I wish all human kind—that means all countries, islands, villages, etc., a nonviolent, joyful, and warless 2015. That means us, too. We have been a country for little over 235 years; yet, we have been at war a total of 209 of the 235 years.
Wow! That’s close to about 90% of our existence as a country we’ve been at war: killing, maiming, taking, occupying, destroying, plus. What does that say about us and those who look like us? Are we a violent lot? Why are we so belligerent? And what would Jesus say about this?
My conclusion is human kind is not smart enough; human kind has not developed enough cognitively, intelligently, emotionally, socially; meaning, we have not learned to resolve our differences without violence when we disagree; we have not learned to walk and talk with each other; we don’t have the language and grammar to discuss emotional issues such as: racism, sexism, ethnocentrism, or any of the other isms. So, we have chosen to settle our differences with: name calling, labels, knives, bullets, bombs, fists, etc., etc.
Finally, I think we need to redefine the words “leadership” and “hero.”
What are your thoughts?
And peace to you as well David. I think you might want to explain how you came up with the 209 years. At first glance the addition doesn’t add up. You think – Revolutionary War, Barbary Wars, War of 1812, Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, and Iraq. I thought – “That’s a lot of wars, but not 209 years worth.” Then I stepped out of my privileged shoes and remembered our countless wars against the indigenous peoples of this land. When you add those in, I think your total of 209 may be a little light.
There seems to be a discrepancy regarding the number of years America has been at war. Check this URL: http://www.loonwatch.com/2011/12/we-re-at-war-and-we-have-been-since-1776/. Some historians say we’ve been at war since 1776; that’s more than 209 years; it appears to be around 238 years, if we take 1776 from 2014. That said, we’ve been at war enough to be called (in my view) a bellicose nation. And one could argue that we’re the world’s bully–now that title really sucks. Another point is that most American don’t realize that and what it really means. And that’s because most American has not seen or been in a war zone.
I would love to hear more of your thoughts.
Thank you very much for responding.
Tom,
Thank you so very much for your response. I too, grappled with this because it varies depending on where we look. However, I found this URL that may or may not put a different spin on how warlike we are:http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_military_operations. What other developed nation has a war record equal to America’s?
My thinking is that we should consider examining and changing our behavior as a nation. I thought the consequences of Viet Nam were bad; I believe the consequences of Iraq are far worse, especially considering what’s happening now with ISIS, etc. What I need to do is try triangulating some of the historians’ views and perhaps look at the definition of war as used in the proposed number of years. It is much more complicated than I thought on the surface.
Thanks again, Tom,
David
Going to war again is very troubling. Yes, ISIS is the very embodiment of evil. Yes, they need to be stopped. Yes, they need to be wiped off the face of the earth. Nevertheless, removing ISIS would create another vacuum that would inevitably be filled by some other force. Going to war would not solve the problem that created ISIS in the first place. The only long term solution must be a political solution. That solution must be arrived at by Sunni, Shia, Kurds, the Syrian opposition, and the Assad regime. Western forces cannot impose a solution. I am very hesitant to send our young men and women into that hell hole only to see another problem emerge.