#reconciliation — Public Fediverse posts on home.social

Afrique @[email protected] · 2026-09-07 · 08:59 UTC

https://www.europesays.com/afrique/202443/ Nigeria: Stanley Ontop interpelle Regina Daniels sur sa supposée réconciliation avec Ned Nwoko #Célébrité #Daniels #interpellé #Nigeria #Nwoko #Ontop #réconciliation #Regina #Stanley #supposée

#supposee #stanley #regina #reconciliation #ontop #nwoko

Slow Mover @[email protected] · 2026-08-25 · 07:56 UTC

Why Do You Boast, Great Warrior?

A Peace Reflection on Psalm 52

“Why do you boast about your crimes, great warrior?
Don’t you realize God’s justice continues forever?”
—Psalm 52:1

There is something startlingly contemporary about that question.

Why do you boast, great warrior?

The psalm does not merely condemn violence. It confronts the strange human tendency to celebrate it.

We make monuments to conquerors.
We name weapons after predators.
We decorate generals.
We create highlight reels of explosions.
We speak of “dominance,” “strength,” “shock and awe,” “victory,” and “crushing the enemy.”

And sometimes the destruction itself becomes evidence of greatness.

Look what we can do.

Look how powerful we are.

Look how afraid others are of us.

Psalm 52 interrupts that boasting with an uncomfortable question:

Why?

Why boast about something that destroys what God loves?

Why brag about the ability to kill?

Why measure greatness by the number of enemies defeated rather than the number of enemies reconciled?

Why are nations proud of weapons capable of destroying cities but embarrassed by diplomacy, compromise, mercy, and restraint?

The psalm was written in a world in which rulers demonstrated their greatness through military power. Kings conquered territory, displayed captives, erected monuments, and told stories about their victories.

In many ways, we have not changed very much.

Our monuments are sometimes digital now.

Missile footage.

Drone-camera images.

Maps showing territory captured.

Military parades.

Defense budgets.

Weapons demonstrations.

Politicians promising to be “tough.”

Commentators speaking casually about bombing places most of us will never visit and people we will never meet.

War becomes abstract.

The enemy becomes a category.

And human beings disappear behind words like targets, assets, combatants, collateral damage, and acceptable losses.

Psalm 52 insists that God sees through all of that language.

Behind every map is somebody’s home.

Behind every casualty figure is a name.

Behind every destroyed building was a room where someone ate breakfast, tucked a child into bed, argued with a spouse, celebrated a birthday, prayed, laughed, worried, and dreamed.

This is one of the essential tasks of peacemaking:

to restore the human face to those whom violence has reduced to categories.

Psalm 52 contrasts two different understandings of power.

One is the power of the “great warrior”—the power to threaten, manipulate, deceive, dominate, and destroy.

The other is far quieter:

the steadfast love of God.

The psalmist eventually says:

“But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God.
I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.”

What an extraordinary alternative image.

Not a sword.

Not a fortress.

Not a chariot.

Not an army.

A tree.

A living thing.

Rooted.

Growing.

Providing shade.

Bearing fruit.

An olive tree, of all things—the source of the olive branch that would eventually become one of humanity’s great symbols of peace.

Perhaps there are two ways to imagine greatness.

One asks:

How much power can I accumulate?

The other asks:

How much life can I nurture?

One asks:

How many enemies can I defeat?

The other asks:

How many enemies can become neighbors?

One builds walls.

The other builds tables.

One produces fear.

The other produces trust.

One leaves ruins.

The other plants trees.

And Psalm 52 makes another important claim:

Violence does not get the final word.

“God’s justice continues forever.”

Empires rarely believe this.

Every empire imagines itself permanent.

Every dictator thinks the palace will remain standing.

Every warlord believes fear will preserve power.

Every weapons system promises security.

But history is littered with the ruins of people who once believed they were invincible.

The psalm reminds us that brute force is spectacular but temporary.

Love is quieter and much more stubborn.

A bomb can destroy a house in seconds.

It takes years to build a community.

A bullet can end a life instantly.

It can take generations to heal the hatred that produced it.

Violence is fast.

