In a polarized civilization, it's easy to prescribe peace. It's much harder to become the actual medicine for an ailing world.
There are many schools of thought about the best way to practice peacemaking. Some people believe that peace exists only through authoritarian rule, others seek peace within a socialist framework, and still others believe that true peace can only be achieved through compromise between two freely consenting parties.
Elias Chacour, recently elected Archbishop of the Melkite Catholic Diocese of Akka, Haifa, Nazareth and all of Galilee in Israel, has been boldly practicing peace for more than 40 years.
He will be addressing the Duke community in early March: he will speak on behalf of the Center for Reconciliation at the Freeman Center, interact with local church communities, and even preach in the Duke Chapel on Sunday.
His brand of peace is a special blend of compromise, word backed by action, and unorthodox methods of bringing people together. As a young priest, he literally locked his congregation inside their church, forcing them to face the differences that were keeping them from becoming an effective community.
We ourselves are a polarized community, divided from within and without. We are pulled in opposing directions by the Group of 88, interfaith dialogue, social status, economic burdens and the age-old tensions between humanities and the natural sciences.
Our divisions have become more of a weakness than a strength. Our dialogue is becoming disruptive and vengeful. Free speech no longer leads to open communication-it lies as an obstacle in our path toward progress.
Remembering Chacour's motto, "Blessed are the Peacemakers," and studying his life, I see another theme emerge. He sees no alternative to peace. There is not another path to be considered. When people in his church community tried to force him out during his first months on the job, he stubbornly paid them weekly visits, boldly building relationships with people of different religious backgrounds. He crosses the social lines people draw.
Chacour's peace-practicing mission has led him down several paths throughout his life. He never shies away from the front lines, and led a march into Jerusalem in 1970, petitioning Golda Meir to meet and discuss peace between Israel and the Palestinian people. He helped build community centers throughout Palestine, a secondary school in Jish, and eight libraries.
Archbishop Chacour, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times, is a dose of actual medicine for our polarized society. In his book, Blood Brothers, he explains himself, "the way of a peacemaker was difficult-it required deep forgiveness, risking the friendship of your enemies, begging for peace on your knees and in the streets."
Even in recent years, Chacour has not let celebrity or status distract him from working on important peace missions. In 1998, he was appointed Parish Priest of Nazareth, but gave up the prestigious position after only nine months in order to focus his efforts on the development of his interfaith secondary school, the Mar Elias Educational Institutions.
The most effective leaders are those who serve the community as firm proponents of peace. Here at Duke, we are people fighting for our identities and beliefs. These fights do not manifest themselves through car bombings and street violence, so they may seem less significant, but they still hinder our full involvement in addressing the greater ills of society. As long as we fight amongst ourselves, our ranks are useless against the enemies that threaten our advancement.
Archbishop Chacour's bold, activist approach to peacemaking has proven effective in Israel. People try to solve their disagreements through long debates; others try to be heard through flowery speeches; some even try to make their opinions known through acts of terrorism.
Perhaps in Durham in 2007, we should give Elias Chacour's brand of problem-solving a try.
Emily Thomey is a Trinity junior. Her column runs every other Tuesday.
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