NOBEL peace laureate Betty Williams displayed a flash of her feisty Irish spirit yesterday, lashing out at US President George W.Bush during a speech to hundreds of schoolchildren.
Campaigning on the rights of young people at the Earth Dialogues forum, being held in Brisbane, Ms Williams spoke passionately about the deaths of innocent children during wartime, particularly in the Middle East, and lambasted Mr Bush.
"I have a very hard time with this word 'non-violence', because I don't believe that I am non-violent," said Ms Williams, 64.
"Right now, I would love to kill George Bush." Her young audience at the Brisbane City Hall clapped and cheered.
"I don't know how I ever got a Nobel Peace Prize, because when I see children die the anger in me is just beyond belief. It's our duty as human beings, whatever age we are, to become the protectors of human life."
Apparently George W. bush doesn't rank as human life.
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Law has less and less significance in this country as time goes by...
She should be required to give her peace prize back!
But this woman (whom I don't know anything about, yet), is expressing rage at injustice and violence. I would suspect that she's speaking rhetorically, that perhaps in context what she said is better explained.
I would prefer not demonizing the enemy - whether that enemy is Bush or Hussein - but then she's also stating perhaps honestly that she doesn't know why they gave it to her.
I'm reminded of some of the psalms, wherein sometimes the psalmists beseech God to "smite my enemy" to bash the enemy's head in, to do mean, nasty things to the enemy.
I don't think those are included in the Bible because it's God's desire for us to wish bad things upon enemies, but rather to show that God knows we have emotions, that we get stirred in to violent words, and that God understands that. God's fine with us praying thusly, expressing our outrage at injustice.
Just not acting out upon it. "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord."
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this lady's right and she truly is a bad choice for the prize. But just on a hunch, I'd guess she was just venting righteous indignation.
Anyone who cannot even bridle their own tongue, allowing murder to so easily slip past their lips... such a one is unworthy of a peace prize. But then the Nobel committee has ceased, in recent years, to award the peace prize to individuals who genuinely deserve it.
Also, her indignation was anything but righteous.
I will agree that the peace prize has gone to dubious candidates, though. And just the fact that Bush has been nominated does murder to the word "peace," in itself.