Peace is patient.

Which may be one reason humanity so often chooses violence.

Violence gives the illusion of immediate results.

Peace requires imagination.

Negotiation.

Listening.

Justice.

Reconciliation.

Repentance.

Forgiveness.

Courage.

And time.

Yet Jesus places himself squarely within this alternative understanding of power.

Blessed are the peacemakers.

Love your enemies.

Pray for those who persecute you.

Put away your sword.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

The first shall be last.

The greatest shall be servant of all.

Again and again, Jesus overturns our normal measurements of strength.

The cross itself becomes Christianity’s ultimate critique of domination.

Rome believed the cross demonstrated imperial power.

Jesus transformed it into a revelation of self-giving love.

The empire said:

This is what we can do to you.

God answered:

And still I will love you.

That is a very different kind of power.

For those of us committed to peace, Psalm 52 therefore asks more than whether we personally commit acts of violence.

It asks what we admire.

What do we cheer?

What language do we tolerate?

What stories do we tell our children?

Who receives our monuments?

Whose courage do we celebrate?

Do we know the names of our generals better than the names of our peacemakers?

Perhaps part of building a culture of peace is learning to boast about different things.

Boast about the person who stopped a fight.

Boast about the diplomat who kept talking when everyone else wanted to walk away.

Boast about the conscientious objector who refused to kill.

Boast about the victim who chose restorative justice over revenge.

Boast about the community that welcomed refugees.

Boast about the activists who stood between opposing groups.

Boast about the teacher who taught children how to resolve conflict.

Boast about the soldier who refused an unlawful order.

Boast about the neighbor who crossed a political, racial, religious, or cultural boundary and made a friend.

Boast about the people planting olive trees in places where others would plant land mines.

Maybe that is one way we begin dismantling the myth of redemptive violence.

We change what we call heroic.

Psalm 52 asks:

“Why do you boast about your crimes, great warrior?”

Perhaps followers of Jesus should answer with another question:

What if greatness is not measured by our ability to destroy an enemy, but by our courage to make peace with one?

The warrior may have the louder story.

The missile may make the larger explosion.

The empire may dominate the headlines.

But somewhere beneath all that noise, God continues planting olive trees.

And God’s justice continues forever.

May we be found among those planting them.

#Anabaptism #biblicalReflection #BlessedAreThePeacemakers #ChristianEthics #ChristianPeacemaking #CultureOfPeace #Devotional #enemyLove #God #GodSJustice #gospelOfPeace #JesusAndPeace #Justice #LoveYourEnemies #mennonite #militarism #mythOfRedemptiveViolence #Nonviolence #OliveBranch #peace #peaceChurch #peaceTheology #PeaceGrooves #Peacemaking #Psalm52 #Psalms #Reconciliation #RestorativeJustice #scriptureReflection #SteadfastLove #Violence #WarAndPeace

#anabaptism #biblicalreflection #blessedarethepeacemakers #christianethics #christianpeacemaking #cultureofpeace

Daniel Jean @[email protected] · 2026-08-15 · 12:00 UTC

La paix est notre avenir

La plupart des gens associent la paix à des colombes, des fleurs et des T-shirts bariolés. Faire la paix serait un travail réservé aux personnes calmes, les romantiques, ceux qui ont la chance d'être bien équilibrés, et guidés par une forme de spiritualité. On admire volontiers Martin Luther King et Mahatma Ghandi, on les érige en modèles : ils ont fait un rêve et ils ont triomphé. C'est oublier qu'ils l'ont payé de leur vie. J'ai travaillé dans des zones de conflit, moi aussi, […]

https://dandanjean.com/2026/08/15/la-paix-est-notre-avenir/

#acceptation #amour #attention #avenir #azizabusarah #etre

Gerd_Brodowski @[email protected] · 2026-08-05 · 16:24 UTC

#usa #japan : #history / #nuking / #prisonersofwar / #memory / #reconciliation

„Twelve American prisoners of war died when their own country dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. An 8-year-old survivor of the blast would spend more than four decades ensuring they were not forgotten.“

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/4984/

#usa #japan #history #nuking #prisonersofwar #memory

Jamin Bradley @[email protected] · 2026-07-03 · 00:50 UTC

The Last Exchange: A Mythic Parable

After months of grueling war, the Gavaun leaders welcomed the Oshkin leaders to their tent to entertain conversations of peace. Hearts among the two nations were as hard as could be, and no civilian expected that this would be the moment that would curve things in a better direction.

