Man’s history is often disturbed by war. In some instances, such as the so0-called Thirty Years War, there was more war than peace among supposedly civilized nations and peoples. Wars may be caused by a quest for racial superiority (for example, Nazism and Hitler fomenting World War II and America’s own War Between the States). Wars can be caused by such seemingly mundane acts of romance as stealing someone’s wife (for example, Helen of Troy). Wars can be caused by greed for territory (see: the many raids and small wars and the Trail of Tears which white men used to rid Indians of their native lands). Wars can even be family feuds beyond the Hatfields and McCoys of Appalachia and the Borgias and Estes in Renaissance Italy. Of course, there have been many religious wars, culminating in the Crusades. War has also produced the single most destructive element: nuclear weapons which surely changed civilization and its fears as much as when Neanderthals first created the stone axe. However, war has really solved nothing. Man in the 21st Century continues to leave in fear or in moods of oppressing one’s weaker neighbors. War, some cynics claim, is God’s way of winnowing out the unworthy and proving the Darwinian theory of survival of the fittest.
There is no doubt that writers, whether of classics or dime novels, revel in the notions of war. “To both Homer (“the Iliad”) and Tolstoy (“War and Peace”) war is the realm of force and chance…pervaded by darkness and dismay” (Adler 1011). In other words, Man thrills- whether in fiction or reality- in the exploits of heroes.
While some wars may be accidental, in classical terms wars are willful: Thucydides said “War is an evil” (Adler 1015). But, there is no single definition which implies anything other than that war is a destructive element of Man’s nature. Yes, one can say there may be “just wars.” But, people die in them just as much as in unjust wars.
While there are many people- frequently known as “hawks”- who favor wars they believe to be just, one needs to recognize and comment on their opposites, the so-called “doves” who are opposed to wars, just or otherwise.
One problem is that many of those opposed to wars- any wars- are considered “liberals” or “bleeding hearts” or simply “leftists.” And yes, there are many who are left of center politically. One such example: “Endless wars are inevitable under capitalism. It’s an economic system that’s based on the never-ending quest for profit and influence. Just as businesses compete with each other to survive, capitalist nations compete for control over new markets to sell their products, ever-cheaper supplies of labor power, and vital resources such as oil” (Johnson para 1).
One can read classics, delve through history and find reasons why some people are opposed to war. Sometimes it is finding the joys in freedom, sometimes it is an honest repugnance of violence due to one’s religious beliefs. For example, here is an interesting quote from a freed slave, Frederick Douglass: “I am opposed to war, because I am a believer in Christianity…such is my deep, firm conviction that nothing can be attained for liberty universally by war” (Douglass para 1).
For centuries, opposition to war has also been known as “pacifism.” Again, the basic factor here is that war is destructive and really solves nothing. One such “absolute pacifist” was the Russian author, Leo Tolstoy: “Drawing his themes from the Gospels, Tolstoy argued that violence is always wrong, including defensive violence. “This naturally leads Tolstoy to bitterly denounce warfare as well, but what is distinctive here is (his) opposition to violence as such, whether offensive or defensive” (Tolstoy para. 1).
There are religions, such as the Quakers, who strongly and devoutly oppose war. In fact, during the past wars in which the U.S. was engaged young Quaker men offered to service in the medical corps, or in other non-combatant roles so they could serve their country but not bear arms. There were others who considered themselves conscientious objectors, due to either religious or political reasons. Some, like the Quakers, were willing to serve as hospital attendants or medical corpsmen, but not as soldiers. Vietnam caused many who objected to the war to actually leave the country. Thousands went to Canada to escape the draft. Those who returned eventually were often tried and some found guilty of draft evasion. What became obvious was the fact that not everyone, regardless of nationality, political or religious beliefs, was cut out to be a hero.
One need not go far back in history to find an interesting concept for opposition to war. Survivors of the nuclear bombing of Japan. In one case, a Japanese, Daisaku Ikeda, came up with an ideal remark explaining the need for peace: “”Peace is a competition between despair and hope…It was human beings that gave birth to these instruments of hellish destruction. It cannot be beyond the power of human wisdom to eliminate them” (Ikeda para. 9).
One problem those opposed to war encounter- the idea of revenge. For example, surely there were (and are) a lot of Jews who are bitter against Germany because of the Holocaust during World War II. There certainly are many Palestinians who seek revenge against Israelis taking their homeland. And, Osama bin Laden supposedly hates the West and especially America, because western ways of life and influences have “corrupted” Islamic lands. Sometimes it is difficult to do what the Old Testament suggests- to turn the other cheek.
