On an Inauguration, a Ceasefire, and Peace
Today is a big day in the world.
In the U.S., Donald Trump was just inaugurated for his second term as President. In the Middle East, Israel and Hamas’s ceasefire has taken effect, with both sides having released their first round of hostages. Today is also Martin Luther King Jr. Day, an American holiday honoring a civil rights leader whose legacy is celebrated across the globe.
In a certain light, we might say that today marks a shift toward peace.
Trump is officially President; the vitriol of the campaigns and the fears of civil war, assassination, and other political violence can subside. Finally we have peace.
Hamas and Israel have ceased fighting, and hostages are going home; the shooting and bombing has ended. Finally we have peace.
Dr. King's work continues to be celebrated, and the U.S. is more racially just because of it; segregation laws are a relic of the past. Finally we have peace.
But do we truly?
They treated the wound of my people carelessly,
saying “Peace, peace,”
when there is no peace.
- Jeremiah 6:14 NRSV
In 1955, a federal judge required the University of Alabama to no longer deny admission to prospective students on the basis of race. The following year, a young woman named Autherine Lucy was admitted as the first African-American student in the history of the school.
Lucy was targeted by white students as soon as she stepped on campus. Riots broke out, Lucy was harassed and threatened continuously, eggs and bricks were thrown at her, crosses were burned, and a crowd of more than a thousand men attacked her car while she was inside.
Soon after, the university’s president and trustees responded by suspending (and eventually expelling) Lucy, ostensibly for her safety and the safety of the school. The next day, the local paper reported the end of the riots and the restored calm with the headline, “Things are quiet in Tuscaloosa today. There is peace on the campus of the University of Alabama.”
But was that peace?
Soon after, Dr. King preached his sermon, “When Peace Becomes Obnoxious”:
“Yes things were quiet in Tuscaloosa. Yes there was peace on the campus, but it was peace at a great price. It was peace that had been purchased at the exorbitant price of an inept trustee board succumbing to the whims and caprices of a vicious mob. It was peace that had been purchased at the price of allowing mobocracy to reign supreme over democracy. It was peace that had been purchased at the price of capitulating to the forces of darkness. This is the type of peace that all men of goodwill hate. It is the type of peace that is obnoxious. It is the type of peace that stinks in the nostrils of the almighty God.”
Dr. King distinguishes between a peace marked by the absence of negative things like violence and disorder, and a peace that is full of positive conditions like justice and goodwill. That “negative peace” has a place—we want direct violence to end! But if it is not accompanied by “positive peace,” then it is merely superficial, ultimately supporting the violent status quo of inequality and division. Peacemakers like you and me must push beyond negative peace to create something more beautiful on the other side.
What does that mean for us today, in light of today’s supposed “peace”?
To paraphrase further from Dr. King’s sermon, if peace means accepting second class citizenship for Palestinians or for Black and brown, Indigenous, immigrant, LGBTQ+, and poor and working class Americans, I don’t want it.
If peace means keeping my mouth shut in the midst of injustice and evil at home or abroad, I don’t want it.
If peace means being complacently adjusted to a deadening status quo, accepting that domination, exploitation, fear, and hate are inevitable and tolerable, I don’t want peace.
If peace means a willingness to be—or to see others be—economically exploited, politically dominated, and/or humiliated and segregated, I don’t want peace.
“In a passive, non-violent manner we must revolt against this peace.
Jesus says in substance, ‘I will not be content until justice, goodwill, brotherhood, love, yes, the kingdom of God are established upon the earth.’ This is real peace. Peace is the presence of positive good.”
Whether you are celebrating, mourning, or something else today, stay focused on the positive peace we long for. A new administration does not mean peace when parts of their agenda threaten the most vulnerable among us. A ceasefire is not enough without liberation, safety, justice, healing, and reconciliation. A holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr. is not enough when so much of his dream goes unrealized.
So, all you peacemakers—may you cultivate divine courage and compassion in your hearts, love your neighbors, struggle for justice, and find your people who will help you grow, heal, thrive, and live out your values in the world. We have some positive good to create.