As the Oshkin leaders approached the entrance, the Gavaun soldiers at the door demanded that they surrender all their belongings. Though insulted by these demands, the Oshkin reluctantly submitted to the rules. They removed their priceless rings and sacred necklaces, emptied their pockets into the hands of the smirking soldiers, and entered the tent. With the Oshkin out of sight, the soldiers chuckled and threw the objects into the trash.

As you can imagine, peace was not found that day.

Months went by, and the tides of war shifted. It was now the Oshkin that welcomed the Gavaun leaders to their tent to discuss the possibilities of peace. As the Gavaun approached the tent door, they were met by Oshkin soldiers demanding that they surrender all of their belongings before entering. The faces of the Gavaun fell. They had heard the stories of what their soldiers had done. At the time, they had even gotten a laugh out of it. But now they knew their retribution had come. They sighed heavily and removed their priceless rings and sacred necklaces, and emptied their pockets into their enemies’ hands.

Hours later, the Gavaun leaders left the tent quickly, their pace fueled by their anger. As they reached the gate, they heard one of the soldiers call out for them. “Sirs! Your belongings?”

The Gavauns stopped in their tracks. Surely this was a trick. Would they not be mocked when they turned around? They whispered to each other for a moment, and then one of them turned around and walked up to the soldier. He quickly grabbed their things from the soldier’s hand, and then they swiftly made their exit.

Peace was not found that day either.

Months went by, and the tides of war shifted once again. As the Oshkin approached the gate, they were surprised to find the Gavaun leaders outside the tent, one of them standing in front of a table holding what appeared to be a wrapped gift.

“You were humane with us when we were inhumane with you,” said the leader. “We cannot recover your priceless rings and your sacred necklaces, nor the items you kept in your pockets. While we do not know if peace will be found today, we would like to offer you this gift to make reparations for our behavior.”

The Gavaun pulled the bow as the box walls fell over to reveal an ornate sand timer.

“The sand timer is one of the greatest symbols among the Gavaun people, and this one was carved by our most acclaimed craftsman. Our most sacred lessons and stories are tied to this symbol, and it carries many meanings. In this case, it represents our desire to turn back time to better honor your first visit. But just as time moves forward no matter how you turn the timer, so can we only do our best to do better with the time ahead of us.”

As you can imagine, hearts began to soften. But peace was not found that day.

As the months went by, the tides of war shifted, and the Gavaun came to discuss peace at the Oshkin tent. The Oshkin leaders were found outside their tent, one of them standing behind a table holding a cylindrical box. The leader confessed that the Gavaun’s previous gift should have softened their hearts more than it did and that peace should have been found sooner. They now wished to reciprocate by giving a gift of their own. As the Oshkin began to slowly pull the tall cylindrical top off the gift, the brightest, golden glow you could ever imagine blinded the eyes of all who looked upon it. The solid orb that was revealed must have been made of the most refined gold in the world.

Peace was found that day.

Peace Day became a holiday, and a new tradition was established. Every year, the Gavauns and the Oshkins would gather for a new kind of war: a “gift-off,” I suppose you might call it. Each nation would present a gift to the other to see whose might be better. It became an intriguing display of craftsmanship and culture, as each nation would explain the significance of what they had offered the other.

This tradition continued for about a century, until one particular exchange between an Oshkin man and a Gavaun woman brought it to a sudden end. The man and the woman unveiled their nation’s gift at the same time, revealing the exact same gift: a large crystal glass with a small amount of gleaming white wine at the bottom. Both the glass and the liquid shone in the sun as all who gathered for the exchange looked at it with mouths agape. Neither nation had to explain the gift, for both realized in that moment that they had the same story. No greater gift could have possibly been given, and for that reason, the tradition no longer needed to continue.

