Kurt Vonnegut, who was almost like a modern day Mark Twain, described fiction writers as making a career out of telling lies. There is a seed of truth in this statement, and in fact, it should be noted that the reason why writing fiction, and creating art in general, works is because there is some measure of larger truths within them. The best artists and painters and musicians and authors often are those who reveal powerful and often harsh truths in such a way that people can not only understand, but be truly moved. Twain's "The War Prayer" is such a work.
In fact, Twain felt that it was so truthful, that he wanted it published only after his death, figuring that only dead people can tell truth on such a level. Obviously, as the title suggests, it deals with the subject of war in general. More specifically, it deals with the general arrogance, stupidity, and blindness of those people who so strongly advocate war, and celebrate it.
The story begins with people saying their "war prayer" as soldiers prepare for their journey to war. There are parades and speeches and war fever is high. In a church, prayers are shared.
Suddenly, the church services are interrupted by a mysterious man in robes, who walks before the congregation and seems to have a strange but strong presence. All grow silent, even the priest, as the man strands before the assembled.
He begins to speak, and he says that if they are going to be so vocal and passionate in their support for the war, then they should at least understand fully what it is they are praying for.
He then berates them, and says that when they are asking for their troops to win the war and bring home the spoils of victory and the glory that they believe is won on the battlefield, they are also praying for something else. They are praying for the defeat of the other side, they are praying for them to suffer terribly and to be crushed morally and physically. They are praying for the abuse of those who will be vanquished. That is the other side of this particular coin of war.
When the mysterious man has gone there are whisperings, and everyone comes to agree that he must have been mad, and presumably, gave what he said no more thought as if nobody had ever bothered saying it in the first place.
This is such a great story. Short, easily read in one sitting, yet definitely worth the reading! It is an eye opener to think about the other elements to what we believe, the dark side that almost everyone knows, deep down, yet of which nothing is said. I remember reading this story at around the time when "shock and awe" was all the rage, and everyone seemed to agree how wondrous a creation this strategy, and the incredible technology that we possess that allowed us to implement it at our discretion. Yet, when I heard of the "shock and awe", and in quieter, more hushed tones, would hear about accidental hits of civilian homes or businesses that had no military value, or even when you see images of the city skyline of Baghdad lit up by he missiles that are striking it and the subsequent fires that have broken out, and the sound of these missiles screaming overhead, it seems almost impossible that people would not give a second thought as to the impact of such military strategies and actions upon innocent parties. Much easier just to lump the people of such a far off and foreign land into one category, to dismiss the whole nation, or the religion that the vast majority of the country believes in, as suspicious. After all, understanding things and people more means humanizing them, and how can you conduct a war against people you actually view as fully human?
War is a dehumanizing process, both for the victors and the victims. It is a process in which the participants, whether voluntary or involuntary, lose their humanity. It is not some tiny thing to be trifled with, but a huge moral responsibility. Yet, all too often, it boils down to politics and power of elite rulers, who decide, at their discretion, that this or that war should be fought, and usually, it has everything to do with personal ambition. The Iraq War that was mentioned earlier was a very transparent example, but it is not an isolated example, and it is not likely to be the last such war. Unfortunately, it is all too easy to imagine that Americans, despite their relative war weariness now, might be gung ho and ra-ra in support of just such a war, and regard the leaders that made the decision to engage in war very favorably.
This is a short piece, and it should be mandatory reading. It might not open everyone's eyes, but it certainly would not hurt. It might even help, if it opens the eyes of even a few.
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