I keep changing my mind

During the past presidential election we again observed the phenomenon of mind changing. Candidates change their minds and make a concerted effort to change the minds of the electorate. I have come to the conclusion that the most dangerous person is the candidate who does NOT change his mind. Yet in the public mind, a candidate who changes his mind is a weak or unstable candidate.

I am a graduate of a very fine college. My college training was four years of rigorous pursuit of knowledge. After college I pursued graduate studies for an additional four years at a highly respected seminary. On each graduation day, I took note of how much I have yet to learn. I think of myself as a life-long learner.

Learning is the first step in a process. The next step is the integration of new knowledge into the body of previously accumulated knowledge. The challenge is relentless and never-ending. The process has forced me to change my mind countless times. Some of my mind changing is subtle and relatively quick. Other changes of mind have taken more time and results have been more dramatic.

I am a child of the Great Depression. I am the son of parents who had no formal education beyond 8th grade. They considered a person with a high school diploma to be highly educated. I was thirteen years of age when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt called it a dastardly attack. Within days the United States was formally at war with both Japan and Germany. In my poorly informed mind, the United States had no choice but to respond with an all-out war effort against our well defined enemies. We were good guys. They were bad guys. War was justified and the killing of hundreds of thousands of people was regrettable, but justifiable.

My older brother was drafted and lived through harrowing experiences in the South Pacific. A good friend died on the beach of a South Pacific Island. Those who participated in the killing and those who were killed were honored as brave heroes. When atomic bombs were dropped on two large Japanese cities at the order of President Truman, I was supportive because it was done for a just cause. I winced when I realized the magnitude of the destruction, but reasoned that the bombs were dropped in a just cause.

When I was 18 years of age, WW II had ended, but I believed I was about to be drafted. The U.S. had to protect the victories that had been won. My country needed soldiers. I enlisted in the U.S. Army. I was sent to basic training to become an infantry rifleman. I learned to handle a variety of small arms. The targets at which we shot were in the form of human bodies. I was faced with a stark reality. I was being trained to shoot and kill other human beings. The context was different from previous years. There was no longer an unprovoked, dastardly attack on Pearl Harbor or a deranged madman in Europe named Hitler. I was being trained to be a killer in the next war effort.

A new reality was mine. I was a trained killer of other human beings. Significant mind changing was taking place.

I served my enlistment, and more education came my way. I learned that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was not unprovoked. United States behavior after WW I was a part of the seedbed for the emergence of Adolph Hitler in Germany. With more education and more information, my mind was going through additional change. In my reading I became more interested in Just War theory. A minority of followers of Jesus from Nazareth have long been reticent to be violent in any way. I knew I needed to learn more.

In the history of Christian theology, Augustine was, to my knowledge, the first Christian theologian to write about just wars. For Augustine wars are always evil, but at times are necessary to eradicate evil and to restore order. Thomas Aquinas took the subject further and set down rules and standards that must be met in order to wage just war. Augustine and Aquinas were significant influences on my thinking. I was continuing my mind changing.

A huge problem arises. People who wage war can always justify their actions. The final war is never fought. Victors continue to be arrogant. Reconciliation and healing continue to be lost arts. I concluded that there had to be a better path than just war theory. My mother’s roots were in one of those peace loving minorities, who renounce war and violence for any reason. She was German and her religious roots were in the Anabaptists of southern Germany. She was a gentle woman. I have no memory of her raising her voice in anger. Paddling or disciplinary actions were foreign to her. Her family, following immigration, settled in Central Illinois. They were pacifists. They were conscientious objectors during WW II. She is probably looking over my shoulder even now as I write.

The world is war weary. I have put just war out of consideration. If I am to be a serious practitioner of the Christian Faith, I have to take the words of Jesus seriously. He said “Put up your sword.” These words are recorded only once, but It is strongly suspected that this was an aphorism that he spoke hundreds of times, especially to those carrying large knives and embracing the violence of the emerging Zealot movement in Galilee.

Love, joy, peace, patience and kindness. These are the heart of Just Peace. They make more sense than Just War.

The End

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.com.