“Do you hear that?” the woman said to the man.

The man looked around, listening closely, but heard nothing. He shook his head.

“It’s as though the beat of every sacred song ever written is contained in that cup.”

#allegory #craftsmanship #enemies #fantasy #fiction #forgiveness #generosity #gifts #grace #hope #hospitality #mythology #parable #peace #reconciliation #redemption #reparations #sacredStories #symbolicStorytelling #worldbuilding

#allegory #craftsmanship #enemies #fantasy #fiction #forgiveness

Kyiv Independent Daily Headlines @[email protected] · 2026-06-24 · 12:40 UTC

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Analysis: Russia breaks into Kostiantynivka, opening battle for Donbas fortress belt . . . . . Regions across Russia impose gasoline sales restrictions as Ukrainian strikes deepen fuel crisis . . . . . Ukraine destroys key logistics bridge in Crimea, hits over 60 Russian military targets overnight . . . . . Russia working to stop Ukraine's EU accession, report find . . . and more

https://activitypub.writeworks.uk/2026/06/wednesday-june-24-2026/

#achievements #allegedabuse #apartmentbuildings #apartments #assassin #assassinate

BC Métis Man ✅ 🙉🙈🙊⚖ @[email protected] · 2025-09-30 · 12:16 UTC

Happy TRC day in Canada!!! Please learn about an Indigenous culture near you and how you can help the reconciliation process today. Here is a great website about the Metis which has a great section on "Métis Scrip". Do you know what scrip was and who it was given to? Click the link below to begin your learning journey!

https://tilixam.com/

#trc #orangeshirt #orangeshirtday #reconciliation #michif #metis #scrip #land #chinuk #chinook #indigenous

#indigenous #trc #orangeshirt #orangeshirtday #reconciliation #michif

The USA Potato @[email protected] · 2025-05-22 · 17:12 UTC

The “Oligarch’s Budget” Wages War on Poor Americans

Unless you’re very wealthy, this bill will ultimately leave you worse off and more economically vulnerable.

https://voices.murica.website/sasha-abramsky/the-oligarchs-budget-wages-war-on-poor-americans/

#austerity #budget #gop #inequality #medicaid #medicare

WIST Quotations Has Moved! @[email protected] · 2025-05-08 · 20:31 UTC

A quotation from Josh Billings

Old dorgs nuss their grudges, but yung pupps fight and then frolik.

[Old dogs nurse their grudges, but young pups fight and then frolic.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 156 “Affurisms: Embers on the Harth” (1874)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/billings-josh/76552/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #conflict #grievance #grudge #hardfeelings #illwill #reconciliation #resentment #resolution #venting

#quotes #quote #conflict #qotd #reconciliation #venting

Estelle Platini @[email protected] · 2024-12-05 · 18:55 UTC

L'État allemand a lié sa propre renaissance dans le "royaume des nations civilisées" au travers d'une relation de protection particulière de la figure du Juif, où les Israélien·nes (toujours juif/ves) sont une incarnation primordiale de la vie juive.

"Tant que la figure du Juif restera un vecteur d'articulation et d'expérimentation de l'identité allemande, l'accomplissement de la différence collective et de l'action politique juives sera relégué exclusivement relégué à l'État d'Israël. La figure du Palestinien, ainsi que la sujétion politique des Palestinien·nes et leurs revendications d'égalité, seront à leur tour considérées soit comme un désagrément à éviter, soit comme une menace à criminaliser, plutôt que comme un prisme décisif pour reconnaître les multiples niveaux de violence morale légitimée en Allemagne. "

Hannah Tzuberi et Nahed Samour en 2022 (en): https://contendingmodernities.nd.edu/theorizing-modernities/the-german-state-and-the-creation-of-un-desired-communities/

#tabou #fétichisme #sacré #Allemagne #culpabilité #philoSémitisme #confusion #antisémitisme #racisme #colonialité #prosionisme #imaginaires #rédemption #expiation #Réconciliation #nationalisme #patriotisme #unitaire #unitarisme #völkisch #volkisme #racialisation #communautarisme #valeurs #croyances