by Jimmy Ettele

Created on: December 20, 2008

I have been a fan of the Miss America pageant for a long time. I have soldiered through bad introduction songs and Dieon Sanders just to catch a glimpse of the fifty best from the Union competing for the title of Miss America. Though, for all the years I have attended the pageant from the comfort of my living room, one thing has bothered me. Miss America's from Yolande Betbeze to Vanessa Williams have all been explaining to the judges their wish for world peace. While the wish is truly admirable out of such lovely women, it occurred to me these women, for all of their concern and bedtime praying for world peace never gave us a plan to achieve that much wanted goal. It's time we hold these extremely well spoken and groomed ladies' feet to the fire. It's also time for someone else, besides the blockheads currently controlling nations and ideas around the world, to figure out some ideas for the pageants reigning champion of things a Miss America is tasked herself to do.

By no means does anyone in their right mind believe we can have world peace by dinner time. This is a monumental problem we are faced with going up an enormous uphill battle. Dick Cheney has an easier climb up his hill explaining how he isn't the reincarnated avatar of Evil sent to Earth. We're talking about world peace. It is a difficult enough task for people to get along with their neighbors without choking them, let alone with a completely different culture and set of values. There are some ideas though, that could help to bring the third planet from the sun closer to a vision of world peace.

The first and foremost thing the inhabitants of the Earth need to do is push whatever religion they practice to the side. While I am not advocating giving up on a spiritual belief, injecting the dogmas and deities dwelling in those beliefs makes for tension, hate, and violence. All we need to do is take a look at the Crusades, Inquisition, abortion clinic bombings, Israel versus everyone, the World Trade Center, and Prop 8 in California to know that where any sort of omnipotent invisible entity is involved, trouble, oppression and violence is sure to follow. Religious fundamentalists are willing to kill for their saviors. They view non-believers as lepers and voided from any sort of sentiment. They are practicing beliefs steeped in antiquity never updating and changing as the times, cultures, and people change. This idea, of true religious freedom and tolerance, above all others, would be the most difficult

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