Peace and Security​—A Vain Hope

10, 11. (a) What did the UN proclaim in 1986, and what was the response? (b) How many “religious families” assembled at Assisi, Italy, to pray for peace, and does God answer such prayers? Explain.

¹⁰ In an effort to bolster the hopes of mankind, the United Nations proclaimed 1986 to be an “International Year of Peace,” with the theme “To Safeguard Peace and the Future of Humanity.” Warring nations were called upon to lay down their weapons, at least for one year. What was their response? According to a report by the International Peace Research Institute, as many as five million people were killed as a result of wars during 1986 alone! Though some special coins and commemorative stamps were issued, most of the nations did little about pursuing the ideal of peace in that year. Nevertheless, the world’s religions​—always anxious for a fine rapport with the UN—​set about publicizing the year in various ways. On January 1, 1986, Pope John Paul II praised the work of the UN and dedicated the new year to peace. And on October 27, he assembled the leaders of many of the world’s religions at Assisi, Italy, to pray for peace.

¹¹ Does God answer such prayers for peace? Well, to which God were those religious leaders praying? If you asked them, each group would give a different answer. Is there a pantheon of millions of gods that can hear and grant petitions made in many different ways? Many of the participants worshipped Christendom’s Trinity.c Buddhists, Hindus, and others chanted prayers to gods without number. In all, 12 “religious families” assembled, being represented by such notables as the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Buddhism’s Dalai Lama, a Russian Orthodox metropolitan, the president of Tokyo’s Shinto Shrine Association, African animists, and two American Indians decked out in plumed headdresses. It was a colorful group, to say the least, making for spectacular TV coverage. One group prayed unceasingly for 12 hours at one time. (Compare Luke 20:45-47.) But did any of those prayers reach beyond the rain clouds that hovered over the gathering? No, for the following reasons:

12. For what reasons did God not answer the prayers for peace of the world’s religious leaders?

¹² In contrast with those who “walk in the name of Jehovah,” not one of those religionists was praying to Jehovah, the living God, whose name appears some 7,000 times in the original text of the Bible. (Micah 4:5; Isaiah 42:8, 12)d As a group, they did not approach God in the name of Jesus, the majority of them not even believing in Jesus Christ. (John 14:13; 15:16) None of them are doing God’s will for our day, which is to proclaim worldwide God’s incoming Kingdom​—not the UN—​as the real hope for mankind. (Matthew 7:21-23; 24:14; Mark 13:10) For the most part, their religious organizations have been involved in the bloody wars of history, including the two world wars of the 20th century. To such, God says: “Even though you make many prayers, I am not listening; with bloodshed your very hands have become filled.”​—Isaiah 1:15; 59:1-3.

13. (a) Why is it significant that the world’s religious leaders should join hands with the UN in calling for peace? (b) The cries for peace will culminate in what divinely foretold climax?

¹³ Further, it is deeply significant that the world’s religious leaders should join hands with the United Nations in calling for peace at this time. They would like to influence the UN to their own advantage, especially in this modern age when so many of their people are abandoning religion. Like the unfaithful leaders in ancient Israel, they call out, “‘There is peace! There is peace!’ when there is no peace.” (Jeremiah 6:14) No doubt their cries for peace will continue, rising in support of the climax concerning which the apostle Paul prophesied: “Jehovah’s day is coming exactly as a thief in the night. Whenever it is that they are saying: ‘Peace and security!’ then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them just as the pang of distress upon a pregnant woman; and they will by no means escape.”​—1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3.

14. What form could the cry of “Peace and security!” take, and how can one avoid being misled by it?

¹⁴ In recent years, politicians have used the phrase “peace and security” to describe various human schemes. Do such efforts by world leaders constitute the beginning of the fulfillment of 1 Thessalonians 5:3? Or was Paul referring only to a specific event of such dramatic proportions that it will claim world attention? Since Bible prophecies are often completely understood only after they are fulfilled or in the course of fulfillment, we will have to wait and see. Meanwhile, Christians know that whatever peace and security the nations may appear to have achieved, basically nothing will have changed. Selfishness, hatred, crime, family breakdown, immorality, sickness, sorrow, and death will still be here. That is why no cry of “peace and security” needs to mislead you, if you remain awake to the meaning of world events and heed the prophetic warnings in God’s Word.​—Mark 13:32-37; Luke 21:34-36.

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The “Peace” Paradox

Though 1986 was proclaimed by the UN to be the International Year of Peace, the suicidal armaments race escalated. World Military and Social Expenditures 1986 supplies these sobering details:

In 1986 global military expenditures reached $900 thousand million.

One hour’s global military expenditure would have sufficed to immunize the 3.5 million that died annually from preventable infectious disease.

Worldwide, one person in five lived in gnawing poverty. All these starving people could have been fed for one year at the cost of what the world spent for armaments in two days.

The explosive energy in the world’s stockpile of nuclear weapons was 160,000,000 times greater than that of the Chernobyl explosion.

A nuclear bomb could have been delivered having an explosive power more than 500 times as powerful as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

Nuclear arsenals contained the equivalent of more than one million Hiroshimas. They represented 2,700 times the explosive energy released in World War II, when 38 million people died.

Wars had become more frequent and more deadly. War deaths totaled 4.4 million in the 18th century, 8.3 million in the 19th century, 98.8 million in the first 86 years of the 20th century. Since the 18th century, war deaths have increased more than six times faster than the world’s population. There were ten times as many deaths per war in the 20th century as in the 19th.