As we find ourselves in what has been dubbed a 'war on terrorism', it seems an especially good time to ask this age-old question - Is the world any closer to accepting that there is a better alternative to conflict than war?

It's particularly ironic that this current 'war' has religion at its roots, for nothing has ever offered an alternative to war but the teachings at the heart of all the world's great religions. And it's no accident that this war, with no clearly defined enemy, borders, or causes, also has no clearly defined beginning, or end. It is the ideal war to challenge our most basic beliefs about war. With this 'perfect', endless war will come the creeping, numbing, final realization of the futility of war. There will be no declared victor -- ever. This is a war where no one can win, and everyone loses. This new, 'improved' war is a lifestyle, not a solution.

Though some may cling to a vague hope that one day the last terrorist will be captured or slain, the sinking recognition is slowly dawning, that for every dead terrorist, another one arises to avenge. Anger and hatred at the core is what fuels these conflicts, and violence only increases that hatred. It is a never-ending cycle. As children we are taught that fighting solves nothing. Finally, we've succeeded in creating the perfect situation to prove the point - once and for all.

Wise men throughout the ages have told us there is another option, but we've remained unbelievers. For they tell us to do what seems impossible to love our enemies as ourselves. To KNOW our enemies as we know ourselves. Like every step in human evolution, this step will be a leap into the unknown that only seems impossible until we choose it, until we give it our all. Peace will be a delibrate choice, not a result. Only a commitment to peace and unity can reveal what unity can do.

This is the mistaken arrogance of humanity: believing, in fear, that we know better than the power of love and life itself! Even those who call themselves Christians ignore Jesus, who by all accounts, encouraged us to have faith in this power, and demonstrated what miraculous things it could do. The greatest proponent of non-violence the world has ever known offered to save us time and suffering, but, though millions bow down to him, we've refused his gentle, patient, loving way.

When we're finally convinced that war is truly an endless cycle of violence, and that it's not the way we want to live, we'll begin to feel the full impact of Jesus' message reaching out to us across thousands of years, and know that time doesn't matter and all can be forgiven and made new. We'll use the same brilliant ingenuity that made war an art form and apply it to the task of seeing how we can help each other get along. That will be the day we discover that we do love our 'enemies', because they're no longer enemies they're our brothers and partners in a united desire to help each other stop fighting. Solutions will present themselves, injustices will be resolved, and conflicts will dissolve, step by step. And we'll begin to realize our true glory that we're better lovers, than fighters!