As I was driving to school this morning, I saw a mini-van with a large bumper sticker on it. The single word on that sticker was "Peacemonger." I assume that this soccer mom thought it was rather clever. But the word strikes me as odd. Indeed, I would rather be a warmonger than a peacemonger. A warmonger seems to be someone who advocates going to war when it is not the best answer to the situation. A peacemonger, on the other hand, would be someone who would either
never advocate going to war, or who would only accede to the demands of others to go to war when it's already too late.
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
--John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873). And, to quote a friend and colleague:
I also believe that when John Lennon sings "nothing to kill or die for" he has created a world in which there is conversly nothing to live for.
--
Moise. And finally, a quote which he pointed out to me:
We make war that we may live in peace
--Aristotle
Kurt vonnegut makes a case against war in a book I think is called, 'A Fate Worse then Death'where he makes some compelling arguments.
ReplyDeleteHe is what you'd call a peacemonger.
I always thot that stance was selfish, not taking into account many factors.
It's an attitude w/blinders on.
it's stubborn & against human nature.
But, i would love to have a world with no war & being a humanist it seems to me it is possible for us to achieve it.
I think it would have to be a collective decision, tho. & how possible is that?
It is in all of us to hate war, but the reality is; War. Peacemongers set themselves above the rest of us as if we love war, very few people love war.
In this war, rather right or wrong, you have to respect the boys who volunteer for reasons they think are right, like freedom, democracy, etc.
You say "very few people love war". I say nobody loves war, not even the insane. Some people love peace so much they are willing to let other people (and themselves) be abused, tortured, and oppressed, just so long as they themselves don't get killed.
ReplyDeleteThe same goes for those who love war.
ReplyDeleteThey are the ones who are not on the front lines, n'est-ce pas?
I would have to agree with one commentor: regardless of our stances towards war, there must be a degree of respect for those who volunteer for military work.
ReplyDeleteI am always disturbed by the stories of veterans being ignored or unwelcomed upon getting home safely.
Kelly, I respectfully disagree with you about nobody loving war. There are some people who do love war. They get a rush from it. It is the adventure of war that they love.
ReplyDeleteI know some of them personally. I hear the way they talk. I see what they do. They play war games and read magazines about war and read books about war. They talk about weaponry, collect weaponry, brandish weaponry. This isn't to say that someone who reads a novel about WWII or owns a handgun, for instance, is a lover of war. You have to look at these people in their totality. They exist, but hopefully not in large enough numbers to make an impact.
Contrary to what L>T says in her second comment though, these lovers of war may very well be doing the fighting themselves.
Recently three school girls were beheaded by terrorists in Indonesia. That's incredible. It might as well have been three thousand school girls as far as I am concerned. I get very impatient with those who pontificate about peace with something like that as a backdrop.
I hope you can find time to discuss this further at your blog, because we need to join together and "peacefully" come to a better understanding of what is at stake, what is at risk, in these dangerous times as we look at the war on terrorism.
Susieq (Great name by the way, I have a sister and a mother with that name)
ReplyDeleteDo those people you speak of really love war itself...government sanctioned fighting of an enemy to the death or do they love the abstract idea of war. That is, do they love thinking about war, but perhaps, deep down, hate actual war? Is there a difference to you?
moise, that is deep. Are you prehaps saying that There is an inherent haterd of war in all humans?
ReplyDeleteWhat i say to Kelly's Statement is;
If you would say that there are selfish peacemongers that set themselves above us then, the other side of the coin would be the selfish warmongers who set themselves above the rest of us.
l>t: Yes.
ReplyDeleteMoise, yes. I believe you could be right. Then there is hope for mankind!
ReplyDeleteI've always thought it odd, tho that mankind has always known this but seems powerless to act on it.
It almost makes you think there are more forces at work here.
Could it be we have a duel nature?
Interesting comments, everyone. It's especially interesting that I got so many replies to a post that I wrote in five minutes in the morning. I will definitely have to address this issue further, and will probably have a post ready for next week.
ReplyDeleteMoise, yes I realize there is a difference. Of course, like children who play war games and do not understand, there will be people who think they love war when actually they fall out of love with it once faced with the flesh and blood hell of it.
ReplyDeleteYet, we have among us risk-takers who do not feel truly alive unless they are taking risks with their lives. We have among us sociopaths who could care less about killing another human being in a war where killing is legitimized by government. These two types are the ones who might love war not only in the abstract, but in reality.
I just brought this up as a rebuttal to Kelly's claim that nobody loves war. My opinion is based on my own life's experiences with people and a look at history.
I believe that most people love peace and hate war. I am one of them. But I realize that sometimes we must go to war in order to secure peace.
BTW, I am using the name SusieQ in honor of a dear aunt,in her nineties, who has the pet name of SusieQ.
To say there are no people that love war is not correct. There are men that sell themselves to the highest bidder to fight wars for them. They are called "Mercs" or "Mercenaries". Go pick up a copy of "Soldier of Fortune" magazine. I know a few Mercs and I don't know if the word "Love" is the correct terminology but "thrive" might be a better description.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, sometimes war is a necessary evil and if you are called you must decide for yourself whether you will serve or whether you will run and hide. Read and understand the story of Sergeant Alvin York, he had to decide whether it was better to remain a “conscientious objector” because of his deeply held Christian faith or to join the fight for his country and honor. The story is very interesting and very relevant even though it took place 87 years ago.
Mercs go to war for adventure and profit but the standard grunts of the US Marines, US Navy, US Army and the US Air force today do it because they believes in their country. I might add also that if the current Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld does not step up our troop involvement and commitment to use overwhelming force to bring this conflict to a conclusion, then we will be heading down the same road to Saigon where the so-called “mainstream press” has already planted the flag of surrender.