I get overly frustrated by the extensive use of the word peace. It seems to accept the word peace means that we have to accept the world at war.   For example, in order to have peace, you need to have war first.   Peace therefore is a complacent term a term that’s used when people are comfortable with war as the current condition.   Is the word peace, a never-ending desire?    Does the word Peace necessitate the concept of war in our world.

I find myself increasingly drawn to a particular linguistic paradox, one that centers on the very word “peace” itself. My growing frustration stems from the pervasive notion that to speak of “peace” inherently legitimizes “war” as its necessary precursor or undeniable counterpart. It almost feels as if the concept of peace cannot exist in our collective consciousness without the looming shadow of conflict.

Consider the prevailing narrative: “In order to achieve peace, one must first overcome war.” This framing suggests an unsettling dependency, implying that peace is not an autonomous state but merely a temporary cessation of hostilities, a fragile calm after the storm. Such a perspective, I fear, inadvertently transforms “peace” into a complacent term, one that can be too readily embraced by those who have become comfortable with conflict as the default human condition. If war is always the starting point, then peace becomes merely a reaction, not a proactive aspiration.

This raises profound questions: Is the pursuit of peace an unending, perhaps even futile, desire, eternally defined by the strife it seeks to alleviate? Does the very definition of “peace” in our current discourse inextricably link it to the concept of “war,” suggesting a symbiotic relationship where one cannot be conceived without the other? We must critically examine whether our linguistic constructs subtly reinforce a cycle of conflict, rather than helping us transcend it. If peace is the desired future condition, we need a situation in which we continuously and adaptively strive towards it, making progress towards ending all types of war, rather than using the concept of world peace in a complacent way. As a catholic, periodically we used to have to reject Satan and all his works; why not reject war (of all types) altogether and all its works? Then we can stop using the word peace all the time.