It's funny how small the world really is. I guess it just starts to seem smaller the more I get to know other people. Like I think now I know at least one person in every continent in the world. And then, since I'm doing this literature on war class, it makes me realize how small the world is. And how people get into the dumbest arguments over the dumbest things. And how sometimes, those arguments turn into nations fighting against one another. And through that, nations are ruined. This small world is literally destroying itself. I mean, obviously there will never be world peace, because everyone in this world is fallen. Yet, it just seems like so many of the wars and confrontations of life are due to pride. Like, World War 2. Hitler decides he's gonna be the world's big bad guy and conquer everyone. It's linked to pride. The current war in Iraq was started by some guys who think that since the U.S. has more money, fame, power, etc. than them, they should try to destroy our economy and take whatever America has. And even the everyday quarrels. I know most of the arguments I get into are based on something I feel really strongly about, and even though I really dislike confrontation, I always want to be right. It's all pride. And it leads to the destruction of humanity. And as I'm coming up on this last stretch of my literature class, I'm realizing that war is pretty senseless. I mean, obviously, there are wars that have to be fought, but the reasons for war are always senseless. Unless you're talking about spiritual warfare of course. I know that my final paper in literature class will probably be an essay on the question,"What do you think defines a good war?" At the beginning of the class when I was asked this question, I said a good war was a war that was fought for a just cause, and a war that was fought because the leader of the country gave the lead to go fight. But at the end of this semester, I'm coming to the realization that nothing can define a good war. All war is bad, period. It doesn't mean I'm a pacifist, but war in and of itself is not good. In war, you're constantly killing other humans, regardless of whether or not they're your enemies. They are still other human beings who have lives outside of being soldiers. They still have wives, children, and relatives. They still have a desire to have a career, to know something outside of war. And in war, you practice deceit and lying to win. In war, you torture people in the most inhumane ways. Nothing can define a good war. As far as a necessary war goes, well, that I can define. That would be a war that is fought for a just cause; a war that is fought to defend your country and all of the rights and privileges that it posesses. I guess I just think about war more and more now that I'm studying it so in depth. And I read Psalm 2, which asks the question, "Why do the nations rage?" In the following verses, it talks about how God laughs at their raging. I asked my mom about it, and she desribed it this way to me. It's like having two little ants fighting about a breadcrumb that's on the ground. Finally, the ants stick up one of their little legs at you and start wiggling their little antlers and then start stomping on the ground, insinuating that since you didn't solve the quarrel, they're going to solve it themselves. And to a degree, it is comical. It's sad, but comical. The things we fight over in life are the breadcrumbs, whether they be money or fame or power or prestige or glory or honor. And when God doesn't give us what we want, we ball up our teeny little fists and shake them at God's feet and decide that since He won't give us every little thing we want, we'll solve our problems on our own through quarreling.Or through war. What we forget about are the treasures in life. His Word, His person, His holiness, His righteousness, His care for us as His children and as His creation. I'm not even sure why I wrote this post, but....I guess it's sorta like brainstorming. Just something that's been on my mind lately. How small this little world is. Later,
Rachel
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I must say Rachel, I can't agree with you here. Think of all of the wars God, Himself commanded and God never commands something sinful. Also, think about the Civil war and the Revelutionary war. Neither of those were faught out of pride but because we were defending peoples rights and our believes.
Some wars are wrong and purely out of selfish, pridful or greedy motives (the Greek wars) but I think it is not right to classify all wars as worthless and wrong.
I believe the real problem is not the wars, it is the people. We are fallen, we will sin and sometimes we must fight to defeat the wicked and defend the weak. As long as there is sin in the world there will be quarrels and fighting. But sometimes we must fight for the truth and it would be a sin not to.
Yeah, I can see your point...I thought I did say in my post though that wars do sometimes have to be fought, but still, even the Revolutionary war and Civil War had evil at the roots of them. Like with the Civil War, the evil was slavery and with the Revolutionary War, the evil was the leaders' desire for money. And the Biblical wars also had some type of sin involved at its roots, whether it was another nation going against God, or greed, etc. And again, I'm not saying that I'm a pacifist at all, because I do believe that some wars must be fought, like you said, but I guess my only point was that all wars have some type of evil at the root of them.
I agree, and that will never change as long as we live in a fallen world. Hence, there will always be wars faught some for good causes, (defending innocent people or God's honor) or bad causes, (greed, or pride.
Post a Comment