Dreams of Peace

Perhaps the most famous piece written by the German composer Robert Schumann (two N’s) was a one-page piano piece, Träumerei (Dreaming).

But there is another Robert Schuman (one N) who was very famous in Europe. He was the principal force behind the formation of what is now known as the European Union. It was his dream to bring the countries of western Europe together to solve their differences peacefully rather than through war and competition, and to speak with a united voice to the world. Ever since Strasbourg was the Roman town of Argenteum, two millennia ago, western Europe has experienced one war after another, big or small, in which millions of people have died miserably. The most recent war in western Europe was World War Two. How could Schuman’s dream of peace ever be achieved, after millennia of war? In particular, how could the Germans, who slaughtered the French, and the French, who dreamed of revenge against the Germans, possibly experience not just peace but unity of spirit and purpose?

Schuman’s dream seemed impossible, according to many newspaper cartoons in the 1950s. Here is one, on display at the European Parliament building in Strasbourg. Schuman, one N, is depicted as Schumann, two N’s, not just dreaming but fantasizing about European unity. This fantasy seemed as impossible as Zeus, in the form of a white bull, carrying off the goddess Europa.

But that is exactly what happened. Europe is so unified that war between its member states is unthinkable. Right in this very building, a unified western European response to Russian aggression against the Ukraine took form. Just the week before I visited, the European parliament had to decide how to respond to Trump imposing tariffs on Europe, for reasons that were never made clear, then how to respond to Trump immediately afterwards removing the tariffs. Things that happen in this building are a major part of world news and, unlike many other major sources of news, the news from Europe is overwhelmingly positive and constructive.

Despite an evolutionary history of violence, and millennia of social history of violence, humans can learn peace. See videos I have posted here and here .

I posted this essay on my science blog. I will add an observation for this religion blog. Many people believe that the only way to peace is through Christianity. But this is clearly not the case. Christianity has been the fountainhead of a lot of violence throughout history. And the European Union was, and is, an entirely secular organization.

Inconvenient Bible Passages, Part One

While cleaning out my accumulated papers, I ran across a list of Bible verses that I taught in a Natural Resources Conservation class at a Christian college in 1990. Since that time, conservative Christians have largely turned against environmental issues, and recently have abandoned them because of their adoration for Donald Trump. But these verses remain as a challenge to them. I merely list them here. They almost sound like the kinds of environmentalist screeds the conservative Christians so openly hate, but they come directly from the Bible.

“For six years you may sow your land and gather its crops, but during the seventh year you must leave it alone and let it lie fallow.”

“…because there is no fidelity, no kindness, and no knowledge of God in the land…therefore the land mourns, and everything that dwells therein languishes, even the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea are also swept away.”

“When the poor and the needy seek water in vain, and their tongues are parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them…I will open rivers on the bare heights and wells in the midst of valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool…I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane, and the larch as well, that men may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

“The land must not be sold in perpetuity; for the land is Mine, since you are only resident aliens and serfs under me.”

I will let you think about these for a while, then post some more.