War is the Crime

By Warren Bluhm

All civilized societies outlaw murder as the ultimate crime against a human. So why is deliberate mass murder condoned as a legitimate means of resolving conflicts between nations?

In this timely yet timeless book, the author of Refuse to be Afraid takes on the myths of the military industrial complex and calls for an end to war, the ultimate crime against humanity.

"How dare any so-called leader rain such agony down on other human beings?" Bluhm asks. "Life, this precious fragile gift, should never be ended deliberately and violently, and how dare anyone inflict violent death on others and subject their loved ones to this deep grief?

"I truly believe I am not alone in these thoughts and that perhaps a book like this might encourage anyone who might be filled with despair that constant war is inevitable. People want peace, so we ought to be working together toward that goal."

War IS the Crime: Reflections on Peace and Nonviolence is the latest in a series of books collecting posts from Warren Bluhm's daily blog, also including A Bridge at Crossroads and Echoes of Freedom Past.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Warren Bluhm
• Release date: May 16, 2024
• ISBN: 9798223979913

Book preview

PART I

WAR IS THE CRIME

A SILLY LITTLE FAIRY TALE

Once upon a time, there was a silly little kingdom and a silly little king. And one day another king came to visit and said silly things about the queen.

How dare you! cried the queen and slapped the visiting king.

How dare you! replied the visitor and went off in a huff.

I am so offended! said the silly little king, and he sent an army to go kill the visiting king.

But the visiting king had his own army, and instead of the king many minions died. The two armies killed many of each other, but the visiting king was never hurt.

One day the silly little king got a message. It said: You bloodsucker! You’re going to have to do your own dirty work now. I’m still alive! You’ve managed to kill almost everyone else, but like a poor marksman you keep missing the target!

This enraged the silly little king so much that he sent another army to ravage the other land and kill as many people as possible but especially the other king.

And the other king sent his own other army and the silly little kingdom was ravaged, too, but both kings stayed alive.

Years went by, and finally a peace conference was called.

I hardly remember why we’re fighting, said the silly little king. We used to be friends, after all.

I remember very well why we’re fighting, said the other king. The queen slapped me.

Of course I did! You said silly things about me, said the queen.

Yes, I recall that now, the other king said. And I would do it again!

How dare you! said the silly little king.

At that the peace conference ended, and to this day the two kingdoms are sending armies against one another, for all the good it does, which is no good at all.

You might say it’s a silly thing to send many people to kill or be killed about, and you would be correct, but that’s how these things happen.

The moral of the story is, well, there is no moral. There’s nothing moral about war.

IMAGINE DELEGITIMIZING WAR

A deranged person goes into a public place with a gun and shoots as many innocents as possible in the time remaining before s/he is either apprehended or killed.

Deranged sociopaths in a safe place far, far away — those creatures we call politicians — condemn the shooter and discuss how weapons need to be removed from citizens’ possession.

Nearly in the next sentence, and sometimes literally in the next sentence, the sociopaths discuss how many billions of dollars should be invested in sending people into public places and shooting as many innocents as possible — for what is war but a series of mass shooting incidents?

I pray for a world in which slaughter is universally condemned, whether committed by an insane person, at the behest of a government considered an adversary of our government, at the behest of a government considered a friend of our government, or especially at the behest of our government, since our government is supposedly the one we exert the most control over.

(I use the word we only for convenience’s sake. I claim no ownership over the actions of the government that rules over my land. It takes actions every day that I neither condone nor support — but people are accustomed to saying we when they speak about that government, and so I use the pronoun, however incorrect and inappropriate it may