Are we asking the wrong questions in our search for an end to war?
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Yeah daddy is he a goodie or a baddie – Daddy why do people go to war … (Full lyrics below)
War. It has been with us since the dawn of human history, presumably even before. But why?
For those of us in the United States, we are in the middle of a three-day weekend that boasts parades, burgers on the grill, half off of half off sales, and the opening of community swimming pools. Its origins go back to a day that was designated as “Decoration Day,” first celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery with more than 5,000 people decorating the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there.
Ultimately, whatever activities are included, we celebrate Memorial Day as a day of honoring those who died. In war. Whether they were forced to serve, or joined willingly. Whether they were the youngest, greenest, scaredest conscript or the most highly decorated hero. Whether they died on the battlefield or in the hospital tent. We honor those who gave their life defending the “goodies” against the “baddies.”
And we pray, we protest, we stand up, and we lie down. For peace. Because we don’t want our friends, our families, our neighbors, our country men and women, to die.
We ask how we can stop the war. But I think we ask the wrong question.
I think the question we need to ask, without presuming we already know the answer, is why.
What do you want, what do you fear, what do you believe, what makes you so sure that your side is the “goodies” and their side is the “baddies” that you would lay down your life to be on the side of good?
And is there any chance, one that you can admit to when you ask that question, that the “baddies” you’re defending your country against have their own desires, fears, and beliefs that are, for them, equally good?
Our brains are hardwired, and our minds are conditioned, to crave the black/white, right/wrong, good/bad binary choices. If I am good (and I have to believe that I am good) and you don’t agree with me then you have to be bad. If I want something you have and I deserve to get what I want (and of course I do deserve to get what I want) then there must be a reason why you should let me have it. If I am secure in my truth (and I am convinced that my truth is THE truth) then anyone who lives in a way that challenges my truth must be living in sin.
Why do people go to war? Because we need to believe in goodies and baddies. And we want to be warriors and have our GI Joes.
So with all of you, I honor those who have died. But I challenge myself and all of you with me to make further deaths unnecessary. Because the “why” for peace CAN be greater than the “why” that people go to war.
CANNIBALS (from the Album “Golden Heart”)
Well he’s daddy’s little boy he plays with his toys
He holds on to his daddy’s hand
His daddy says Sonny you’re a big strong boy
You’re gonna be a big strong man
And they go play catch they go play ball
They go take a walk along the sand
Big strong daddy and a big strong boy
Living in a big strong land
Daddy is he a goodie or a baddie
Daddy can I have a dinosaur
Once upon a time there were cannibals
Now there are no cannibals any more
Down in Louisiana there’s a hurricane coming
The little boy climbs the stairs
And all along the levee all the people come running
And the little boy’s saying his prayers
And a sleepy little laddie smiles up at his daddy
And he’s asking for his G.I. Joe
And daddy tucks him in with a kiss upon the chin
And says my little one I love you so
Daddy is he a goodie or a baddie
Leave a light outside the door
Once upon a time there were cannibals
Now there are no cannibals any more
Lay down your head now don’t get out of bed
Don’t you let the bedbugs bite
It’s time to go to sleep now not another peep
And I’ll see you in the morning light
And then the radio was playing and the weatherman was saying
The hurricane had blown away
And daddy’s little boy was jumping up for joy
And he was singing at the break of day
Daddy is he a goodie or a baddie
Daddy can I be a warrior
Once upon a time there were cannibals
Now there are no cannibals any more
Yeah daddy is he a goodie or a baddie
Daddy why do people go to war
Once upon a time there were cannibals
Now there are no cannibals any more