Let me preface this by saying I do not take death or killing lightly, that it is always tragic, and that death is never well deserved.
Every month or so something related to war pops up in the media. Some of it is about a war that the U.S. is involved in, some of it is about the ongoing struggles in Syria and the surrounding areas, but most recently it has been nervous discussions about North Korea. In times like these it is common to discuss the measures that should be taken to protect the country (whichever one you are in); but it makes me wonder what does it mean for those who are willing to die for their country? In the next few paragraphs I'm just going to ramble off my own idea(s) about war and morals; it's not perfectly formed, it's probably not going to be a well liked piece coming from a person like me, but I thought I would get it out there and maybe you can change my mind or help me develop it. So let me finish the opening paragraph by stating I do appreciate what I was given in the states, the life that I am able to lead including the opportunities given to me, and I have SO much respect for the armed forces; but living in Korea has made me wonder about some aspects of war.
One of the biggest problems, in my mind, is the way wars and enemies are so often portrayed as these mindless drones who have no control over their thoughts and feelings and that they are already dead on the inside so it doesn't matter what happens to them on the outside (this is, of course, a dramatized version of what the average person might think), but let's think about North Korea for a moment. Now, I am talking about it as an alien in South Korea who has only lived here for 2 years and only studied the history ever so slightly, i.e. I know very little about the situation. It could be that everyone, or the majority of people in the north, are all for a militaristic, all for one, do or die kind of attitude through and through. But in my heart I truly believe (or perhaps it is just a hope) that this is not the case. I believe that the vast majority think and believe in a free and peaceful life but are perhaps hiding this yearning, this view, out of fear of being discovered, even by their own family members and reported. So they join the army and fight for their country, proving their national pride lest their families disappear (believe me there are some horror stories that have leaked out of the past few years). The motive is not, then, 'kill the other guy' but rather 'keep my family (mother, father, children, wife, etc.) safe'. So while we are fighting to keep our loved ones safe at home they are doing the same.
Ok so with that out of the way let me get to my main point of this post. In South Korea it is mandatory for all men to receive a basic military training since they are still in a state of "war", a basic preparatory draft. And with mandatory drafts I always have to wonder who is fighting to live and who is dying not to fight? Or in other words who is a "soldier" who is willing to fight for life and country, and who is just a wo/man who wants to go home to a loving family? And then I started wondering about how many men and women around the world in voluntary or compulsory army service are capable of killing another human being just for the sake of their own survival, and is it something they know they are capable of when they sign up? Of course it is the survival of the country back home that they are serving, but in moments of face-to-face combat it is really their own life they are fighting for.
I used to have a friend who would say 'You have to kill them before they kill you.' but is it really that simple? I honestly don't think it is, and here's one of the reasons why. As we were taught in school fight or flight is a human being's natural response to sudden stressful situations, but generations of humans have been forced into a fight situation by death threats if they were to flee as their natural response may be. Even today there is this pressure to fight and not give in to one's flight mode for fear of dishonorable discharges, charges of treason and far worse. Of course the thought is that people don't sign up for service as a soldier thinking "I will never have to fight", but how does that person know that their natural response to said fight won't be to say "RUN!". What happens after this completely natural response is squelched for fear of repercussions?
After having this "flight" mode suppressed I have to wonder if we have not developed a sacrificial sympathy. It is a sad thing to die, certainly a terrible one if it is the result of fear
and/or hate, but I wonder if amidst all that anger and passion that someone
doesn't, for a split second, consider the other wo/man's life over
theirs; after all, compassion has the word passion stuck right in it so
why should it not be considered as strong or stronger than fear or hate? So I can't help but wonder about possible sudden moralistic "attacks" if you will. I am not saying that this fictitious person wanted to die, or that they chose to give up the sense of their own mortality, just that they held the weight of someone else's mortality and found it to be too heavy. That for a moment they didn't consider the moral implications of killing, but rather considered simply that all life is precious, the opposing soldier's as well as their own.
We, perhaps not everyone but a great number of civilians, view soldiers as these hard people who fight for our country with pride and no fear for they are doing what they know is right and what they believe in. But isn't it possible that these soldiers are also extremely compassionate and that because of that compassion some end up losing their lives? Perhaps they died not just fighting for their country but with compassion for all human life.And perhaps with this thought in mind we can try to view our armed forces with a little more compassion. After all it's who has the heart that makes a great person, not who has the gun.
And that's the end my friends. Take it or leave it. Ask questions, make comments, but please be constructive not destructive. I would rather discuss differing views than defend personal "facts". As always I hope the world is kind to you ^^
-Sara Jayne
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