One problem facing opponents to wear- any war- is the current “War on Terror” instigated by, first, the attack that destroyed the Twin Towers in New York City and President Bush’s determination to invade Iraq in the mistaken belief Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Many protesters are not necessarily opposed to any war, just this particular one. “Back in 2003, on the eve of the US attack… a vigorous anti-war movement was flaring into life. There were some very big rallies… There were 40 or so organizations represented” (Cockburn para 13). Stilll, as Cockburn (2007 pointedly asks: “Do anti-war movements end wars?” (Cockburn para 28). He writes that the Vietnam war ended primarily because the Vietnamese defeated the Americans, and because a huge number of us troops were in open mutiny. At home a large sector of society was in mutiny too. He goes on to argue that Anti-war movements are often most significant in their afterlife.
Yes, there are protesters against the Iraq war. But the protests against the Iraqi war seem to be mostly initiated by those who feel this was the wrong war in the wrong place. But there are also some who have suffered because of the war and now are bitterly opposed to any war.
Before World War I and World War II there were many in America who opposed what they called “foreign wars.” That meant, they saw noi political redason for becoming part of the war. It was somewhat sad, many historians now say, that among those prior to World War II who consideered himself an isolationist and preached a doctrine of “America First” was that national hero, Charles Lindbergh. He and some of his generation were nmot opposed to a just war, but felt that any war in Europe that did not actually erndanger Americans was a struggle to be avoided. It was an odd form of patriotism. But Lindergh was far from alone in his opposition to fighting against the Germans.
There are many women, throughout history, who have been pacifists and denounced any and all wars. World War I is a good example of how women, who were not even allowed to vote yet (until 1920), formed pacifist groups to oppose America’s entering a “foreign” war.
World War II was different. Still there were cases of notable women opposed even to that war: “A notable pacifist was Jeannette Rankin, who was the only person in Congress to vote against the US entering both World War I and World War II. She cast her vote in 1941 against American entry, saying ‘As a woman I can’t go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else'” (Lewis para 6).
There is perhaps more female activism toward ending wars than among men. It can be noted when one looks at recipients of the Nobel Peace prizes, which in clued Jane Addams, founder of Chicago’s Hull House, and Emily Greene Balch who was awarded the Peace prize in 1946.
Of course there can be no group more vehemently opposed to any war than those who have lost a loved on in such a war. Here is what has been formed to fight against the continuation of the Iraq war: “Gold Star Families for Peace (GSFP) was established in late 2004; its principal founder was Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was an American soldier killed in combat in Sadr City, Iraq on April 4, 2004. The group’s name is an allusion to American Gold Star Mothers, a group founded in the post-World War I era for the grieving mothers of soldiers who had been killed in combat” (“Gold Star Families” para. 2). It is true, however, that there are many families who have lost sons or daughters, husbands or wives in wars who felt that they gave their lives for their country and object strongly to those who are against wars, calling them unpatriotic and even traitors.
Cindy Sheehan, founder of the Gold Star mothers talked about how others reacted to her anti-war position: “Her speaking out has not endeared her to her community, she said. “‘I am a pariah in my own town. My best friend won’t even talk to me anymore,’ she said. Everyone had compassion for her when her son died, but they don’t seem to like the idea of her protesting the war. She said she has also been vilified in the press, accused of taking advantage of her family’s tragedy” (Liss para.15).
Patriotism is really a two-edged sword. On one hand, there are those who go into the army and navy and marines to fight for their country because they believe it is their duty to do so. The idea here is that they are defending freedom. This was the Bush policy: we need to defend democracy and keep America free and fight thousands of miles from home so the terrorists don’t come over here. However, the other side of this patriotism “sword” is that the best way to defend your country is to keep it and the world at peace.
Can we admit that there is a sense of war in Man’s genes? Are we, like young boys, always playing seriously or otherwise, “Cowboys and Indians” or “Good guys versus the Evil Empire”? Do we always have to choose up sides? It seems so unfair for us to be judged as “man or mouse” as if civilization depended on machismo, rather than patience and self-control.
Machiavelli wrote: “There are two ways of contesting, the one by law, the other by force; the first method is proper to men, the second to beasts” (Adler 1016). Opponents to war, therefore, are asking the world to be men and not beasts.
There are many famous writers, books of fiction and historical fact, writers in every language who have found fanciful ways of opposing war. But, perhaps what each of us who is opposed to the horrors of any war and any killing in the name of a government or a native land, needs to recall comes in the seven simple words spoken nearly two hundreds years ago by an Indian chief: “I will go to war no more.” It was then and is today, an honorable way to live life.
Wars seldom have perfect endings. It may find one side the victor and the other side the vanquished. But that is often temporary. Hatred or fear has no time limits. The sad facts of war for the losing side is that, all too often, they whisper that we will survive to fight another day. War solves nothing.
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