War. It is a slightly, he says, controversial topic. Possibly it would be better to phrase as 'highly controversial'. It is also topical. And, as you can imagine, it came up on the journey to Swinnerton Army Training Camp where my school's Combined Cadet Force (CCF) were going to undertake a day of ground training. The person sitting next to me on the coach could not understand my stance on war. I, you see, am a pacifist. I am not religious, as you will see in my previous blog entries, but I still have strong moral standpoints. The problem on the journey was that the person I was speaking to was highly patriotic. He is a fervent monarchist, he strongly believes in British values. Anyway, I diverge, I was talking about being a pacifist. I stood by this when the person in question asked me about hypothetical cases involving dictators threating the world. Would I answer the call to arms? I stood by my beliefs when he talked about a theoretical invasion of British soil. Would I answer the call to arms? The answer, as I told him, is no. I would not answer the call to arms.
Being so strongly patriotic he could not understand this. It made no sense to him. You can see why. I had joined the CCF. Surely this meant I wasn't a pacifist. The answer, you see, is no. A couple of years ago the scout troop I was in folded and I didn't feel like I fitted into the new group created after several troops merged. I wanted to use CCf as an occasion to take up similar opportunities, to learn similar skills. But my main reason was flying. In the RAF section, of which I am a member, we get to fly. So, the first time I had ever flown was when I was 13. I went up in a two-seater Tutor airplane with a pilot with over 1000 hours experience. And I got to take control of the plane. I have been gliding twice since that first powered flight, and both times I have been given control. It is a marvelous feeling. Now you see why I joined the CCF.
So, why am I a pacifist? My answer is fairly straightforward; I could never kill. I could never bring myself to pull that trigger. I could never end a persons life. The guilt would be horrible. That person would have a mother who would mourn his passing greatly. He would have a past, and most upsettingly, a future. I could never take that away. Not even if my country was threatened. War is never right. It is never right to kill some mother's child. It is never right to kill full stop. Murder was deserving of capital punishment, so why in war does it become permissible. It is all because of dealings at the top. People get scared by other people, shuffle figures around, and people die. It is not right. I hate it. This is why I could never become a politician. I can speak in public. I now how to structure an argument. I can debate like anyone. There are several reminiscings I could permit myself at this point but I shall restrain. But I could never become a politician. Just because of this. I may well yet become one, but we shall see. On that matter it makes you think doesn't it. The people who are happy to lead are the ones who are happy to send people to their deaths. There's a thought for the day.
To conclude. I am a pacifist. I could never kill. War is never justifiable. And I will stand by that belief until the end of time.