Faith Meets Life: Post-Remembrance reflection

The honour of dying in war

Relatives of those who have served in Canada's military are present among Fanshawe College's staff and students. Some have known the loss or serious wounding of a family member or a close friend. For these and other reasons, it is important to remember the difficulties and losses that are part of what it means to be a modern nation where people prize their freedom.

At other times in Canada's history, the loss of Canadian life has been much greater. In one World War One battle alone, Passchendaele, a half million died, among them many Canadians. Today we typically regard the tens of thousands of young Canadians who gave their lives during the world wars and in smaller wars, as heroes. We emphasize the honour with which they served and in turn, honour them.

While we do that, however, it remains important to ask critical questions. This always seems easier to do when a conflict is going on rather than behind us. For example, today there are numerous critics of Canada's involvement in Afghanistan, but when that war is behind us we will most likely regard those who gave their lives as men and women dying for an honourable cause. This seems to be the least we can do for them and their families. The difficulty is that there are many today who do not regard that Afghanistan effort as being particularly noble. We are towing an American line, or something like that, say the critics, wasting Canadian lives.

It seems to me that when we look back on the wars Canada has been involved in, we need to remember the potential for wasting lives. One of the best ways to do this is to read historians who dare to raise critical issues. What about the numbers of Canadian young people who died horribly in the futile, and in some senses ludicrous, battles of WWI of the military decision makers on the opposing sides of that conflict? Were they called to account for wasting so many precious lives?

Consider also that war is at best, a morally ambiguous project. Perhaps we and our allies “won” WWI, but consider the aftermath. Adolph Hitler was able to profit from German anger at being humiliated by the alliance. He parlayed that anger into the creation of an aggressive Germany and we know the outcome of that.

Although we may have been among the “winners” of World War Two, consider that that war led immediately to the Cold War and the nuclear arms race. The Cold War deeply distorted the foreign policy of the Soviet Union and the United States. Among the results of those distortions are the debacle of the Vietnam War and the convoluted politics of the Middle East, including the networks of terror we are trying to combat there.

Recall that the same weapons that allowed the alliance of WWII to defeat Japan are now pointed at us. Recently Russia has again begun to fly nuclear-armed bombers to keep watch on us. And military watchers warn that radicals in Pakistan or other nations may get their hands on nuclear weapons.

So, yes, let us mourn the war dead every year and pray that the day will come when the horror of war will be a fading memory from this fragile planet we've been given as a home. But let us not fail to ask the important questions attending their deaths. The meaning of the deaths of those who sacrificed their lives in war is not fully captured in the rhetoric of Remembrance Day ceremonies. If we do not understand that, we will too easily send young men and women where they do not need to go. We will ask for their lives, when they should be allowed to keep them.

Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.