The mood surrounding this year's Christmas period is quite different from previous years. There is more anxiety than joy. This is very different from the message of jubilation that this holiday usually brings to Taiwan and other places around the world. The shadow of war and chaos appears to be drowning the auspiciousness of Christmas.
In Christianity, the greatest significance of Jesus' birth should be that he brought humanity the hope of peace and love and allowed all people under the sun to share this message through the celebration of his birthday. Out of this healthy and meaningful hope grows vitality and the spirit of loving others like oneself, which makes everyone willing to love and help each other and to help those who need help while raising one's vision, renouncing violence and interacting with each other peacefully. If this is the case, then there will naturally be no violence and war in this world. As such, regardless of their religious affiliations, people should not reject such an inspiring truth.
In the last 10 years of the last century, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, humanity left behind the potential crisis of a third World War. No one would have anticipated that no sooner did we enter the new century than we would be facing a serious threat of terrorism targeting the US and many other countries. Chilling terrorist attacks have wrapped the entire world in the gloom of the US anti-terror campaign. This year the world is again overshadowed by a possible US and UK joint attack against Iraq. This has hindered the prospects of an international financial recovery. The economies of various regions remain sluggish and many people feel uncertain about their futures. A milieu of pessimism permeates everywhere. This certainly affects people's moods even as they try to celebrate Christmas.
We cannot help but ask whether this conflict -- which began from an excessive rich-poor divide and religious differences and expanded into a conflict between ethnic groups and religions -- should be resolved by military means as the ideological conflicts of the last century were resolved? On the other hand, do the sufferings of a small number of people and their disagreement with other people's lifestyles justify the killing of innocent people and the unleashing of terror throughout the world? What exactly did we learn from the two World Wars and numerous other conflicts large and small in the last century? History has already taught us that genocidal methods like those employed by Nazi Germany, the Khmer Rouge and Yugoslavia's Slobodan Milosevic cannot solve humanity's conflicts.
World peace has been threatened by terrorism right at the beginning of a new century. What can we do to reverse this situation and prevent it from worsening? We believe world peace cannot be achieved in one stroke. It takes more tolerance, mutual trust and communication to nurture it. Perhaps, the US could take the initiative by demonstrating its Christian spirit, attaching more importance to the plight of people in poor countries, treating other countries with sincerity and humility and showing love for the world's peoples. Only then can the virus of ethnic hostility stop breeding and spreading. Only then will it be meaningful to greet and celebrate Christmas. Only then will there be real hope for world peace.
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