9 Lessons from "Band of Brothers"
14 Jan
My beautiful wife Renee bought me the box-set of the TV miniseries “Band of Brothers” recently. I’ve watched it repeatedly and have been reminded of the following truths:
1. The horror of war.
2. The necessity of war.
3. The glory of great achievements.
4. The fleeting / vapour-like nature of life.
5. The power of resilient, steadfast determination.
6. The deep depravity of man.
7. The incredible influence of a good leader.
8. The devastating influence of a bad leader.
9. The powerful bond of brotherhood.
Fans of B.O.B should keep their eye out for the forthcoming sequel-series which focuses on the WWII conflict in the South Pacific…
2 Cor 10:3-4
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world…”
John, I was intrigued by your very perceptive 9 points. War can show us graphically some truths which lead to the gospel- the depravity of man, the fleetingness of life. But I would like to seriously challenge point two: that it is ‘necessary’.
Certainly war is inevitable. But necessary…?
As a Christian, my point of view is that violence must be avoided. We do not fight like the world. We must never take up arms to defend the gospel. It compromises us greatly. War appears intrinsically evil: it always brings out the highest depravity of man.
I personally do not believe Christians are called to fight in war. We are, however, called to challenge the worldviews that cause them in the first place. The gospel is the weapon we fight with.
Should we have taken arms against Hitler sooner? No. We should have stripped away from him the backing of the people supporting him. Should we have dropped those atomic bombs? Sure, lets look at the lives it supposedly saved, but Christianity is essentially deontological. War is not an excuse to transgress moral law.
And there is certainly no glory in war. Any veteran will tell you that it is dirty and horrible. There is no honour in fighting enemy soldiers, who were likewise ordinary men commanded, mostly against their wills, to follow foolish orders.
In war, humans, with all their dignity and potential, are reduced to mere pawns.