What is "Peace?"

A few weeks ago, I embarked on this "quest," of sorts, to challenge the way we, as moms, think, act, dress, etc.  In my June 12, 2013 blog entry, A Truly Random Ramble, I challenged readers to examine things in their lives that seem driven by the world's standard.  Things like clothing, movies, language, activities and asked,  "What do those things in your life say about you?"  And, more importantly, what things are our children learning from the way we dress, speak, etc?

In today's entry, I want to discuss a particular design or symbol found on many children's and even ladies clothing these days - the peace symbol.  Growing up, I was never allowed to wear or own anything with the peace sign - my mom always said it was a sign indicative of the Satanic cult.  And yet, this seemingly harmless emblem keeps popping up everywhere - more and more - especially in recent years.  You can now get anything from pencils to t-shirts to underwear emblazoned with the famous circle and "chicken foot" design.

Now that I have my own daughter, and department store shelves seem readily stocked with most any article of clothing with this symbol of "peace" stamped all over, I decided it was time for me to do my own homework on the origins of the Peace Sign and what it REALLY represents...

I found a website called GotQuestions.org and found the best most comprehensive definition and explanation of the origin of the peace sign.  Here's what their website has to say (quoted in purple):


The logo commonly recognized as the “peace sign” since the late ‘50s supposedly began as the logo for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). According to the CND, it was designed in 1958 by an English professional artist/designer named Gerald Holtom, who had graduated from the Royal College of Arts. Holtom, a conscientious objector who had preferred working on a Norfolk farm during WWII instead of joining the conflict, incorporated the hand-held flag symbols (semaphores) for N and D into his logo, the N standing for “nuclear” and the D for “disarmament.” In semaphore, the letter N is formed by a person holding two flags in an upside-down V, 

and the letter D is formed by holding one flag pointed straight up and the other pointed straight down.

By superimposing the flag orientation of these two letters, the bars of the peace sign were derived.

Holtom presented his design to officials in the Peace News office in London and to the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War. The Direct Action Committee was already planning its first major anti-nuclear march from London to Aldermaston, where British nuclear weapons were manufactured. Bertrand Russell, an organizer of this march, selected the symbol to be placed on buttons and banners for the march. The "peace sign" made its first public appearance in the U.K. on that march over the 1958 Easter weekend. Holtom originally had intended to use the cross symbol within a circle as the logo for the march but various clergy he consulted about the idea were obviously not enthusiastic about using the cross on a protest banner. Holtom described the use of the downward V to represent the despair that he felt due to nuclear proliferation. He later reportedly regretted his choice, rather preferring an upward V, which he felt would express the joy of peace. He requested that the upward V peace sign be placed on his tomb, but this request was not heeded.

The symbol was brought to the U.S. by Bayard Rustin, a U.S. civil rights protester, who had participated in the Aldermaston march. The peace sign was first used in the United States later in the same year when a pacifist protestor, Albert Bigelow, sailed his small boat near a scheduled U.S. nuclear test site displaying the CND banner. It was later used on civil rights marches and appeared at anti-Vietnam War demonstrations.

The reported origin of the symbol has been clearly documented in letters, interviews, and the original sketches of the symbol, which are now displayed in the Peace Museum in Bradford, U.K. However, there have been a variety of claims that the symbol has Communist, occult or anti-Christian meanings and derivations. 

The controversy is fully understood when one examines the historical use of the same signal. The downward V has been linked to the mystic character for ”Aum,” a sacred word to the Hindu. Saying “Aum” over and over supposedly awakens the power of Brahma at the base of the spine. 

Germanic tribes that used it claimed the sign, or “rune,” to have eerie, mystical properties. It is said that it was used by sorcerers in pagan ceremonies. The Saracens in A.D. 711 used this symbol to alternately represent a broken cross, a raven's claw, or a witch's foot, all presumably satanic symbols. 

