Praying for Peace

Tuesday, October 16, 2001; Page C14

Be a peacemaker. Try to resolve arguments with words. Try to see the light -- to see God -- within yourself and others.

These are the things Pedro Panissett is taught at the Friends Community School in College Park. The school is run by Quakers, Christians who stress nonviolence.

The 12-year-old is sad and confused, living in a country that is waging a war, sending soldiers and bombs to far-away Afghanistan. Pedro doesn't understand why most Americans seem to support the U.S. military retaliation.

"I think it's amazing, this 'retaliation for peace' -- these actions, this bombing, that can split families apart and hurt people there," Pedro said. A war to make peace, he said, "is, like, a contradiction."

Pedro has written letters to President Bush and members of Congress. He's contributed to funds for the victims. But it's hard to know what to tell adult decision-makers.

"Maybe, if they could talk to the neighboring countries, find a way of resolving this peacefully, they wouldn't have to do what they are doing now," he said.

Pedro thinks he can picture how hard the war will be on ordinary people in the poor country of Afghanistan. "My family is from Brazil," he said. "I've been exposed to poverty. I can picture people struggling with worrying for four hours a day if bombs are going to be dropped on them."

He knows people have strong feelings because of the thousands killed in the attacks on New York and the Pentagon. A College Park family was among those who died. But avenging murder with more murder, he said, is wrong, too.

"Words are always much more powerful than any weapon," Pedro said. "I just think if words are used in the right way, they are more powerful than a gun or a knife."