No Justice, No Peace?

No justice. No peace. That’s the quote. I have always thought it meant that we will protest, demonstrate, riot, etc. until we get justice, be that equality or the punishment of criminals. You want peace, you want comfort, you want an orderly world? Well, you’re not going to get that until we get what we want, what we are entitled to, until we get our rights, too. We are going to be a thorn in your side, until you do what’s just and right.

But, I am coming to understand that there is another meaning for that phrase

You reap what you sow. Popular Bible verse. Related to farming but it’s really about action and reaction, decisions and consequences. Cause and effect. You sow apple seeds, you reap apple trees. Sow corn seeds, reap corn harvest. 

Sow anger and hatred, reap the same. Violence begets violence. War begets war.

You don’t bully and abuse your children, cheat on your spouse, and beget a happy functional family and home life.

You don’t sow injustice and reap peace.

Injustice – be it oppression, police harassment and violence, slavery, discrimination, corruption, worker exploitation, unfair wages, government-sanctioned economic disparity, poverty, judicial favoritism, sexism, racism, homophobia, ageism, etc. – does not breed peace, and it can’t be used to create the conditions for peace. Injustice breeds lawsuits, complaints, hatred, anger, demonstrations, protests, riots, retaliation, strikes, rebellion, revolution, hatred, violence, and war…and a never-ending tide of unhappiness and dysfunction.

You don’t sow injustice and reap peace.

Peace is the reward of a just society.