups fighting over holy land and their beliefs and stuff.
Me: Yes.
Him: And I was thinking that a lot of the groups responsible for starting a lot of these fights are the Christians, the Jews, and the Muslims.
Me: Some would agree with you but others would disagree.
Him: So anyway… I realized something really important. Why don’t we just tell all of these people that they have nothing to fight about because they all actually worship the same God.
Me: Okay, you’re going to have to explain this thought to me.
Him: So, Christians worship Jesus. The Muslims worship Jesus. And, the Jews worship Jesus. Right? So, if someone just told them that they all worshipped the same God, then they would have to be peaceful because there is nothing for them to fight about.
Me: !?!
So, yeah. I think this kid’s solution would just cause more conflict, don’t you? I tried to explain to him why the concept of Jesus was such a point of conflict for these different groups as best as I could. The main point being that the Jews and the Muslims do not worship Jesus and that Christians believed that he was God incarnate. I encouraged him to keep thinking about solutions for world peace though.