War and Peace

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The British Empire was at its height and ready to extend it even by force when The Salvation Army began. It too wanted to ‘conquer the world’ so no surprise that its vocabulary is still saturated with military terminology. Historians may disagree on the extent to which it actually cooperated with the imperialists. It may have attempted to provide humanitarian aid to both sides in conflicts, though inevitably that may appear imbalanced. Salvation Army services during the Boer War are an example, resulting in disenchantment and substantial loss of membership in South Africa.  As a result Booth instructed future leaders there not to get involved in politics. 

The Zimbabwean liberation war was the closest I got to personal involvement in war, with fighter planes over the mission, being held up at gun-point, detonating a land-mine, house-searching and detention, apart from the prevailing uncertainty of what would come next and the difficulty of making the best decisions. (A Rhodesian Landmine)
 
In the early years of the 21^st century there was another battle ahead. War was on the horizon. In the run-up to the first Gulf War I had written to the General seeking permission to approach the National Council of Churches in India, to consider sending a delegation to Iraq to try and negotiate with Saddam Hussein. I got no reply.
 
Knowing that Indian Salvationists were firmly against invasion then, I was concerned about the killing of Christians at a school in Pakistan and pleaded with the current Salvation Army leadership. This seemed to fall on deaf ears. I decided to write to Tony Blair and George Bush. 
 
‘I write with concern for the well-being of Salvationists in South Asia, recognising that they may become the target of reprisals to anything perceived as an attack on Islam. I therefore urge you to submit your proposal to the United Nations Security Council and to be bound by its decision.’
 
Salvation Army leadership understandably objected to my action which I defended as a duty of care.
 
There are times when we have to lay everything on the line, risk everything and be willing to face the consequences in order to do what we feel is right. 
 
There will be disputes and disagreements; people will quarrel and fight. There will even be war. But we must do our part. We must do all we can to work for a world in which we live together in peace and harmony with others. 
 
We must learn to walk with others. We can walk with others, as we have walked with each other, sharing with love and respect for each other's past. We may not have an influence at national or international level. It’s how we get on with each other that really matters.

I had assumed that estrangement from some cousins was due to us working in a country hostile to their own. But there was more to it than that. Slowly, the truth emerged. I had married a Siebrits – a family they thought of as aristocratic and haughty. There was also pain about the criticism and high-handed decisions of earlier Salvation Army leaders with comments made about and to them. I had little to say about the Siebrits family, but as a one-time successor to those Salvation Army leaders, I offered an apology. It eased family tensions and we kept in contact and in cordial relationship.
40 years after graduation the class of 1964 returned to Cape Town for a reunion. one of our fellow students, now a professor of psychiatry in Melbourne, used the occasion for Australian television to glimpse into our backgrounds, our experiences as students, and what had happened to us since. I agreed to be interviewed wih a colleague of colour on the midpoint of the hospital, which in the 1960s divided white from non-white. We laughed together about the past, but agreed that despite the difficulties there had been progress. Importantly, he bore no grudges. Cedric Adamson had kept in touch with me over the years. He had issues with The Salvation Army and with my family. He was writing his memos which included reference to both. I felt a responsibility to engage in what proved to be fruitful dialogue even to the point of conversation by telephone and even messages as he was dying.
  War is often the result of ethnic, religious or cultural differences associated with domination and aspirations for freedom and a desire for recognition and a dignified place in society and the world.  It is sometimes the end-point of racism.
 
History has a list of people committed to non-violence. MLK with his commitment to civil disobedience, St Francis and his attempts to stop the Crusades, Gandhi with his non-violence and satyagraha. These have been an inspiration to me. Some Salvation Army leaders and writers have been 'pacifist' - Coutts, Gauntlett, Baird and others are some I have admired. That full-scale civil war was averted in South Africa is a small miracle. We are indebted to the likes of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, but also others, like Michael Cassidy who called the nation to prayer. It was a collective movement. We all have a part to play.
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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