Wearing the poppy is about gratitude
Jesus was a pacifist; as a Christian, I am, too. Being pacifist isn’t easy at the best of times, but it is more difficult when we are encouraged to acknowledge (and give thanks for) the sacrifices of Canada’s dead and wounded soldiers. And it’s especially tough this year, with all the militaristic flag-waving after the sad events in Ottawa. I normally wear a poppy to support the legion’s charitable activities, but also so I can walk comfortably past veterans at the supermarket. I know soldiers need support in their time of need, but because they are heroes? What’s appropriate for a pacifist on Nov. 11?
Your assertion that “Jesus was a pacifist” is overly simplistic. We have no idea what Jesus thought about war because he never explicitly addressed the subject. He did famously admonish us to “love your enemies,” but that statement itself acknowledges that enemies are a fact of life. Jesus tended toward non-violence in the face of those enemies, but he also angrily overturned a bunch of tables in his famous confrontation with temple authorities, used a whip to chase corrupt merchants, killed a fig tree that failed to provide lunch, called his oppressors a “viper’s brood” and his best friend “Satan.” Those actions, combined with silence on the subject of war itself, stretch the definition of pacifism.
That aside, there is an important distinction between how one feels about war (either in general or a particular conflict), and the sacrifices made by those who gave up so much in defence of what they believed, and believe, to be right and good.
My dad served in the Second World War. He didn’t fly a plane, never shot an enemy combatant, wasn’t awarded a Victoria Cross, and most certainly never considered himself a hero.
But he went overseas, as millions went, out of a deeply felt conviction that Nazism was an evil that had to be confronted in the only effective way available. He came back alive but changed; his brother and other members of our family fared less well. I don’t want to compare dad’s decision to those who, motivated by pacifism, decided to stay home; such a comparison would be odious. But last month I was privileged to walk through the trenches and bunkers of Vimy, Passchendaele and Juno Beach; as I did so, I couldn’t help but reflect on how easy my boomer-life of breezy “give peace a chance” has been, compared with what men and women endured in those hellholes. When one drives through Flanders Fields today, there is, literally, a cemetery around every corner, where lines of crosses “row on row, mark our place.” Walking amongst those crosses is beyond sobering. We don’t know how Jesus would have confronted Nazism, ISIS, homegrown terrorism or the myriad evils of the 20th and 21st century. Would he have turned his cheek to Hitler? Would he have stood aside, handing out pocket Bibles, while a lunatic attacked Parliament Hill? I have no idea. But I do know this: regardless of how you answer those questions, the proper response on Nov. 11 is profound respect and gratitude for those who, by “standing on guard for thee,” make possible arcane discussions such as this. You can send in your questions to star.ethics@yahoo.ca.