Today, November 11th, is Veterans Day in the U.S. of A. and Armistice Day in much of the rest of the world. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the Allies and the Central Powers agreed to cease fighting the Great War and strive for terms of peace.
The end of a war ought always be celebrated, but I wonder whether those who fought them are really heroes. Here in the US, it is now a day to celebrate veterans of all wars, but perhaps we ought not teach reverence for those who obey the State's call to arms.
When rival political classes have an international dispute, they conscript or cajole their subjects into fighting and dying on their behalf. Education has been monopolized by the State for well over a century, and the predominant pattern is still the old Prussian imperial model of factory indoctrination. Students are still today taught in school that the political class serves and represents us. Thus, their interests are our interests. But is any of this really true?
The Christmas truce of 1914 was the opportunity to end the war at a grassroots level. Soldiers in the trenches glimpsed their shared humanity during the holiday celebrating the birth of the Prince of Peace, and they set aside the conflict of the State for a moment. A few days later, they instead resumed a war that would drag on for nearly another four years of death and devastation with no real conclusion to the initial conflicts.
Those who fought quickly forgot their humanity and returned to obedience. Despite the proclamation of an armistice, it seems November 11th, 1918 still saw sporadic shelling through the remainder of the day. Men who had once set aside their arms in defiance of orders refused to set them down as ordered just a few years later. All the needless hate and fear built on the ambitions of would-be rulers wear away at the souls of men who had been educated in the fog of nationalistic fervor.
I thus celebrate Armistice Day with a sense of somber reflection, and urge my readers to question the "virtues" of patriotism and obedience. If you are a Christian, remember that your kingdom is not of this world, and the vanity of men is not the source of your honor and glory.
Edited for numerous touchscreen typos and stylistic first draft errors. I don't guarantee I caught them all, but I tried.
