Remembrance Day has caused me much internal conflict throughout my life. It was good to commemorate those who were brave enough to die for a country, but at the same time I was a firm believer that war was wrong.
Born into a Mennonite household and community, pacifism was upheld as the highest ideal. To take up arms is wrong. Traditionally, Mennonites interpret the New Testament as the fulfillment of God’s will, ultimately demonstrated through Jesus, who called not for violence but for peace. The Mennonite interpretation of “turn the other cheek” and “pray for your enemies” was taken literally. Other commands to give all your money away to the poor... well... we’ll talk about that another day.
I’m conflicted because I live in a peaceful country where the military isn’t front and centre. We all know NATO will come to our defense if attacked (hopefully). And at the personal level, we all know the police will come to our aid if ever we were physically attacked.
But what if they didn’t? The hypothetical situation, where your house is invaded by thugs and you happen to have a gun, was one I never shied away from. I wouldn’t use the gun, I claimed. However.... I might use a hypothetical shovel instead – to you know, bash the guy’s head in, but never fatally. That’s okay, right? Especially if he’s threatening my wife and children, right?
There are clearly more greys and less black and white the more scenarios you run. A real-time scenario for me right now is the situation in Ukraine.
When it comes to Ukraine, there’s no question they are being attacked unjustly. Russia invaded their country and soldiers are literally invading their homes. Just yesterday, a 15-year-old girl from Kherson said she was taken by the Russians and threatened to have her fingers cut off if she didn’t tell them where the Ukrainians were hiding. She thought for sure she would be raped.
Torture, rape, and indiscriminate killings have played out across Ukraine for the last nine months. Any normal person should be outraged. So much so, one might be willing to join the fight, like the 33-year-old man from Herbert who recently died as a volunteer with the Ukrainian forces.
As Mennonites, the only option in many cases was to flee oppression. That was the way out. Find a better country like Canada, Mexico or Paraguay. But what if there’s nowhere to flee to – or if you don’t want to flee your family and home?
My grandfather abandoned his pacifist beliefs to volunteer in the military during World War II. He was fortunate he didn’t experience battle – the war was over before he was sent to Europe... or just as he was about to jump out of a plane... the story keeps changing. He always spoke of his time in the army with positivity, even though he ended up renouncing his military participation to be accepted back into his church.
My other grandfather didn’t have to fight because he was farming at the time, but he may have applied as a conscientious objector if he had been called upon. His refusal to fight may have come as a combination of his personality and beliefs.
In the past, I would have been the same way, but today I’m more conflicted. I prefer peace, but at the same time, I’m of the firm belief that oppression needs to be fought. Sometime violence is unavoidable. I can’t see Hitler falling without his army falling first. I like Ghandi for what he did for India through peaceful non-resistance, but an argument can be made that it would have never worked against Nazi Germany.
As talk of a Russia-Ukraine peace deal comes up again in the news, one wonders how many of us would be so willing to negotiate after over 100,000 Ukrainian casualties (likely far more), untold humanitarian horrors, and forced occupation of one’s homeland?
I can’t see any of us agreeing to a stalemate, especially when you’re dealing with a ruthless despot. Typically, they don’t stop until their power is stripped from them.
Peace will come, but for now, the fight must continue.
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