Looking down on someone looking down on a battlefield, I wonder about the mind-sets of all the players.
There, on a beautiful hillside, the two opposing forces strategize and count down to the moment of initial combat. Soldiers, some not old enough to vote with sons and daughters at home, born in the absence of their father. Some, like myself, who love their country – but not enough to die for it, going all-in to kill a near identical counterpart – but from another country, or from the ‘wrong’ part of his own.
There are the few officers who know a bit more about the up and coming carnage. Perhaps they have an idea of the real reason they are all congregated at this site and the economic benefits their side can win.
Next, is the lad who is responsible for the re-enactment. A person who not only attests to the validity of what is shown, but attests to the reality of war; the loss of guilt-free life, heinous injuries and broken families.
Then there is the perspective from the second-tier. Aloof from the re-enactment by time and space, but still close enough to recognize the horror of the original battlefield.
If everyone could perceive this scene from two tiers up, might that change our acceptance of war and killing as a customary thing to do?
This is but one example of how we have come to understand that dying for something is OK. If a person decides on martyrdom for his or her self, that is up to them. There is great pride and respect in most everyone to those who have given their life for this country. That changes, though, when it is forced on individuals to perform in that manner. ‘On a volunteer basis’ seems much better.
Again, this is but one example. There are a host of similar situations that don’t involve the government, and death. Situations where your voice needs to heard, even if you are the only one that can hear it. Situations where your voice can be heard . . .
even if it is just the sight of you getting up and leaving – the battlefield.
The Infinite 