Why the Ecumenical Movement is a movement for peace

From Australia-

Statisticians inform us that the past decade has seen a drop in the number of armed conflicts around the world and fewer war-related deaths than any decade in the past hundred years.

While any reduction is welcome, I doubt that such statistics are reassuring to the people of Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, South Sudan, Somalia, or the Congo. And I guarantee you they are little comfort to millions of us in the United States where political leaders speak of the “war on terror” as a permanent feature of life in this era.

I suppose it is possible, with an eye on statistics, to argue that Australia largely escaped the military slaughter of the past century. But tell that to the 100,000 Australians who died in conflict in such places as Gallipoli, Fromelles, Tobruk, El Alamein, New Guinea, Yongju, Malaysia, Long Tan, Baghdad, and Kandahar. You know, far better than I, that Australia’s national character has been shaped by the “Anzac spirit,” with its idealised conception of war, and by a firm conviction that security is derived from military force, including alliances with those whose weapons are bigger than yours. When President Obama spoke to the Australian Parliament in 2011, anti-war groups derided this country as a loyal subsidiary of the US military industrial complex.

More here-

http://www.melbourne.anglican.com.au/NewsAndViews/Pages/Why-the-Ecumenical-Movement-is-a-movement-for-peace-000439.aspx