War

Today is Remembrance Sunday in the United Kingdom (and many Commonwealth countries), a humbling and sobering day to remember all the people who have died fighting wars in the service of their country. Originally commemorating the end of the Great War (WW1), it has now expanded to include all the fallen in wars since; it is handled in the UK with unique dignity, sensitivity and solemnity. It is not a celebration of war or victory, nor a time of recrimination, accusation or grieving, but simply a tribute to the memory of all these people and the wars that took their lives.

War is a terrible thing, full of destruction, heartache and misery. We have only to look at the images on our television screens to gain some understanding, with Syria and its problems the current hot spot. Europe, in contrast to its recent past, has been peaceful but not trouble-free; the people fleeing other conflict zones are heading there now and causing tensions of a different kind. But we must not ignore Europe's history, so full of wars, death and destruction over many centuries - the numbers are quite unimaginable, especially of course for the two main wars of the 20th century, where technology helped to swell the numbers of the dead.

Why do we go to war? Can anything ever justify this bloodshed, the ruined lives, the destruction? Is it always, as some cynics say, for financial gain, or is it something else? Are we pre-programmed to fight, to self-destruct? Is all this inevitable, and all that the part of humanity not involved can do is to count the cost and help with the aftermath? What makes us hate in this way?

The great Herodotus (known as 'the Father of History') sought answers to these and many more questions, some more simplistic, others more complex; he travelled widely throughout the ancient world and ceaselessly asked questions trying to figure out why human beings behave they way they do. Yet here we are still asking similar questions, still ignorant, still killing one another.

We continue believing that war in one form or another is the answer but do not seem to know or understand the relevant question. We continue to glorify killing one another in the name of some cause and feel proud that we can do it better than the next person/group/country. Wrap ourselves in a cause and we are ready for anything - why should little children not be barrel-bombed out of existence if they (or their parents) oppose us.

I understand that war - and violence - have a role to play; I too will protect my loved ones if they are threatened. But war as a means of economic/political/religious domination? Have we learnt nothing from the past, from history?

Remembrance Sunday helps us honour and appreciate sacrifice. It should also make us stop and think, and understand the colossal waste that is war.