At the end of my Bible study time at Royal Oaks, a resident popped a big question. I know I should be gentle with these folks, but I admit to having some hot button issues that I can hardly resist. His question was, ‘are we headed for World War III?’ “NO”, I said. And…then there was silence….and then I had to push back.
“There’s never been a world war!” I say. Now, this is where I either get people to sit up in their seats or assume I’m totally whacked and check out. The previous week, we had started a new book of the Bible by popular request…you guessed it…the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John. So, the resident’s question actually fits within the confines of our current Book.
I went on to say these things to them but won’t put them all into quotes. How would we define a world war? Why do people say we have had two world wars? By any standard definition, a world war would necessitate that at least 51% of the world were involved–I can only think of a few ways to ‘count’ that. Countries-it fails on that front. Population-it fails on that front. I’m out of ideas unless you want to talk about the GDP of the countries that fought in the war–that would be a pretty disjointed approach, but it’s the only possibility for getting to 51% (and I didn’t check so I don’t even know if this one works)
A resident says, well those wars affected the whole world, that’s why we call them world wars. I responded by saying that every war affects the whole world to a greater or lesser degree, so that’s hardly a good definition. In fact, one sin affected the whole world forever.
Once again, words matter, and people completely stop thinking for themselves. Even worse, narratives force even people like me to use the words that I disagree with. What else would you call WWII? How about, “The continuation of the war in the early 1900’s between a few European countries and a few world powers or countries that desired to be world powers.”
I further prodded my audience with, do you think Zimbabwe would call it WWII? I mean, did it have such an impact there that those citizens talk about it like Americans do?! Well, come to find out, Zimbabwe wasn’t a country yet–but a self-governing colony of the UK, so those people were involved in the war. I guess I missed my point on that one 🙁
You are probably tired of thinking about this subject and want to tell me to just move on. Okay, I will. But not before closing with….ethnocentrism, and especially American ethnocentrism has always stuck in my craw. That’s why I pick an ideological fight with nursing home residents when the opportunity presents itself. Ironically, Americans tend to be among the most welcoming of other ethnicities because this young country was largely built by immigrants.
Okay, one last word, I promise. I’m also especially sensitive to governments / nationalists forcing stuff on their citizens that is self-aggrandizing. I’m not saying America is the only place I see it, Europe has a similar problem. Africa and Asia seem to struggle with it also….but because America is the world power, we have come to expect everyone to think like us, look like us, act like us, believe like us, love what we love and hate what we hate. Calling things by a grand names (world war, world series, world champions) is something Americans do because what we do and who we are is so important!! (sarcasm intended)