CREDIT: GRAVIS84 / ISTOCK / THINKSTOCK
Heroes are those who reject instruments of death, heroes are those who try to spread peace and bring happiness to the world.

We are often told that those who died fighting in wars and veterans who have survived war are heroes. To them, some say, we owe a great debt because their sacrifices are what gained our freedom.

There is no question that the sacrifice of one's own life or placing it at risk in war is a serious act and one that cannot be treated lightly. And without those sacrifices our world's societies would look different from what they are today. However, it is something else to say exactly what those differences are.

For example, I have sometimes heard that if it weren't for the sacrifices of Canadian soldiers during World War II, that Canadians would be speaking German today.

The assumption seems to be that Nazi Germany was so powerful it could have overrun not only all of Europe, but could have successfully invaded North America and held onto power here for the 75 years since 1940.

So, if you love your freedom, as the slogan goes, “thank a vet”.

But it is unlikely that Nazi Germany, even if Allied opposition had not become militarized, would have held onto power outside the borders of Germany for an indeterminate number of decades. I say this because there have been many despots, dictators and militarized aggressive nations who have not been opposed by an alliance of western powers. For the most part, they rise in power and influence, but eventually disintegrate from within or discover they really can't rule the globe.

For example, the Soviet Union, once feared by the west, did not fall apart because we invaded it. It did that all by itself.

And China, the largest nation in the world, can barely manage its own problems, never mind take over the planet. It can't even manage its relationship with Taiwan less than 200 kilometres off its shore.

The real heroes who have brought a tradition of peace to the world have not carried guns and have not come singing their exclusionist anthems.

I am thinking of missionaries who brought the message of Jesus Christ without aligning themselves with the political powers of feudal, colonial or post-colonial times.

One can think of the Moravian missionaries who, in 1722, resolved to bring the story of Jesus to the aboriginal communities encountering colonizing Europeans.

A typical Moravian mission on this continent at the end of the 18th century consisted of 100 to 200 natives and two to six missionary leaders. A Moravian mission thrived along the Thames River. You can see remnants of it in New Fairfield, 40 minutes west of London.

These missionaries were pacifists. Thus they attracted the hatred of the British as well as the Americans during the bloody mess now glorified as the American Revolution.

The Moravians couldn't square the practice of war with the teaching of Jesus to “love your enemy”. Sounds like they had it figured out.

Or consider St. Marie among the Hurons (Huran-Wendat). That Catholic mission was the first European settlement in what is now Ontario. The Jesuits who ran it objected to the presence of the French military on the settlement. According to Wikipedia, they feared the soldiers “would bring the worst of Europe with them.”

In a way they did. When the Huron-Wendat natives were drawn into military dispute between the French and English, the result was the destruction of the mission.

Before it was all over, the missionaries present in 1649 were killed, not in battle, but as captives. They were tortured to death for their faith-inspired work.

Today's real heroes are people like Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who risked his life to fight Apartheid in South Africa in the '90s and today speaks up for the rights of homosexuals. The real heroes are the church leaders who raise their voices against mutual funds who thoughtlessly invest in profitable but corrupt companies and in weapons industries. The heroes are the community chaplains who create welcoming spaces for at-risk youth and adult addicts in the 21st century Canadian cities.

They are those all over the planet who, as Jesus himself did, reject instruments of death; they take risks to show that Jesus taught a new way of life. And for those who know his story, this will not be a surprise. “Heroes” after all tortured and killed him; they were soldiers.
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