this week we continue our talk with US army veteran luke harms.
harms served in both iraq and afghanistan as a member of the US army and then returned to afghanistan as a civilian contractor.
harms shares his unique perspective on the war and the military meta-narrative and the struggle he faced adjusting from living in a combat zone to civilian life.
be sure and listen to part 1 of luke’s story if you haven’t already.
things to consider as you listen ::
what does it mean to be a maker of peace?
do you agree that by viewing one group as sub-human, it enables us to view anyone as sub-human?
how has guilt played a part in your journey?
how can we better process guilt and tragedy in our lives and the lives of those around us?
how has nationalism and/or american exceptionalism shaped your view of the current war on terror?
related ::
luke’s blog
luke on twitter
tony campolo shares his draft story (prince of peace – god of war)
music ::
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (38.5MB) | Embed
I like the part where Luke says we glorify our people in uniform to the point that they are almost god-like. Too bad we don’t give them the help they need when they come home from duty.
In response to the part about viewing people as subhuman, I do see it sometimes. Some veterans–not all, of course–get really pissed when you proclaim to be a pacifist. “I fought for your freedom! If you don’t like it, go to France!” I’m like, “Dude, I didn’t say I don’t respect you, as either a veteran or a human being. You’ve seen things that I’ll never see in my life. I said I hated war, that’s all.”
@Travis – To your first point, I think drawing attention to the trauma that follows us home destroys the mystique we’ve built up around the mythical invincible veteran. To “give them the help they need” is to acknowledge that they need help, and it runs counter to the intricate narrative that has to persist in order to keep the flow of recruits coming.
To your second, I think it speaks to the issue of how veterans ascribe value to (secondarily) our experiences and (primarily, and more fundamentally) our own selves. We internalize the ideal of warmaking-as-a-necessarry-and-heroic evil and assimilate it into our identities, so when people make statements about pacifism and hating war, we view it as an attack on our identities.