“How are you doing today, sir?” a European missionary asks his neighbor.
“Good,” he replies. “Any day without a war is good.”
No, these are not the words of a man who saw the carnage of war as a soldier on the battlefield. These are the words of a man who was only a child during World War II, but who remembers the horror of battles being fought in his own backyard. His thoughts about “a good day is one without war” are echoed throughout Europe, as my recent visit to Moldova reminded me.
Though the War in Iraq continues to be unpopular in Europe, I am convinced that most Europeans are not actually dismissing the merits of this particular war. Instead, they are reacting to a general impression of American foreign policy as constantly flexing its military might. Put simply, many Europeans believe Americans are too quick to rush to war.
Share these insights with many Americans, and you hear some good reasons why preemptive strikes might be necessary. Had we preemptively struck Hitler, we could have avoided World War II. Had we preemptively struck Russia, perhaps the Cold War would never have taken place. War is a sad and sometimes inevitable reality. We see the stark reality that sometimes we must not only talk about peace, but actually fight for it.
Americans tend to be more open to the idea of war, and Europeans seem to be knee-jerk in their immediate opposition. Therefore, many Americans see Europe as naïve and hopelessly pacifistic in its orientation. We do not understand why there is so much talk and so little action. We think that Europeans would let evil run wild, and that their reticence for war to solve worldwide problems is rooted in dangerous passivity.
But there is a reason why Europeans tend to be more pacifistic: History.
World War II was a necessary war – even a just war, we would probably agree. In World War II, we saw the best of many young Americans die. We know that the war came with a terrible price.
But the war was not fought on our terrain. Yes, the war snatched away some of the best of our youth, but it did not destroy our country. (In fact, some historians believe it was the War that lifted the U.S. out of the Great Depression.) On the other hand, Europe was in ruins after World War II.
Talk to older Europeans and you will quickly discover that they see life as “before” and “after” the War. Our national consciousness is not shaped by war fought within our borders. Europe’s is.
The great cathedrals that crumbled, the art museums that were razed to the ground, the villages that were burned, the cities that were bombed – not only did Europeans lose the best of their young, they saw much of the greatness of their culture destroyed. Destroy a nation’s cultural artifacts and you destroy something deep within a nation’s psyche. Destroy a nation’s infrastructure, and you destroy the country’s sense of security for decades.
For Americans, war is something done somewhere else. For Europeans, war destroys more than just human life; it also puts an end to human flourishing. It is no wonder that Europeans are more pacifistic in outlook. They have seen the destruction of war up close.
Many European evangelicals are also deeply pacifistic and regularly challenge their American brothers and sisters on issues related to violence. Tomorrow, I will follow up with a few thoughts as to why evangelicals tend to see non-retaliation as a more central theme in the teachings of Jesus than we do.
