The Chinese just put on a big show to remember the end of WW2 and they chose to show their own military might for the occasion (story on BBC here). I suppose maybe they felt that it was a military occasion and so required the military to march in force. I think differently. I do accept that the military have a part to play – they will wish to remember the cost as much as anyone and I also accept that the military are all still people and part of society (maybe this goes without saying). However, world history has shown that countries celebrating military might does not often end with good feelings and surely any war should be remembered but not celebrated.
You know in medieval times when people went to war they had to pay a religious penalty to help offset some of the wrong that was done. This itself went wrong with the church trying to profit from it financially (that is about greedy people not greedy religion by the way) but the idea was a sound one. Going to war is always going to be wrong because in war people kill each other. Sadly in some circumstances we don’t seem to have any other option but that failure doesn’t make war right – ever. A knight would go to the Holy Land on Pilgrimage for killing others or a King might build an Abbey and pay the wages of some clergy to pray for forgiveness. Surely this is a better response than marching your military might around as if going to war was a good thing.
We remember the ends of wars to be thankful for those who stepped forward to pay the price and to be proud of them for doing so but also to remind us that if we are not careful these things can happen again – as indeed they do. Let’s remember but never celebrate.
What are your views on this?