Stephen Rowland: A long history of war remains constant in human nature

I actually dread turning on the TV news lately. I’m in the habit of daily perusing internet news sources; lately I pause and often find something else to do. It’s too painful, too barbaric, too inhumane.

At first it was riveting; most of us watched intently as Russia invaded Ukraine. Now it’s offensive to my ears — bombing maternity wards, children on trains, hospitals, etc. Since Ukraine defense forces have fought valiantly inflicting serious losses, it seems Putin has adopted a scorched earth policy. If they don’t stop resisting he will kill everyone there — that seems to be the plan.

I was just a bit too young to have been drafted into the Vietnam war, so I’ve never experienced first hand the ravages of war. Most of us know a veteran of Afghanistan or the Iraq war. So many of them came back missing a limb or with severe PTSD that my heart really went out to them. The WWII veterans I knew that endured hand-to-hand combat (deceased now) didn’t like to talk about their experiences; I guess it was too painful reliving the memories.

I remember a little bit of the “Hippie peace movement” back in the Vietnam War days. Long hair for guys, bell bottomed jeans, flowers and peace signs everywhere. Remember John Lennon’s song “Imagine”? No heaven, no hell, no Christianity, no war, everyone living peacefully in a socialistic paradise. Well, it hasn’t worked out too well.

The uncomfortable conclusion that I have come to is that barbarity and “man’s inhumanity towards man” is endemic to our species. If it’s one thing that has been a constant in recorded history, it’s war.

By March of 2021, Wikipedia listed 40 ongoing wars globally between countries/tribes. Encyclopedia Britannica listed five wars between 1500-1600; 11 wars between 1600-1700; 21 wars between 1700-1800; 36 wars between 1800-1900; 37 wars between 1900-2000.

Notice the unfortunate trend? If you’re going by frequency and statistics, war should be considered just as natural and common to the human species as eating, sleeping, and propagating. It should be one of those things that help define who human beings are. So why is it not viewed that way?

I think the answer lies in the fact that deep down in our souls we have an intrinsic moral code built into us that recognizes such atrocities as “not right”; as something really wrong. We have this noble ideal that humans should be able to live together in peace and harmony, but we never realize it. We are always striving for the unattainable, but we don’t seem to recognize the fact that wars are inevitable — simply part of who we are.

Christians recognize this predicament as stemming from the innate sin nature. In our view, there is something fundamentally wrong with human nature itself. If that isn’t true, then why isn’t human history replete with an absence of wars and an overwhelming preponderance of examples of differing nations/races/tribes expressing their admiration for the diversity?

If we are born basically “good,” or at least as a “blank slate,” then perhaps that’s what we would expect. A rare atrocity as in war would be universally reviled as contrary to who we are, our human nature. Instead it’s just the opposite.

Some Christians have the mistaken idea that Jesus came to earth to usher in peace and prevent wars, reflected in that often used Christmas card greeting of “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men” (Luke 2:14 in the King James Bible).

That mistranslation has been corrected in newer versions to “and on earth peace to whom his favor rests.” It was Jesus himself who predicted “wars and rumors of wars” right before his coming back to planet earth in Matthew, Chapter 24.

As Christians, we are supposed to pray for those in authority in civil government and to pray for peaceful relationships.

If it’s one thing that God is not obligated to do, it’s to override the personal wills of sinful men, or leaders, or Putin in their plans for violence. He didn’t create us as human robots. The ability to choose between constructive actions and destructive actions is the price we pay for human freedom while living with innately flawed human nature.

There is a way to change that “innately flawed human nature,” but now I’m infringing on the turf of preachers and pastors.

I do hope, that against all evidence, there remains a tiny sliver of human decency in the heart of Putin that can gradually respond to Christians' prayers for divine intervention in Ukraine.

It’s a long shot, I know.

Stephen Rowland writes a Wednesday column for The Daily Herald.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Stephen Rowland: A long history of war remains constant in human nature