A World Without War

My heart breaks for all the pain and loss war causes. I respect and honor the individuals who serve in the armed services, especially the ones who have lost their lives. I cannot imagine how both the soldiers and the loved ones at home handle the long deployments, that are filled with many unknowns.  I am sadden for everyone who comes home from a war with a body, mind or spirit that is affected for the rest of their life.

I wish there was no war. Can’t we settle our differences with cupcakes?

photo © 2008 John Fischer | more info (via: Wylio)

 

I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, “Mother, what was war? - Eve Merriam

We teach our children to solve their problems with words, not with fighting. Why can’t adults do the same? Yes, I know there are numerous barriers to a world without war … enemies, evil dictators, power-hungry leaders and more.

Without war … I don’t know how the situation with Hitler should have been handled. I don’t know the best way a country should respond to terrorist attacks. I can hardly allow myself to think about the many (millions?) around the world who are controlled daily by a dictator.

But does war really solve more issues than it creates?

A great war leaves the country with three armies – an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army of thieves. ~ German Proverb

My sons have suggested that I am only a pacifist due to my Traditional Mennonite upbringing. Traditional Mennonite churches encourage nonresistance lifestyles and forbid any of their members to serve in the armed services.

But after leaving the Mennonite world, there was about a decade when I wouldn’t have identified myself as a pacifist. Adjusting to life outside the boxes of my childhood (where rules and doctrines had controlled my beliefs) meant I needed to examine many aspects of life to determine what I believe. For a time, I had decided that war is a necessary evil.

After the invasion of Afghanistan (’01) and Iraq (’03), I began questioning the value of war. Then I went through the trauma of the accident (’04) I lived with severe pain for years. I struggled with Post  Traumatic Stress Disorder. I still live with daily pain. I cannot be anything other than a pacifist.

When people hear that I’m a pacifist, one question I’m often asked is how would I react if my life or a someone else’s life was threaten. I would throw a cupcake I assume I would respond in self-defense … which may or may not be the right thing to do. But that seems different than one country going to war with another country.

You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake. ~ Jeanette Rankin

The devastation post-war is brutal for both sides. Do you realize how much good all the money spent on war could accomplish? Food, shelter, education for everyone in this country and many more!

Yes, my heart breaks for the people who lost loved ones on 9/11 … and in other acts of terror around the world. And my heart breaks for the civilians who are killed during wars … too many times from bombs dropped by America.

I hope the distant day John F. Kennedy talks about arrives soon:

War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.

So as I remember the people that have sacrificed in wars past, people that are serving today and soldiers that are coming home only to be traumatized with PTSD for the rest of their lives … I will also dream about a world without war.

Cupcakes anyone?