Why is violence such an important issue for the World Council of Churches (WCC)?
Because peace is an important issue. Where there is violence there is no peace. Violence is on the front page of the daily news. It is at our doorstep and actually in too many of our homes and churches. Violence has always been here, but several things happened at the end of the 20th century: • The legitimacy to use violence is no longer clearly attributed to the state, its instruments or persons with authority over others. • War as an institution between nation states no longer exists. War has proliferated and while going on in many places, it is not legal under current international law. • In the past, the ecumenical discourse on violence was usually centered around war and peace. Today, we know that the majority of casualties to physical violence are victims of individual or interpersonal violence. • Violence is a most widespread means of entertainment and also a tremendous business, both in terms of weapons sales and entertainment industries. • Unless humanity learns to prevent vio