Under the reign of Roman Emperor Nero, infamous for his brutal persecution of Christians and Jews, this symbol was prominently used to represent a broken cross or broken Jew. Nero crucified the Apostle Peter upside down, and the horrific event resembled the downward-pointing fork. It was thereafter called the Neronic cross. 

With the Third Reich steeped in the occult, Hitler's 3rd Panzer Division used this same symbol from 1941 to 1945. The symbol in Germany is called a todesrune or death rune. It often appeared on death notices. It is also found on some of the tombstones of the notorious SS soldiers. 

For Bertrand Russell, a supporter of communism, the symbol meant not only communism but also peace without God. 

Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, used the downward-pointing fork as the background for his altar. The Book of Signs, written by Rudolph Koch, indicates that the downward-pointing fork means “the death of man,” and, with the circle around it meaning “total,” the entire symbol means “the total death of all people.”

Holtom never professed to have any knowledge of any historical use of this symbol. However, it is certain that Bertrand Russell was well aware of the satanic and anti-Christian roots of the symbol. He chose it accordingly. It is possible that Holtom learned of the symbol’s dubious past at some point, prompting his desire to convert the symbol to an upward-pointing V. The underlying meaning of the circle with the downward pointing fork, “the total death of man,” certainly is contrary to what the peace movement wanted in its anti-nuclear stance.

Whatever the origin, meaning, and usage of the peace sign, this much is clear: it speaks of a false peace—"'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace" (Jeremiah 6:14b). There can be no true peace until "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). Rather than looking for peace in a symbol, may we all turn our eyes to the only true source of peace. "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace" (Numbers 6:24-26).

In all actuality, when the peace sign is worn, it stands as an outward support of a symbol that was created and used long before Gerald Holtom presented the design he claimed as his own - a symbol that, at it's roots, represents horrendous evil and heinous acts carried out in numerous well documented times throughout history.  

I think it's quite clear that although Gerald Holtom designed the peace sign as the logo for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, even he "reportedly regretted his choice, rather preferring an upward V, which he felt would express the joy of peace."  However, by that time, Bertrand Russell, "a supporter of communism," had already chosen the symbol to be placed on buttons and banners for the Easter, 1958 anti-nuclear march from London to Aldermaston and the usage of the symbol spread from there.  Russell still chose to use the symbol even though he was "well aware of the satanic and anti-Christian roots of the symbol."  

As a Christ follower, I personally will not wear or promote a symbol, sign, group, or cause that speaks against my Lord and Savior - whether blatantly as the numerous well-documented instances of the past, or hidden behind a claim of "peace" in the present.  I challenge others to do the same.

Daring to Care

I'm sitting here at my computer with tons of thoughts flowing through my mind - things I want to include in this blog entry, but for the life of me, I can't figure out where to start!

I have a question I want to pose - a question that I'd asked myself a thousand times before, but never quite knew how I'd respond until a couple of weeks ago.  Here it is:

How would you respond if someone you knew called you on the carpet about something?  How would you react?  Would you get defensive?  Angry?  Offended?  Would you accept it as "constructive criticism" and just brush it off?  Would you ponder and meditate on it?  Would you accept what has been pointed out as a potential problem spot or issue that you may need to address - or would you accuse that someone of being judgmental?  Really - how would YOU respond?

Now, I'm not talking about some stranger off the street or some bully at school giving you a piece of their mind.  No.  I'm talking about someone you know be it a friend, family member, or co-worker - someone who may or may not know you well, but knows you well enough to point out an inconsistency or point of concern.  Someone who, to one degree or another, cares about you enough to bring a concern to light.

I honestly didn't know myself how I would react to something like that until about 2 weeks ago.

Following my miscarriage in April, it was brought to my attention that a medication I'd been on - one that had been approved as being "safe" for pregnant women - has now been suspected of potentially causing birth defects in unborn babies.  I had been on that medication, Zoloft, for about 5 years for a condition related to my menstrual cycle called Premenstrual dysphoric disorder or PMDD.  After hearing about the potential problems of being on Zoloft, my husband and I decided that I would go off of the medication while we're still in "family growing" mode.  So, in mid-May, I began the month long process of weaning myself off Zoloft.

