The commenters are ignoring the profound quote from Gandhi. He had a knack for making seemingly simple statements that would stick in your head and reshape your perspective.
Mahatma Ghandi used passive aggressive warfare to get what he wanted, since he knew how the british worked – they had their social pride, and would not want to lose their heads by killing unarmed people moving around what appeared to be peacefully.
To meet with the idea of peace and love is like having a unicorn appear while a Dove ate the pear that separated the seas and drove the spike into the dike to save the world from drowning in our tubs on Saturday night, ’Psst buddy, got a light?" The same old story probably.
Millions of our people share a common religion, a faith that Obama pays tribute to at the Shrine of our Lady of Charity in Miami, a peace that Cubans find in la Cachita. The Cuban and American people share common values in our lives, a sense of patriotism and a sense of pride. We organize and criticize our government and protest peacefully, the Cuban rule of law should not include arbitrary detentions of people who exercise those rights. Every person should have the freedom to practice their faiths peacefully and publicly. The president of our United States promotes peace, security, opportunity and human rights. This is more than a “limp-wristed handshake” this is a historical moment that we could be a united Americas. This is more than a right-wing punch line, no Republican president could pull this off.
I don’t think that Obama was weak in any way by meeting with Raul Castro. It takes a bold man of action to try to mend fences, especially since the neighbor is commonly seen as “lowlife”, far from “Perfect”. This has gone on too long. I was a small child when Castro overthrew Batista.The Americans were drinking Cuba Libres, and singing songs about Cuba. At first, I guess, he didn’t seem very communist-like or people would have rooted for Batista who was a dictator.This is all I know from memory as I was a little kid.
A. J. Muste, the great American pacifist, also used the phrase, though the version I know is slightly different: “There is no way to peace, peace is the way.” I first heard this back in 1967, when I was being trained by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Dr. King worked according to this principle. Using violence to try to get to peace won’t work. If you want to achieve peace you have to use peaceful methods to get there. So non-violent protest is a better way to peace, because it is in itself peaceful. But peace is not the same as giving in, as Dr. King and Muste and Gandhi would have agreed. Protest often causes trouble, but only if there is some kind of underlying violence. So the violence of segregation had to be brought out into the open, through peaceful protest. If you sit in peacefully at a segregated lunch counter, then the violence built into segregation will show itself. Then, one hopes, as a community we can work to resolve our differences. I was taught these principles when I was just eighteen, but I’ve tried to live by them ever since. They apply in many parts of life, even in personal relationships. There is no way to peace, peace is the way.
Gandhi displayed a lot more intellect than the Cheney/Rumsfedl approach in the Middle East. In our own hemisphere, a little more cooperation would also be a good thing, not just in Cuba.
giancarlo.bellumori about 8 years ago
Bravo
Cerabooge about 8 years ago
The commenters are ignoring the profound quote from Gandhi. He had a knack for making seemingly simple statements that would stick in your head and reshape your perspective.
Tue Elung-Jensen about 8 years ago
Mahatma Ghandi used passive aggressive warfare to get what he wanted, since he knew how the british worked – they had their social pride, and would not want to lose their heads by killing unarmed people moving around what appeared to be peacefully.
ron2nips about 8 years ago
To meet with the idea of peace and love is like having a unicorn appear while a Dove ate the pear that separated the seas and drove the spike into the dike to save the world from drowning in our tubs on Saturday night, ’Psst buddy, got a light?" The same old story probably.
Mr. Blawt about 8 years ago
Millions of our people share a common religion, a faith that Obama pays tribute to at the Shrine of our Lady of Charity in Miami, a peace that Cubans find in la Cachita. The Cuban and American people share common values in our lives, a sense of patriotism and a sense of pride. We organize and criticize our government and protest peacefully, the Cuban rule of law should not include arbitrary detentions of people who exercise those rights. Every person should have the freedom to practice their faiths peacefully and publicly. The president of our United States promotes peace, security, opportunity and human rights. This is more than a “limp-wristed handshake” this is a historical moment that we could be a united Americas. This is more than a right-wing punch line, no Republican president could pull this off.
pam Miner about 8 years ago
I don’t think that Obama was weak in any way by meeting with Raul Castro. It takes a bold man of action to try to mend fences, especially since the neighbor is commonly seen as “lowlife”, far from “Perfect”. This has gone on too long. I was a small child when Castro overthrew Batista.The Americans were drinking Cuba Libres, and singing songs about Cuba. At first, I guess, he didn’t seem very communist-like or people would have rooted for Batista who was a dictator.This is all I know from memory as I was a little kid.
lonecat about 8 years ago
A. J. Muste, the great American pacifist, also used the phrase, though the version I know is slightly different: “There is no way to peace, peace is the way.” I first heard this back in 1967, when I was being trained by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Dr. King worked according to this principle. Using violence to try to get to peace won’t work. If you want to achieve peace you have to use peaceful methods to get there. So non-violent protest is a better way to peace, because it is in itself peaceful. But peace is not the same as giving in, as Dr. King and Muste and Gandhi would have agreed. Protest often causes trouble, but only if there is some kind of underlying violence. So the violence of segregation had to be brought out into the open, through peaceful protest. If you sit in peacefully at a segregated lunch counter, then the violence built into segregation will show itself. Then, one hopes, as a community we can work to resolve our differences. I was taught these principles when I was just eighteen, but I’ve tried to live by them ever since. They apply in many parts of life, even in personal relationships. There is no way to peace, peace is the way.
Dtroutma about 8 years ago
Gandhi displayed a lot more intellect than the Cheney/Rumsfedl approach in the Middle East. In our own hemisphere, a little more cooperation would also be a good thing, not just in Cuba.