We have just had a day of remembrance, thinking about all the lives lost in wars & in the service to our country by thousands of soldiers,sailors & airmen. There can be many area's of thought about the whole question of wars & acts of war against nations & people. There will always be deaths I fear because of mans inhumanity to man. It would seem also that whilst we are granted a 'free will' to make our own pathway to our destiny, there will always be some who take the responsibility to decide the future (or not!) of many other humans. Is it right and proper to attack another nation or state in an act of war? Is it therefore right to expect many people to take up arms to defend a nation or state by killing other humans?
Where & when is there a justification to take life? Is it ok to shoot & kill someone if their uniform & point of view is differing from your own? Is it less 'ok' to shoot & kill someone who has no uniform but has a differing point of view than your own. Is it ok to be a part of a much larger 'army' of men when you need to kill someone? At what stage do you become a hero? At what stage do you become an aggressor or an enemy? Is it correct to go along and intervene in another war or raising of war like acts, just to assist some who may have problems overcoming an aggressor ?
When is it ok to praise the dead who have also been killers? Do we justify all the acts of violence, death & destruction by recognising our own safety?
Are the acts of war & brutality ever justified in the name of religion? It would seem to my old brain that anything, including religion, has no real rules, has no real truth or sanction, nothing that involves murder, rape, torture or destruction has any justification or truth. In this way are we correct in glorifying anything that has happened in the acts of war scenario?
The only reason I can find to allow myself to take some time out to reflect on this period of mourning & celebration, is that far too many people are dead! Far too many people were never born, far too many people have suffered horrifically because of all of this. I do not praise anyone of any nation who took an active role to kill & maim thousands. I pause to remember with profound sadness the dead, the injured & the mentally afflicted that result from such atrocities. My heart & my soul cries with each death, for it is the death of humanity.
