War

War is a long-standing problem in human existence that has lasted not mere decades or even centuries, but since man left the Garden. Though usually not the preferable method by which people resolve disagreements, war has, in numerous cases, ended up being exactly that, often yielding greater sorrow and horror than if it were not used. Still, war has proven through history that, if used well, it can provide greater security for the planet at large, and whatever country or region it is fought in. Countries have seldom come from war better off than when they entered it, but it can happen.

War is a trial, a long, hard journey some don't survive--no, more accurately, none survive. War is a hard thing to come from alive, let alone unscathed either physically or mentally. War is one of the greatest hardships we, as humans, have put ourselves through, time and time again. We enter it, hate it, leave it, and repeat the process.

Another interesting aspect of war is that it is so complex. Few would fight in a war against anyone without good reason, meaning those who go to war either believe what they are fighting for, or are coerced by immoral means to do so. In the arena of reasons the average person would willingly go to war are numerous possible disagreements, previous injustices, and simple unreasoned anger, for varying reasons. Again, war is complex. There are reasons why every single soldier still carries his weapon; seldom are they even similar. This is mainly because people are fighting the war. People provide for the possibility of war, and they, in a limited sense, provide the means to end it, also in a limited sense.

The problem, ultimately, is sin. In a world without sin, war would be a word that made no more sense than Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky. In a world without sin, war would never happen; neighbor would love neighbor as they were called from the beginning to do. War is simply one of the hugest and most terribly unnatural products of something also utterly unnatural, sin.

There have been at least two recent major attempts to stifle the necessity for war in a sinful world, but, at least in my opinion, both have failed rather miserably. The simple reason for this is that they look for peace in the wrong place. They look for peace by eliminating the means to make war. This can never succeed. If we have no nukes, we will use guns. If we have no guns, we will use whatever heavy object we can to batter our enemies to pieces. If we have none of those, we will use our fists until we break them. By ourselves, we are incapable of ending war forever. What is the worth of any attempt to end it temporarily?

In the film, "The Day the Earth Stood Still," we are peacefully visited by an alien species (strangely like us, for some reason). This species has attained a thoroughly fictional Utopian state by creating guardians, whose sole objective is to protect justice and order. The flying saucer (as it happens, so unpredictably, to be) lands in the middle of a baseball field, covering a good portion of it. Within days, the saucer is surrounded by hundreds of military personnel. We, already stimulated to such paranoia by fiction infinite of such an invasion, are literally scared out of our wits. We surround this thing, which we cannot understand, and assume instantly that it, or creatures contained, could only mean us wrong. We live, fearing anything we don't understand, ready to annihilate something because we are afraid of that which we do not understand.

Our faith, as Christians, does not assure our security in this life. On the contrary, it promises that the world will hate us, eventually to degrees similar to those only tentatively described, such as Nero, to mention one of the worst. Our ultimate goal in life is not to attain peace, but to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. In the end, the end of war is a mere pittance by comparison.

War is horrible. I don't even need to have seen it to know that. Attempts to stifle all war in any shape or form is not only wrong and impossible, but dangerous, because of the numerous unresolved conflicts already in existence in the world. Many of them should and can be solved by peaceful negotiations. Some, however, are necessary horrors in our daily lives. We must bear them, hoping only for the survival and furtherance of the good news, so that some of war's slain will not die in vain.

(Note: This is an assignment for Creative Writing...just FYI.)


!Noah!