On March 8th, 2023 four students competed in the C. Henry Smith Oratorical Contest. This contest invites people from Mennonite and Brethren in Christ colleges and universities across Canada and the United States to compete. Here at the University of Waterloo, Peace and Conflict Students as well as Grebel Residents were invited to share their voices on topics of Christian peace position on contemporary concerns and were judged on topic, content, delivery, introduction, conclusion, and creativity.
Rachel is a second-year student of Life Physics here at the University of Waterloo and is a Grebel resident. She gave a speech titled “The Fallacy of Peace: Labor Laws and Civil Disobedience” which explores labor rights and nursing strikes intertwined with the need for peace and justice.
Rachel's speech tied for third place.
You are encouraged to read the other speeches by Faraja, Zoe, and Stefan.
The Fallacy of Peace: Labour Laws and Civil Disobedience
I don’t believe in peace.
Not the peace we say comes from committees, or policies. Not the peace we see wars being fought over. Not the peace we think we’re praying for.
No, I don’t believe in this peace.
The Hebrew word for peace, shalom, is best defined as a “wholeness” or “completeness”. It is God’s peace, which He describes as “transcending all understanding”. It is God’s perfect peace. But does this not imply that there is an “imperfect” peace? A warped and crooked peace, perverted by the world, a broken peace from broken humanity, from fallen man and sinful nature? If a corrupt tree bears only evil fruit, what does this make the world’s peace?
The Oxford English Dictionary describes peace as “the freedom from disturbance; the freedom from civil disorder”. In an ideal state, there is nothing wrong with wanting this peace. There is nothing wrong with pursuing this peace. But in the realities of our fallen world, a freedom from disturbance or civil disorder -- a freedom from struggling -- just means a passivity to what happens around us. And as a consequence of our sinful nature, what will always happen around us are injustices. This position of peace cannot be reconciled with Christianity. As Jesus was sending out his disciples, he said in Matthew 10:34: “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.” Jesus didn’t come to bring peace on earth because this kind of peace doesn’t belong on earth. His life and legacy are innately tied to persecution. Like a sword, the Gospel message cuts through society. It divides families, it divides nations. And Jesus told this to his disciples. He told them to expect the struggle. To expect disturbance. To expect the threat of death. This is not a peaceful calling. As Christians, our calling is, however, all about love. We are called to love God, to love God with all of our being. We are called to love others, even if we receive nothing but hate in return.
But how do we love God? How do we love each other?
As it is written in Amos 5:21-24, God says to His people:
“I hate all your show and pretence— the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.”
As Christians, we should shift our cries for peace to cries of justice. Why wish for a peace we can never find on this earth? That would be a meaningless facade, nothing more than a noisy distraction. We should worry less on whether the world sees our actions as peaceful and instead focus on whether our actions show our love. Because sometimes, loving our neighbours requires actions that may not be “peaceful”. Sometimes, pursuing justice comes at the cost of civil order.
You may have noticed, driving down King Street, a crowd of protesters in front of the Grand River Hospital. These are nurses and other health care workers fighting for better staffing, better care, and better wages. The Ontario Nurses’ Association is scheduled to head into arbitration over their new contracts in May. But until then, every person you see picketing is someone who just finished a 12 hour shift. Someone who showed up in the cold on their one day off. And this is because nurses in Ontario do not have the right to strike.
A 2015 Supreme Court case determined that Canadians’ right to strike was guaranteed under their Charter Rights, specifically the freedom of peaceful assembly and the freedom of association. However, essential workers, including nurses, are often left out of this. Sure, on technicalities they are allowed to take “alternative” job actions, but does wearing a sticker at work really make the same statement as walking out?
The problem with nursing strikes is that they are not inherently peaceful. Although there may not be violence, people still get hurt. Patients, some of society's most vulnerable, still get hurt. A US study found that patient mortality increased by 19.4% during nursing strikes. On the surface, it makes sense that nurses are not afforded these same rights. But digging deeper, we see that patients are already dying. Dying in ER waiting rooms, dying alone in nursing homes, dying from medication errors. Mothers like Rita Javagiaq, who has to bury her baby because there was no nurse to answer the phone. Patients are dying from a lack of care. A lack of care because there are no more nurses. No more nurses to overwork. No more nurses to underpay. So let me say this -- it’s not peaceful for nurses to work, either! The right to strike is so important because it brings about change. Change in working conditions, change in wages, change across sectors and change across society. So let the nurses strike! Let the nurses strike even if it is illegal. Let the nurses strike even if it isn’t peaceful. Because otherwise, nothing will change. This is not justice. This is not love.
But why should I care? I’m not a nurse. I’m not sick. But what we do for the least of God’s people, we do for Him. If we see injustice, no matter how small, let us be compelled to action. Let us lift up one another in love. Let us support nurses who strike illegally. Let us support action for justice and change, even if it isn’t peaceful. There will be a day, on a new earth, after all else has passed away, that we will experience God’s perfect peace. That we will experience shalom. Until then, I pray not for peace in the world, but for a flood of justice. For overflowing love to our neighbours, for change in our workplaces and change in our society.
I don’t believe in peace. And I think, neither should you