Why War?

The greatest assault on life is war. Politicians convince young men, and women, to sacrifice their lives for freedom. Meanwhile the politicians enjoy their lives. Most of the time, they don't send their children.

What does a soldier die for? An abstract ideal? A politician's promise?

Think very carefully. How many wars were truly worth fighting? How many could have been avoided by wiser leaders?

And why are the deaths of "our side" valiant and bittersweet while the deaths of "their side" are just plain necessary?

Life Without Fear

As a baby boomer, I had many advantages over later generations. We were the last children to grow up without fear of dying.

Cars didn't have seat belts. Infant and toddler car seats hadn't been invented. We didn't worry about getting too much sun or an occasional mosquito bite. We played outside until dark--climbing trees, riding bikes (without helmets), playing ball. And if a kid was the last to be picked for a team, well, that's life.

I tell my children to wear seat belts and bike helmets, and most of them rode in car seats (though my youngest screamed from the time he went in until the time I took him out). I obey these rules because they're part of the current wisdom. But sometimes I feel like I'm taking something away from my children.

I just read that elementary schools in several cities have banned the game of tag because some children get upset. My guess is that these are only children, coddled by their parents and possessing little reference to real life. When you grow up with siblings, you learn how to roll with the punches (figuratively speaking--though my boys do wrestle on occasion).

I hated dodgeball. I wasn't fast enough and I was always out first. I wasn't crazy about Red Rover and I was the kid who got picked last for teams. At the time, these things didn't make me happy, but I think they made me stronger. As I grew older, I found other ways--through writing and public speaking--to be a winner.

If children are raised in a completely antiseptic household, their bodies don't learn how to resist bacteria. If children are raised in a completely antiseptic society, their spirits don't learn resilience.

I have spent much of my life teaching and loving children. But I have never coddled them. I value their lives, and I want them to learn as much as they can. They need to live, not just exist.

Thou Shalt Not Kill

Some of the Ten Commandments were difficult for me to understand when I first learned them as a child. Adultery, false witness, and coveting made no sense to me then. But I always understood the commandment I was taught as the Fifth. Don't kill.

It sounds simple enough. I never had murderous intentions toward anyone. Killing is bad, awful, terrible, and just plain wrong. What's to understand?

The problem is in the nuances. Does this commandment refer to abortion or capital punishment? What about war--or can war be justified with the right type of propaganda? How does this apply to mercy killings? Wouldn't it be better to put a sick person out of his misery?

The commandment doesn't deal with these shades of right and wrong. The meaning is clear. Do not kill. Simple enough.

Children have clear vision of such matters, and they can understand. What has happened to the adults?

Valuing Life

“…if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people." Qur'an 5.32

(First a note. 'Spreading mischief in the land' is akin to inciting rebellion or treason. Serious crimes.)

Muslims believe--at least those Muslims who read and follow the Qur'an--that, as the verse states, killing one person is like killing all humanity. Murder and mayhem are not part of Islam.

That doesn't stop some from committing these acts in the name of Islam. Those who do this are ignorant of the religion or are working for personal motives, even if they claim otherwise.

Three thousand died in the World Trade Center. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed. In both instances, the innocents have lost their lives to the selfish motives of others. Just one of those lives equalled the value of humanity.

I am pro-life. I am anti-abortion. I am also anti-war. I often wonder at those who call themselves pro-life and yet continue to support wars.

Life is beyond measure. Ask the father of the one-year old who died at a Gaza checkpoint yesterday. (I can't imagine seeing my child die in my arms.)

And no life is more valuable than any other life. There is no race, citizenship or ethnicity in death.

Acts of Kindness

These are things we never forget. Sometimes it can be as simple as an encouraging word or help with a package.

I was the recipient of a special act of kindness from my mother and sisters last weekend. The thing is, I have food allergies. There are certain types of foods I can eat, and some I won't touch. Recently, one brand of food, which I had eaten for years without problem, changed the ingredients. This particular food was nutritious and had enough calories to keep my weight up. (I want to know why there are never any magazine articles about how to gain weight, but that's another topic altogether.)

The ingredients had been changed very recently--within the last two months. So my mother and sisters set out to find some of the old boxes of this non-perishable food to help me out and tide me over until I could find a suitable alternative. The search included tw.o different states. And by the end of the weekend, they had scrounged up over forty boxes of the old, unaltered variety.

Forty boxes will last me for months. Meanwhile, I'm working to meet these food allergies head on and conquer them. I'm grateful for the extra time.

And I'm very thankful for the kindness and caring of my family.

Kindergarten Lessons

When I was in kindergarten, one of my classmates had a wooden leg. As I remember, it extended up to his knee. He showed it to some of us once. I think someone said he got it in a car accident.

The details are fuzzy--that was over 40 years ago. But I don't remember anyone making fun of him. We knew it wasn't right. Our parents had taught us to be kind.

Sometime in the 80s or 90s, "political correctness" came into being. It started out as a positive idea which sometimes becomes monstrous, eating all in its path. People weren't being kind, so kindness had to be enforced through social sanctions and even the enacting of new laws.

I went to kindergarten in 1961 and we didn't know anything about political correctness. But we knew how to be kind.

I think many of us have grown too big for our britches.

The Least of These

I was poor, I was thirsty, I was homeless, I was sick. You helped me because you helped those who were in these conditions.

This is one of the Biblical stories I learned as child. Helping the needy, rather than turning away from them, brings tremendous rewards. (Excuse me for my very liberal paraphrasing.)

There are many such lessons in the Bible. The Good Samaritan helped a man when others, thought to be higher in social rank, would not. Jesus instructed his followers to "turn the other cheek." He also is reported to have said, "The meek shall inherit the earth."

Being kind isn't always easy. Those who are poor and homeless make us uncomfortable. The sick and disabled remind us of our own frailties. It's easier to just live our own lives and keep walking, like the Pharisees.

But we are expected to help those who have nothing. We aren't kind because we expect a reward. We're kind because kindness is what's right.