Peace is a dirty word, a negative concept to many in the U.S. today. Here’s one example: when a homeowners association in Colorado banned the display of a peace sign last Christmas, they cited concerns that it was “an anti-Iraq war protest.”

I don’t get it. Shouldn’t we all be in favor of peace? Shouldn’t war be the last resort option, chosen only when it seems that it is the sole means to returning to a peaceful state? If so, why is it that I rarely hear this rhetoric?

We live a pathological, collective state of mind where war is considered normative. Peace is the aberration, and peace advocates are escapists, cowards, traitors, and radicals.

What angers me the most is that so many who call themselves the followers of the Prince of Peace are the strongest advocates of using violence against others. Instead of turning the other cheek, they pummel both with clenched fists. Instead of helping the stranger, they’re ambushing the hapless and leaving a road strewn with bloody victims.

This is why I’m joining Bored in Vernal’s fast for world peace. In isolation, this fast may have little impact, but I do it in solidarity with others who value peace. I fast and write to be a pinprick in the conscience of America. I write in the hope that I can bring some measure of healing to this war madness that has inflicted our country.