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Originally Posted by Zack  War has quite a history in our world and seems to be a normal response to resolve unresolvable differences between the disputing parties.
So in your opinion is war sometimes necessary? Or, can war be overcome by application of logic and reason addressing differences?
Some reference material found here War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In my European travels I came across a city that choose not to be at war, the city is Bamberg Germany bamberg ge - Google Maps. This city, unlike most cities in Europe has no walls. Across Europe all cities have walls from Paris to limits of the continent to the best of my knowledge. But Bamberg decided not to build a wall to keep out Napoleon or other warriors, but instead raised a few more hogs and offered up their food and virgins in trade for peace. It is a beautiful city with very old buildings that were for some reason missed by bombs in WWI & WWII. | I like this quote from your Wikipedia source: Samuel Huntington has modified his Clash of Civilizations theory by using youth bulge theory as its foundation:
"I don't think Islam is any more violent than any other religions, and I suspect if you added it all up, more people have been slaughtered by Christians over the centuries than by Muslims. But the key factor is the demographic factor. Generally speaking, the people who go out and kill other people are males between the ages of 16 and 30.
During the 1960s, 70s and 80s there were high birth rates in the Muslim world, and this has given rise to a huge youth bulge. But the bulge will fade. Muslim birth rates are going down; in fact, they have dropped dramatically in some countries. Islam did spread by the sword originally, but I don't think there is anything inherently violent in Muslim theology."
I have to agree with Huntington on that one. I think that youth bulge theory plays an important role here. As someone who is presently in college (and close to that age group), I see a lot of anger in these kids faces these days. I have to admit that sometimes it’s chilling. However, I don’t believe that the answer is to necessarily send these kids off to war – but to educate them through logic and reasoning. So, yes (somewhat like Ghandi or even the Dalai Lama, I suppose), I do believe that war (for the most part) can be overcome through logic and reasoning. Some more quotes from that Wikipedia source:
“Since respectable positions cannot be increased at the same speed as food, textbooks and vaccines, many "angry young men" find themselves in a situation that tends to escalate their adolescent anger into violence: they are
- demographically superfluous,
- might be out of work or stuck in a menial job, and
- often have no access to a legal sex life before a career can earn them enough to provide for a family.
- The combination of these stress factors according to Heinsohn[14] usually heads for one of six different exits:
- Violent Crime
- Emigration ("non violent colonization")
- Rebellion or putsch
- Civil war and/or revolution
- Genocide (to take over the positions of the slaughtered)
- Conquest (violent colonization, frequently including genocide abroad).”
I think that we have to do more work in these areas, not only here in the US but around the world as well. Let’s face it, most (if not all) of us go through a period in our lives (particularly adolescence) when we are angry and frustrated. However, people mature as they get older and are more able to use logic and reasoning to solve their problems. Granted, some people never mature and maybe that’s why we have war in the first place. But, war is not always the answer.
I just believe that we should always emphasize peace first.
Peace - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anyhow, I have to go, Zack – will get back to this thread and your “War” link later as my replies are warranted. . .
Last edited by Nightrider; 06-19-2008 at 11:58 AM.
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