War Crimes

Violence like all sin is based on lies. The great lie of violence is that it can be controlled. Despite thousands of years of facts to the contrary, it is still assumed that violence can be contained.

Great claims are made that a certain war is necessary to stop evil being perpetrated by an enemy, the enemy always being the other ones, never us. Yet after every war, come the stories of war crimes. Once again, the determination of who decides what acts of violence are criminal is the victor. Many seemingly normal men and women exposed to war become themselves vicious and commit acts that would have been beyond their thoughts and imaginings before they were taught to kill and had practice doing it against their enemy.

Slavery on the rule books of most countries is illegal, yet sweat shops and unpaid employees and human trafficking exist in the most “developed” nations in the world. Little girls do not grow up dreaming of prostitution. Abuse, neglect, rape and utter despair force them into it; and they are controlled by people who make money off them. When they no longer can earn enough they are abandoned.

Two generations ago the Holocaust, Shoah in Hebrew, was not denied. Its’ survivors were living among us. The horror of it was palpable. Soldiers who had liberated the camps were our uncles and fathers, brothers and neighbors. The violence of it was deemed necessary by a socialist government.

When legal abortion began forty years ago, the national news reported on nurses having to receive counseling so they could continue to participate in assisting at them. Always the claim is it is necessary for victims of rape and incest. The numbers, staggeringly in the millions, don’t support that reality. It has become normal.

Homeless, gay, transgender, black and recently Asian people are often targeted by random violence, even to death. The murders are condemned, yet not nearly enough is being done to face the issues which fester in our souls and the soul of the nation.

Tyre Nichols was murdered by members of a task force who became the street violence which they were supposed to prevent. He was neglected by the medical personnel who were charged with saving his life. There is no doubt in any honest person’s mind that Tyre would not have been treated this way if he was not black. Racism exists in the soul of our country and has made its way into each of ours. The degree may vary; but the reality cannot be disputed.

War is against the life and teachings of Jesus. Slavery is against the life and teachings of Jesus. Abortion is against the life and teachings of Jesus. Anti-Semitism is against the life and teachings of Jesus. Prejudice is against the life and teachings of Jesus. Racism is against the life and teachings of Jesus. The Catholic Church has been silent too many times in speaking against violence which is always against the life and teachings of Jesus. Lord, have mercy.

Article first published by the Rhode Island Catholic