Thoughts about War

Dr. Alwin Spence

In a heated conversation between a white colleague and myself, he addressed me as racist and anti-white. I assured him that I could not be any of those when we have a pleasant and jovial relationship. What I also told him was that what he was hearing was pure and simple
a pro-Black exercise, which could be mislabeled as anti-white language. This is not an expression based on malice or prejudice. When Canadians cheer for their female hockey team, playing against the American team, they are just pro-Canadians, with absolutely no hate or prejudice for Americans.

WARS , WARS , WARS,

For many months I wanted to comment on the two major wars presently taking place in our world today, in Ukraine and in Gaza. Why have I been hesitant? My fear is that whatever I write could be misconstrued as against everyone. I believe the positions of all the participants are so firm and rigid, it will not allow or accommodate any deviation, however small. So as genuinely neutral as I may be, that may be perceived as taking a side. Basic trust is absent. Is this a no-win situation? I do not know the details to form a position one way or the other, so I cannot and I will not take sides. But what I have seen and read are that many people on all sides are being killed, captured and raped. Children are being abducted and parents are killed mercilessly before the very eyes of their children.

RECIPE FOR REVENGE

To witness your parents being hurt and killed and as a child you can only watch, unable to help, that pain lives on and will eventually materialize as revenge. So future generations continue to fight, and my guess is that they go through the very same experience. How can this revolving wheel solve anything? Animals are very protective of their young ones. Human beings also are very attached and protective of their children, and become visibly hurt and disturbed when their parents are forcibly removed from them. So my assumption is that all these war atrocities do absolutely nothing to ease the pain of human suffering. As a matter of fact, wars lead to revenge and more wars, seldom a lasting solution.
Wars should not be used to settle disputes. I believe the world is beyond that. I will go as far as to label this method as old school. Something has to change. Instead of falling in line and widening the dispute, insist on bringing the parties together. The Bible even suggests bringing in a third person to help to find a solution. In spite of everything, I still sing from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s movie, “South Pacific,” but adding my own words: We all should be taught not to hate anyone our parents hate. This may be very hard, but who will bell the cat? It is not too late for the superpowers to demand sitting at the table to reach a settlement, thus reducing the number of deaths.