Discussions on War

Yesterday I taught a lecture I called "Politics and Propaganda". Our objective was to read two stories about war, and discuss the effects of war on society. We read Luigi Pirandello's story "War" and then Ting Ling's story about the death of her husband at the hands of Nationalists in China, "A Certain Night".

We opened the class discussing the reasons for going to war, both good and bad. I felt like we had a unique perspective in that they had all served in battle at some point or other.

We watched a clip from Saving Private Ryan where Tom Hanks cries like a baby after losing one of his soldiers. It was easy to see the difference between the enemy and the friend.

And then I showed them this trailer from the Hurt Locker:



After watching it, we discussed the differences between other wars, and the war in Iraq.

(I watched the whole movie yesterday afternoon. It's incredible. Go see it.)

Here's what we discussed:

Jihad--means "striving" or rather "striving against evil".

The greater jihad is the individual struggle we all face against evil. The lesser jihad is the political struggle against forces that would attack Islam.

The war in Iraq is not fought against people in uniforms. You never know who is going to detonate a bomb--an old woman, a child. You never know who your enemy is, and who you're trying to protect. And often the people you're trying to protect are the people who will succeed in killing you. It's difficult to see.

I believe the War in Iraq is symbolic for our own personal greater jihad. It symbolizes our own daily struggle against evil. We don't know who or what will bring us down. Our enemies are artfully disguised. We have to learn how to defend ourselves and find happiness in the midst of enemies.

So I asked the class--how do we survive in the struggle against those forces that would tear us down? And they talked about building relationships of trust, of strengthening our souls through prayer and meditation.

I don't know if that's how to win the war in Iraq--but it seems like a very good place to start.