Our choice is not between war and peace but between life with dignity or without
Subcomandante MarcosRead
The powerful have invoked God at their side in this war, so that we will accept their power and our weakness as something that has been established by divine plan. But there is no god behind this war other than the god of money, nor any right other than the desire for death and destruction... Today there is a “NO” which shall weaken the powerful and strengthen the weak: the “NO” to war.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote criticizes the use of religion to justify war and emphasizes the rejection of violence as a means to power.
Subcomandante Marcos argues that the powerful often invoke a divine authority to legitimize their actions in war, masking their true intentions driven by greed and destruction. The quote calls for a collective 'NO' to war, framing it as a rejection of false narratives and an empowerment of the oppressed, highlighting the moral clarity in opposing violence and pursuing peace.
Themes
WarPeacePowerMoneyOppressionResistanceMorality
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech against military actions, one might invoke this quote to emphasize the importance of peace over violence.
More from Subcomandante Marcos
All quotes →The word of the oldest of the old of our peoples didn't stop. It spoke the truth, saying that our feet couldn't walk alone, that our history of pain and shame was repeated and multiplied in the flesh and blood of the brothers and sisters of other lands and skies.
Subcomandante MarcosRead
Always, since our birth, we've insisted on another way of doing politics. Now, we had the chance to do it without arms, but without stopping being Zapatistas; that's why we keep the masks on.
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In our dreams we have seen another world, an honest world, a world decidedly more fair than the one in which we now live. We saw that in this world there was no need for armies; peace, justice and liberty were so common that no one talked about them as far-off concepts, but as things such as bread, birds, air, water, like book and voice.
Subcomandante MarcosRead
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