Peace

For many, perhaps the majority of Americans, peace is understood as the absence of conflict or tension or difficulty. This includes many secular and liberal-leaning voices taking a vocal stance against war of any kind.  

For others, especially religious conservatives, peace is understood as far more than the absence of conflict - but also involving the presence of a tangible comfort and assurance typically seen as given by God to a believer.  Jesus himself is cited as speaking of a peace he offers that was "not as the world offers."

Many libertarians regard a deep commitment to the Non-Aggression Principle as a true prerequisite to peace.  Thus insofar as governments are authorized to initiate force against actions between consenting adults, we live in a pervasive state of war in which we could be attacked by the government at any time for peaceful, consensual behavior.