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A PAO (Peace Advocate Organizer) decided to throw a big party for his peace friends. There was going to be black tie dinner at the local university that is the host to the military in the region. It would be a good opportunity for peace makers to educate the ‘powers that be’ at the school about the teaching of war that was taking place on campus.
The PAO invited all his peace friends, especially those concerned with the militarization of society and the education system. So the participants could develop the strategy of the peace advocacy he asked everyone invited to respond with a yes or no by a few days ahead of the dinner.
The peace making invitations went out to many in the peace community, but only a few responded, two said no and one said yes. The PAO sent out another invitation pleading the peace persons not to be ‘indifferent’ but say yes or no to the invitation. He even included a quote from the Holocaust survivor Elie Wisel that said “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.”
The day before the dinner there was still no response. It looked like just the one yes response and the PAO would be present. There was no need for planning.
However, the day of the dinner, the one friend who had said yes made some calls and literally went out on the streets to bring persons to the event. So despite the invited persons being indifferent, a decent group of persons showed up to say No to teaching War at the University.
The security officers at the University were better prepared than the peacemakers and followed their orders from the University to keep the message of the University being a military training center away from the guests at the black tie dinner.
However, standing on the street at the main entrance to the parking lot with valet parking for guests, the peace makers who showed up, many alumni of the same university, were able to communicate the message. The message went out despite the indifference of many and because of the diligence of a few.
The PAO’s initial disappointment at the ‘indifference’ of his peace friends turned into joy when he saw the results of his friend’s pulling people off the streets. The PAO took his friend to his house for the dinner that had been prepared for them. The dinner was not as nice as the dinner of the ‘black tie’ guests of the military university base, but was enjoyed with enthusiasm.
The PAO’s spiritual director had sent him another Elie Wisel quote recently that now came to his mind: “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
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