// USA Today (Magazine) 1998. – 9/1/
There is a bumper sticker that says, "If you want peace, then work for justice. " At a superficial level, this simple slogan contains an important half-truth. At a deeper level, it contains a more profound half-truth. To understand these half-truths and why they are only half true, it is necessary to know what peace and justice are and to comprehend the relationship between the two.
The more obvious and superficial meaning of the above slogan is that people who are treated unjustly will prevent the attainment of peace until the wrongs to which they are subject are righted. Demonstrators shout: "No justice. No peace. " The apparent meaning of peace in this case is tranquility, the absence of strife, and if this meaning of peace is accepted, the slogan is true. One can not expect to end strife as long as people have unresolved grievances. The reason this is just half true, though, is that this meaning is merely a shadow of what peace really is.
There is a bumper sticker that says, "If you want peace, then work for justice. " At a superficial level, this simple slogan contains an important half-truth. At a deeper level, it contains a more profound half-truth. To understand these half-truths and why they are only half true, it is necessary to know what peace and justice are and to comprehend the relationship between the two.
The more obvious and superficial meaning of the above slogan is that people who are treated unjustly will prevent the attainment of peace until the wrongs to which they are subject are righted. Demonstrators shout: "No justice. No peace. " The apparent meaning of peace in this case is tranquility, the absence of strife, and if this meaning of peace is accepted, the slogan is true. One can not expect to end strife as long as people have unresolved grievances. The reason this is just half true, though, is that this meaning is merely a shadow of what peace really is.