Michelene McGreevy and Daad Naserdeen are members of the In Factis Pax Editorial Board and Doctoral students at the University of Toledo

As we stand on the milestone of this inaugural issue of In Factis Pax, we are moved to remember the numerous atrocities being committed in the name of peace. The violence in Iraq, the global environmental crises, or the permissive assumption that the poor are voiceless and powerless are pivotal examples of how peaceful methods of resolving issues are ignored. In Factis Pax gives voice to those issues and individuals that are not often heard. The purpose of this journal is to provide an arena for ideas to be disseminated, where dissent and contestation can take place in a nurtured environment to grow and seek a means for positive peace within our communities. The history of peace education informs us that our citizenry is correlated to the factors that impact a democratic and global citizenship.

Democracy is not a gift delivered on a golden tray. Democracy is the historical growth that has to go through it evolutionary process. –Shirin Ebadi, Iranian Human Rights Activist

Ms. Ebadi won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize “for her efforts for democracy and human rights. She has focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children.”

Her work includes leading research projects for the UNICEF office in Tehran. She is cofounder and current president of the Human Rights Defense Center and has defended numerous cases regarding human rights. These include representing journalists who have been arrested for what they have chosen to publish as well as representing a mother whose daughter had been separated from her due to a custody law and was later found tortured to death at the hands of a stepparent.

We look to this kind of work as an example of the need for peace, what is being done to accomplish this as it is communicated through this journal.
Through a democratic approach, the editorial board members of In Factis Pax have stretched each other through discourse and debate. The use of a critical and reflective approach has made the premier issue of this scholarly journal possible. It’s important to note that we are not separate from the process that we are enticing others to engage in. We are not passive participants in the search for positive peace. We are dedicated to the examination of the epistemological relationship between peace, knowledge, and social justice. We invite you the reader to engage in the process for an authentic democratic social forum.

Working towards peace is a balancing act requiring trust, knowledge of ourselves as individuals and an ability to relinquish our attachment to our individualism and think more broadly about our mission as a whole. This is how peace is nurtured. Once this process is learned it can be spread to others and shared. That is why this experience is of such value to this editorial board. If we cannot nurture peace through our own experience then how can this journal be authentic in its approach? This is a daily struggle of reflection and consciousness. It requires that we think critically, actively dialogue and detach personally from the process.

Democracy often involves conflict, and when it involves the discussion of critical ideals, this conflict can be a constructive experience. Problems are inherent. The process of working through it is a relevant goal because that is the measure of real success. Our interpretation of democracy is an evolutionary process where conflicts are free to arise simply because they lead to greater understanding. Working through this is a salient process. The history of peace education informs us that our citizenry is correlated to the factors that impact global citizenship. It allows us to transcend nationwide boundaries. Through a democratic approach we were able to stretch ourselves into formulation of this issue.

We invite you to critically analyze issues of peace as they relate to education. We invite you to not only glean theoretical information but also to let it inform your practice. We invite you to join in the examination of methods of prevention of violence in the wake of political challenges to peace and how they are conducive to a more democratic existence.