Of history, war, heroes, peace, and politics

History for this year's homeschool studies is the 20th and 21st centuries, definitely a colorful and favorite time in history for me, and I'm eager to share my favorites with my kids. There's a lot of good, bad, and ugly in those years, but that's really what history is about. It's not about only the pretty, but about the ugly too, and about God's sovereignty through the mess of this world.

Wars. Lots of wars in the 20th and 21st century. I would probably place World War II as the most interesting war for me, personally, to study, though some of my favorite books and stories (Rilla of Ingleside, anyone? Sergeant York?) hail from WWI as well.

But it doesn't mean I relish war. I'm not a pacifist, but war doesn't thrill me. A large part of the reason I savored and pondered The Hunger Games books was precisely because I appreciated the author's honesty about the messiness of war. A recognition that doing nothing is wrong in some cases, but doing "anything" isn't justifiable either. War tactics matter. The personal stories in the latter two books of the Hunger Games illustrated this poignantly and are potent to ponder.

There are plenty of Bible verses to pull out of context, to support either a belligerent war-mongering philosophy or a pacifist belief system. (My FB feed is littered with them!) We're not called to cherry pick Bible verses, taking them out of the time and context they were meant to be applied. But we are called to protect the weak and to promote peace, as far as is able. The best path to this isn't always as easy as laying down all arms or attacking all enemies.

We are called to love. We are called to defend. But we are called above all to fight the rulers, the authorities, and the powers of the spiritual realm. It doesn't mean we don't have true enemies here on earth, but it puts perspective on the struggles of this fallen earth, and reminds us of a higher calling and a sure victory at the end of time. Our greatest enemies are not even human beings!

My recognition that human life is sacred and that war and fighting should not be taken lightly (but that it is a right and just action at times!) is why I treasure the story of Sergeant York in WWI - his Christian conversion, and his wrestling through his own beliefs about war, as a former drunken rabble-rouser, turned pacifist, turned reluctant war hero. My kids have greatly enjoyed an audio rendition of his story via Adventures in Odyssey, and I'm in the process of securing access to the Sergeant York movie with Gary Cooper, which I remember fondly from my childhood.

We will also be reading my favorite biography, The Hiding Place. Not a story of fighting, but of courage in a war-torn country, in the face of oppression, genocide, and unspeakable horrors. The other side of war - the political prisoners - but in this case, a story of hope, not defeat.

We will be memorizing "In Flanders Field," a haunting reminder of the sacrifices of the fallen, and our debt to them. I salute those who have kept us safe from tyrants, past and present. I teach my children to do the same.

One of the war heroes in my life is my own grandfather, William Alfred Huber, who was drafted to serve in WWII. Watching the inspirational documentary series "Band of Brothers" last summer gave me a bit more of a glimpse into my own grandfather's experience, as he served in the Battle of the Bulge, like the men in the documentary.

My grandfather was no war-monger and spent much of his adult years as citizen and pastor promoting peace. But he also had one notable conversation in 1980 with one of his young pacifist parishioners (his future-son-in-law! - shared with permission), in which he explained his own justification for his participation in the Allied war effort.

He barely spoke of his war years through most of my mother's childhood, and only opened up slowly in his later years, as he reconnected with old army buddies and swapped stories. Like Alvin York, my grandfather struggled with that balance between Christian promotion of peace and defense of the helpless. And like Sergeant York, my grandfather had no aspirations to be known as a war hero. He was a faithful husband, dedicated pastor, and loving father to 6 children. But before he was any of those, he also served his country in defeating one of the greatest tyrants in human history.

The last time my grandfather spoke publicly, he reflected on mankind's "need" to attach labels to other human beings, and he opened up about some of his own wartime experiences.

I tried for some 60 years to forget them. But sometimes we shouldn't forget. And I'm convinced, finally, that God didn't mean for me to forget this one lesson, because there's a message in it for me, for you, and for all the world.

I've copied (with permission) my mom's summary of the rest of his message. ("Dad" in the passage is my grandfather):

When he left for the war, he didn't hate the Germans. After all, his dad was German and they still spoke German in his Grossmutter's home in Indiana. But his officers, especially, wanted the soldiers to learn to hate them. It didn't take Dad long to realize the Germans were the enemy because of some of the atrocities he saw and heard about.   

One night Dad was standing guard in the basement of a German house while the rest of his group got some sleep. Soon, a whole squad of German soldiers came storming towards the house. After a few bursts from Dad's machine gun, a few of them lay dead. His buddies came to see what had happened and thanked him for saving their lives. But then Dad realized the guy in front had looked like one of their own who had been recently captured. So someone went to check and brought back a photo he had found in the dead soldier's pocket. Dad was so relieved it wasn't his buddy.  

 Dad told us, "Well, all [choking with emotion] the guilt in the world fell from my shoulders. And I was myself again. I hadn't killed another human being. I had just killed another blankety-blank German."  

But, then, he looked at the photo. He said, "Sure enough, that wasn't Dempsey. It was a handsome, young German soldier [pause] and his beautiful wife [long pause, weeping] and two little kids. He was a family man, a husband, a father, who'd been trying to protect his little family and country from someone who had come 4,000 miles just to put an end to his dream of life."  

So what was that lesson my dad mentioned? It's so easy to label people. Those blankety-blank-blank Germans! Dad said, "Oh the power of labels! No wonder the infantry leaders wanted us to learn bad labels, because labels dehumanize a person in your mind, and they become just a statistic, a thing."

Yes, one can easily come back with quite a good explanation for WHY the American army did come 4,000 miles to put an end to this German soldier's dream of life, and on the one hand, I agree. My grandfather did too. And I will be explaining to my own children this year in history all of the reasons I truly believe that the Allies justly fought and defeated the tyranny of Hitler and his allies.
But along with my grandfather, I don't want my children to come away from our study of WWII or any other war thinking that human beings are labels, that the loss of human life is to be mocked or relished. I want them to realize there were human beings on the "other side" of the battle line. Not every German soldier even knew what their leader planned and executed - what he stood for. The fact that many Germans died giving their lives for a horrible, violent, racist madman is a tragedy. It's not something to smile or delight in. These weren't just blankety-blank Germans; they were people who had lives, hopes, dreams, family. I don't honor them as heroes, but I mourn them as fellow human beings.
And come to think of it, the same principle of labels applies well as we enter another nasty political season. By all means, have principles. Vote for those principles. Have discussions and debates. Know what you believe and why. I hold the unpopular modern belief that there is absolute truth, and I seek it in both my life and faith, and try to apply it in the voting booth. I am NOT advocating for equalizing all beliefs and political parties.
But don't reduce the opposite point of view to a strawman, mocking your opponents or those who support your opponents. Use respectful language, and remember that you can disagree with every fiber of a person's belief system, but still honor them as a human being created in the image of God. For our struggle is not ultimately against flesh and blood. And as God's people, we know the end of the story. Our guy wins! (And no, he's not a Republican or a Democrat, for His kingdom is not of this world.)
While we are citizens of this earth, we should care for it and care about it. We should strive and fight for what is true and right, with justice, love, mercy, and truth. And we can rest in the knowledge that we serve a sovereign God who is over history, time, and political squabbles. Amen?