Prince of Peace

Apparently the midpoint of the year is too far from Christmas as some Christians forget that Jesus is the Prince of Peace who came to bring peace and goodwill to all. Mark Tooley, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, is one of those who seems to have forgotten that peace is at the heart of the message we learn as children at Christmas time. Tooley attacked a recent conference on peace sponsored by the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America. Without attending the event, Tooley put out a statement claiming "Liberal Baptists Displace Christ for 'Peace' Activism." How can the Prince of Peace be displaced by peace? Tooley, a former CIA analyst, added:

Seemingly, Christ takes a back seat at this event, where the Savior was overshadowed by political advocacy or equated with political liberators like Gandhi.

How horrible to talk about that Gandhi guy! Of course, the real problem with his statement is that Jesus was not left out of the event (see earlier posts about other inaccurate claims made by Tooley here, here, here, and here). An Associated Baptist Press article by a reporter who actually attended the event tells the inspiring story of the woman who was the nine-year-old girl running in Vietnam in the famous Pulitzer Prize-winning photo that increased opposition in the U.S. to the Vietnam War. She talked about how Jesus changed her life and helped her to forgive those who had bombed her and her village. So rather than ignoring Jesus, the conference instead highlighted how Jesus brings the healing, forgiveness, and peace that our world desperately needs.