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The Cry Of A Wounded Soldier

Posted Aug 22 2010 by Jonathan Brink in , , with 5 Comments

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This is one of the most powerful videos on the the subject of war I have EVER seen. The speech is given by war veteran Mike Prysner.  I would really encourage you, regardless of your views of military service, to watch it. Mike strikes at the heart of the problem of war. The real enemy is racism, which is simply another way of saying, “someone not like me.”

You can read the transcript here but a few choice lines stood out to me.

“I tried hard to be proud of my service but all I could feel was shame.  The racism could no longer mask the reality of the occupation.  These were people.  These were human beings.”

“We are told we are fighting terrorists; the terrorists was me and the real terrorism is in this occupation.”

“Racism is a vital weapon employed by this government. It is more important than a rifle, a tank, a bomber or a battleship. While all of those weapons are created and owned by this government, they are harmless without people willing to use them.”

“They don’t have to fight the war, they merely have to sell the war.”

My favorite was, “Understand that their power lies only in their ability to convince us that war, oppression and exploitation is in our interest.”

“Without racism we realize that we have more  common with the Iraq people than we have with billionaires that send us to  war.”

I’ve always been frustrated at my ability to effectively communicate my tension with the idea of military service. I have good friends who have served, and while I want to honor what they have done, I cannot honor the idea behind it.  I honor the person serving but not the idea they are serving.  And I don’t think my tension is singular. The video received 6821 likes and 312 dislikes.  This video has finally given me and understanding of why.  In participating in it we become the very enemy we are seeking to destroy. To participate in it it to become it.  And I can’t desire that for anyone.

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About the Author

Jonathan BrinkI am an business development and communications consultant. I am also the senior editor and publisher for Civitas Press. I recently published, Discovering The God Imagination: Reconstructing A Whole, New Christianity. (Civitas, 2011)View all posts by Jonathan Brink →

  • Mike R.

    Jonanthan,nnI appreciate what you are saying. I disagree with the racism statements the soldier makes and dismiss it as a tactic to gain attention for his cause. However, I understand how he can become so entrenched in his immediate surroundings as many do. But, in the big picture, to quote the little girl that said he was “worse than Suddam Hussein”, speaks of his personal struggle with his service, not reality. The figures are varied as to how many Hussein had killed but even the lowest numbers indicate our military presence is no where near as devastating to life as Hussein’s reign of terror. nnThere is so much wrong with this war on terror so it’s easy to weave truth with the lies as both sides of the issue has done. I would challenge everyone to look at it differently and check the facts before jumping on board with someones opinion. nnIf we all think this through and hold our elected officials accountable for the lies and acknowledge the truths, no matter what side those truths come from, we may be able to find unity in resolving the issues. We spend too much time trying to prove the other side wrong that we forget what’s important. Such is the case with this soldier. His purpose is to help end the war, not to solve the problems of the people oppressed by the war and the reign of Hussein before that. That focus, only serves to solidify the opposing sides against each other rather than creating a solidarity towards solving the problem. I want to believe we can solve it, but when I see people using tactics like this, my heart sinks. Hope fades.nnThe questions is: How do we resolve these things…together?

  • http://jonathanbrink.com Jonathan Brink

    Mike, your’s was one of the opinions I hold dear in this regard. But I have to respectfully disagree. Like I said, I want to honor your service, but not the idea behind it.

  • http://openmindedconversations.blogspot.com/ jshmueller

    I’m still struggling with the question to what degree the use of force and violence – or the threat to use them – is a necessary evil to prevent greater evil. As I mentioned in an earlier response, Paul seems to make certain concessions in that direction in Romans 13 although neither works in the sense of overcoming the actual root, but only has the ability to contain total anarchy and to exercise a certain amount of control through the instrument of fear. rnrnThere can be no redemptive violence, only restrictive violence. I think Bonhoeffer understood the dilemma very well when he he was agonizing over the moral dilemma involved in his participation to plan the assassination of Hitler.rnrnWhat bothers me about the video is not the anti-war message but the mere switch to a different enemy: the billionaires who don’t care and enrich themselves through war. It doesn’t help to “humanize” the image of one part of humanity (i.e. Iraquis and other “enemy nations” in the perception of the war mongers) and then go on to dehumanize another part. The enemy is the mindset that sees the “other” as a threat, period. And the enemy is also the invisible spiritual influence that encourages and fuels the perpetuation of this thinking.

  • http://jonathanbrink.com Jonathan Brink

    Josh, I share the concern with making the billionaire the enemy. But there’s a subtly to the argument he is making that goes beyond the billionaire. They may be controlling the strings, but at the end of the day they are pawns as well to the real problem of racism, or “other”.nnIn many ways Romans 13 is obvious. God consistently meets us where we are at, and rule of law is where we have always been stuck.

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