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11/11/2002 Entry: "Armistice Day"

November is a month for remembering. With the bithday of my youngest daughter just past I catch myself saying “Where has the last 12 months gone to?” and sentences that begin “This time last year...” (Both, no doubt, a sign of advancing years!) On Bonfire Night children chanted “Remember, Remember, the fifth of November; Gunpowder, treason and plot” - and in Northern Ireland the remembrance of the hostilities of the 17th and 18th Century comemorated by Bonfire Night will be used to justify hostility in the 21st. Yesterday in Church we paused in our worship to remember those killed in war, though this year we were not able to pretend that we are living now in peace. A similar pause for reflection was observed by many at 11:00am today - the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.The terrorist attacks on the US in September 2001 and the response from the “alliance against terrorism” in Afghanistan and elsewhere have been called a war more than once. This is not, we are told, a war serving a narrow national interest, but a war to preserve freedom for all and to establish justice between the nations. With such aims, how do we justify the deaths of the innocent and the further impoverishing of an already desperately poor nation? Can justice be established on such a foundation? In the years to come, how will this ‘war’ be remembered?As we make our act of remembrance this year and pray for the safety of loved ones serving in the Armed Forces, I hope we will not be tempted to assume that we ‘have God on our side’. It may be true that war is politically necessary, and maybe even justified, but whenever nations commit to military force the best that may be said is that the lesser of a choice of evils has been accepted. It is right that we remember ‘the fallen’ and honour the values of courage, loyalty and commitment for which they stand in our collective memory. But we should not dishonour that memory by a refusal to question the wisdom of the powerful or be ashamed to raise our voices on behalf of the weak, whatever their nationality. Above all, our remembrance should lead us to the recognition that the political and economic “realities” of today are very far from the ultimate reality revealed by God through Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace who calls us now and always to walk with him the way of dangerous self-sacrifice - the way of the Cross.

Posted by Bene Diction @ 11/12/2002 04:27 PM CST

Thanks for that Richard - I put something about this on the chaplaincy site this morning. I'm glad when I'm made to question the things like this rather than just go with the "accepted" flow.

Posted by alicec @ 11/11/2002 03:40 PM CST