There is no way to Peace, but Justice: A tribute to the United Nations

Having just watched our President complain about an escalator and a teleprompter on his visit to the UN.  A visit to the world body, if properly honored and empowered, most likely to have any leverage against an autocrat like Trump.  There is a natural animosity between people who would rather conspire uninterruptedly, and a meddling institution dedicated to the uplift and cooperation of humankind.  I hope it was fun for you, a week after his administration kicked a late night comedian off the air to hear our President suggest that many of the countries we consider our closest allies have since WWII were going to hell.  It compelled me to take a moment to lift up the UN.  So, here goes.

War II officially began on September 1^st, 1939, when France and Britain declared war on Germany.  It officially came to an end on September 2, 1945, at the signing of the surrender documents by the Japanese emperor. 

That moment of relief and joy in the west was captured in the iconic picture of the kiss seen above.   Not lost on anyone beginning to put the pieces together for a long-awaited period of peace at the end of that war was that World War I had started less than twenty years earlier.  And, that war, as everyone knew was promised but failed to be “the war to end all wars.”

In what one can imagine was a mix of hope of what could happen if they did, and a fear of what would happen again if they didn’t, 55 days after Japan surrendered in 1945, 51 countries met in San Francisco October 24^th, 1945, to create the United Nations.  

Most of the people at that historical San Fran gathering had a living memory that just a generation prior to their moment, quite similarly gathered in the beautifully mirrored halls of Versailles to sign a treaty that ended the first World War.  And ideally end all wars. Clearly, that treaty worked to create only a temporary peace. 

I want you to channel the energy of the powerful people who gathered to form the UN in forty-five.  People who having witnessed the failure that vengeance at the end of the last war in 1919 had played in contributing to the start of another War.  A far worse one.

Back in 1945, sobered by the death of between 70 and 85 million people, those people who knew that the surrender of Germany at Reims, and the surrender of Japan on the Aircraft Carrier Missouri, just had to stick.

And when they knew that it had to stick, you know what they did? 

Just a month and a half from the end of the war?   Mostly, those countries did not so much look to punish the Germans as they had in WWI. 

Mostly, they did not take out what would have been an understandable vengeance on the Japanese for jumping in on a war when the West was occupied with Germany’s invasions.  What they did was start the most successful rebuilding program a victor ever had ever before engaged in.  They established the Marshall Plan and met to form the United Nations. 

Shortly after the end of the largest act of human-on-human violence the world had ever known, leaders from all over the world  sat down to write an inspired document that very similar to our Seven UU Principals affirmed “faith in fundamental human rights of all people.”  The UN formed with the primary purpose of avoiding future wars and lifting up the dignity and worth of all humans in nations large and small.”  

To me, the UN gets it, and although hardly perfect, that is why we UU’s have for most of the years since the UN formed dedicated a Sunday to it, and our alignment with UU values is why we have a larger presence at the UN larger than our tiny numbers would demand.

Sometimes watching news from the Ukraine, false patriots questioning democracy, and another school shooting we can lose faith in caring for people we disagree with and maybe even have it out to get us.  I get it.  I feel angry too.  Nonetheless, the most pervasive truth in the world remains the same.  If we want peace in the world, we need to work for justice.   This is not a perfect recipe, nor is it a foolproof plan, but it is the truth.

It probably is impossible to get in front of every sociopath or deranged person with a gun, but both we and the UN know deep in our bones that justice is the only recipe that will work to create long term peace.

We as UU’s have a long history of believing that working for justice creates peace. Say it with me “creating justice creates peace.” It’s as true as anything else you will ever say.

We as UU’s may not be able to speak clearly about any supernatural beliefs, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have faith in anything.  We do.  We UU’s share a faith that If we want peace in the world, we need to create healthy loving environments for people to grow in, and powerful institutions to ensure they continue.

Sometimes, because the work of creating peace is so slow and silent it is hard to see that.

Sometimes it is also hard to forget that the first viable organization dedicated to preventing war and cultivating world peace is both still the age of an average senior citizen and has been in existence for only a tiny sliver of human history.  Nonetheless, it is worth remembering,  especially now.  Especially now.