It wasn't until the medication began to decrease in my body that I fully realized how much it had been helping.  In short, PMDD is a severe form of PMS.  (You can read more about PMDD here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pmdd.  The symptoms of PMDD generally dominate my body for about 2 of every 4 weeks and can be truly paralyzing.

My first month off of Zoloft wasn't too bad, but as week 5 began, I hit a wall - fast and hard.  It was like my world flipped upside down.  Not only am I still working through the grief and loss of my son, but being off of the Zoloft left my body trudging it's way through the day-to-day grind completing process after process with hormone levels completely out of whack.  It has felt like a war raging inside from my head to my toes and no matter what I do, the war rages on because the human body, in all it's wonder and glory, continues on in the only way it knows how.

I have several wonderful girl friends who I've shared my struggles with.  Friends who have comforted me, prayed with and for me, and who always offer a listening ear or warm embrace when I need it.  This internal war, however, is really quite a downer and after a while, I've felt that all I do is complain and emit this almost negative aura, and so I've tried to stop talking about the ache - not because I think my friends don't care, but because I'm tired of always being "Johnny Raincloud."  The last thing in the world that I want is to bring them down because the war zone of the mind and body is a very messy place.

Two weeks ago, though, my dear friend, Bethany called.  I've really not known Bethany very long.  She, her husband, and children had been part of our church Life Group.  We had really just been getting to know each other when their family relocated to Florida for Bethany's husband's job.  We have continued to stay in touch, though, calling one another about every other week just to touch base and check in.  The friendship between Bethany and I changed drastically, though, in April following my miscarriage.  Bethany and her husband have lost two babies of their own and she is well aware of the wave of emotions and grief that follow.

Bethany and I had been playing phone tag for a few days when we were finally able to connect on a Sunday night.  What started out as our normal "how's life" conversation turned into a 3 hour long time of healing when I poured my heart out to her and she poured love, compassion, and understanding in to me.  I told Bethany about my war and how hopeless and helpless I felt and in so many ways, I knew she understood.

A few days later, Bethany called again.  Our conversation started off as usual - how are you?  How's life?  Anything new?  And then, once again, it turned.  Bethany told me that I'd been on her heart and that she was really concerned about me.  She told me she was nervous about what she needed to tell me, but went on to say something to the effect of, "I know I'm not a doctor, and I'm not trying to be all up in your business, but I really don't think it's a good idea for you to off your medicine right now.  Girl, you just need to cry, eat some ice cream, and give yourself time to heal - it's OK!  And remember - God is SO much bigger than any medication or talk of birth defects - He can do anything!"

I tell you - I was shocked.  For the first time - I'm tempted to say the first time in my life - someone cared - REALLY cared in a way so crazy and radical that they even DARED to say something like that to me.  That's huge!  At least it was to me.  Bethany didn't just listen to me spout out my troubles - my complaints and my heartache - but she listened - even to the things I didn't say - and she called me on the carpet for trying to handle too much especially when I'm really not in a place to handle much at all.  And I'm so glad that she did.

As I hung up the phone, I remember feeling relieved - relieved that someone had pointed out a HUGE problem in me.  That someone cared enough to "get all up in my business" and call out an inconsistency and a point of concern.  I'm not saying that it'll be that easy the next time, or that I won't be hurt or offended, but take it from someone who has been on both ends of the spectrum - it's never fun to do the confronting, and it's generally not fun to be confronted.  But it's something we are all called to do.  If you are a follower of Christ, than you, like me, are called to "be up in each others business," to care enough to point out the problems, to offer advice when needed, and to bear the burdens of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

I'm happy to report that I'm now 3 days back into taking Zoloft.  It'll be a couple of weeks before I'm feeling back up to speed again, but at least I'm starting to see the light on the horizon.  And Bethany, if you read this, you can be "all up in my business" any. time. you. want.