I took a road trip yesterday to a small town about an hour from London to see a friend that I haven’t seen in years. It was an absolutely beautiful drive.  I really enjoyed myself and actually slowed down to take in the tree-lined highways through sleepy towns, rolling hills and corn fields.  Apparently corn is a very lucrative crop as some of the farmhouses I passed could only be called estates, they were that big. 

As I was driving I listened to this country ballad by Tim McGraw on the radio. I’ve heard it several times before and really enjoyed the melody but the words struck me this time and I was all weepy by the end.

If you’re reading this
My mommas sitting there
Looks like I only got a one-way ticket over here
I sure wish I could give you one more kiss
And war was just a game we played when we were kids
Well I’m laying down my gun
I’m hanging up my boots
I’m up here with God
And we’re BOTH watching over you

So lay me down
In that open field out on the edge of town
And know my soul
Is where my momma always prayed that it would go
And if you’re reading this
If you’re reading this
I’m already home

I suppose part of the reason the words struck me is I can imagine how paralyzed I would feel if I lost my husband.  I think it is tragic that the war in Afghanistan has cost so many families their fathers or mothers.  I think it is even more horrifying how many innocent lives have been taken as a result of the war.  I suppose that is a fact that even the most staunch supporters of the war can agree on.

Lately I have been noticing a lot of “Support Our Troops” bumper stickers on cars in London and a lot of yellow ribbons tied on trees and fenceposts and even signs by shops.  I don’t know if this is limited to this part of the country or if it’s happening all over Canada.  It seems to be a growing phenomenon and I have been thinking about what it means to support the troops.  Does it mean I support the war?  Does it mean I don’t want troops to die?  As if there are Canadians who DO want the troops to die??? If I support the troops does it mean that I endorse George Bush and all his lunacy poor decisions?  The whole thing has caused me some internal conflict, partly due to my upbringing.  I was raised as a Mennonite Christian.  Mennonites are a part of the Anabaptist movement and one of many different Christian denominations.  The title isn’t important.  But one of the most important tenets of Mennonite theology is the concept of pacifism and non-violent protest (and, I would add, a cultural tendency to avoid conflict of all kinds…or maybe it was just my family.  Are there any Menno readers out there who can give me a yay or nay or an “Ach du lieber!”?) .  I was raised to embrace pacifism and to be proud of my family’s history of opposition to war.  Mennonites throughout history have defined themselves as a peaceful people. 

During WWII my grandfather, then a young man, wanted to avoid being drafted. But because his family could never afford the $25 fee to become Canadian citizens, he was not eligible for “conscientious objector” status. He decided to go to Flin Flon, Manitoba to work in the mines which were considered an essential industry and mine workers were, therefore, free from being drafted.  My grandmother was very proud that she and my grandfather had made this choice to avoid being part of the war.  But I can’t help but think that if no one had taken a stand by going to war there would have been so many more people murdered and victimized.  There are times when we have to do something to help our fellow humans who are in need. I simply don’t know enough about history to have any clue whether there were any other alternatives but I suspect that when there are such big problems involving corrupt governments that there may not be an easier and less offensive way to stop genocide.

This, of course, leads to debates about “just wars” and whether such a thing exists and how one can know if said war is just and whether it is right to be involved in the military if the war is just and whether you can be a soldier and discriminate between which actions you wish to be involved in. It’s such a complex problem and I don’t know how to settle the issue in my mind.  Especially being married to a man whose family has a history of being involved in the military! 

So support our troops?  I certainly support them as fellow human beings. I support their right to be safe and come home alive and to fight injustice and ease suffering and to do the work of peacekeepers throughout the world.  Can I support the current war?  Or any war for that matter?  Can I be ok with the murder of people, even those who have committed atrocities?  Is it at all possible to reconcile the deaths of countless innocents, even in a “just” war?  I don’t know yet.  It’s something I’m still working through.  I don’t know if I can abandon my pacifist roots. I find something beautiful about the Mennonite practice of keeping peace.  And not in the generic “we all wish for world peace” sense.  I mean who doesn’t want world peace?  But Mennonites seem to really be working towards this in tangible ways. They are behind so many humanitarian projects.  Not because they want to bring “The. Gospel.” to Heathen peoples but because they see their fellow humans hungry and suffering from diseases and without the basic necessities.  So they come to aid them.  It is altruism at it’s finest.  And somewhere, deep down, I feel that this compassion has a better chance of solving most of the world’s problems than violence.