Below is a letter recently submitted by Conscience Canada board member Eric Unger to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance:

 

Dear Mr Harper, Mr Flaherty, and Mr Bruinooge,

As the violent and tragic events unfold in Syria, I am reminded again of the
results of instructing men in the ways of killing.  Can we learn anything
from these events?  It is quite possible, and even logical, to expect that
some day, unless we carefully consider and learn from them today, such
horrific events will take place within our own borders.  As military experts
provide overseas instruction and guidance in how to interrogate, torture,
and kill fellow human beings, only the blind cannot see that the results of
our labours may someday return to haunt us, perhaps repaying us many times
over.  And who will take the responsibility for such short-sightedness?

For this reason, I ask you to read the attached note.  This is a personal
plea, but others hold similar points of view.  It is the hope of Conscience
Canada that you, now occupying a majority government would quickly enact
into law a PEACE TAX FUND so that those of us who are opposed to the concept
that stronger armies bring a swifter peace may designate, for the sake of
our consciences, our hard-earned tax dollars toward more peaceful
enterprises.

I apologize for the length of the attachment, but that may serve to
demonstrate the sincerity of my plea.  It is within your power to enact such
a bill, now!

 

My Earnest Plea for a Peace Tax Fund
In many African cultures, where the wisdom of the aged is still held in high
esteem, there are three groups of people: the living (with whom we interact
in the course of our work and play), the living dead (with whom we once
interacted, but who have recently – within our lifetimes – passed away and
remain fresh in our memories), and the dead dead (with whom we have never
interacted, but whose pilgrimage on earth has been recorded). Each group
passes on its wisdom to succeeding generations, often through proverbs.

I am among those who believe that one purpose of living a long life is to be
able to pass along to the next generation any wisdom learned in the present
one. I believe we would do well to listen to those whose speak from
experience. Why should Canadians, and the Canadian government deliberately
choose to ignore the wisdom learned by the forefathers?

My perception of war as a sensible means of human interaction can be summed
up in a quote from Blaise Pascal, who was not only a very logical thinker,
but also a person of deep faith:

 

Can anything be more stupid than that a man has the right to kill me because he lives on the other side of a river and his ruler has a quarrel with mine, though I have not quarreled with him?

 

I fully understand that there are those whose hopes and aspirations are
closely connected to conquest and battle, and who hold other points of view.
But I submit my plea on behalf of those who believe as I do, that war is NOT
the solution to international disputes.

I ask you to consider the following seven quotes, from among dozens, taken
from “Symposium on War” compiled by John Horsch and published by Mennonite
Peace Problems Committee in 1927. Those speaking are the dead dead, pleading
from the grave that we would exercise wisdom in order to prevent the
immeasurable suffering that war brings on soldier and civilian, nation and
planet, alike.

 

 

If my soldiers would really think, not one of them would remain in the
ranks.
–Frederick the Great

 

 

The more I study the history of the world, the more I am convinced of the
inability of brute force to create anything durable.

–Napoleon Bonaparte

 

My first wish is to see this plague on mankind [war] banished from the
earth and, although it is against the profession of arms and would clip the
wings of some young soldiers soaring after glory, to see the whole world at
peace and the inhabitants striving who could contribute most to the
happiness of mankind.

– George Washington

 

 

I confess without shame that I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all
moonshine. It is only those who have neither heard a shot nor heard the
shrieks and groans of the wounded, who cry aloud for more blood, more
vengeance, more desolation . . . War is hell.

– General W. T. Sherman

 

 

The object of military training is to win battles . . . . . bayonet
fighting is only possible because red-blooded men naturally possess the
fighting instinct. This inherent desire to fight and kill must be carefully
watched for and encouraged by the instructor.

–“Manual of Military Training,” by Colonel James A. Moss, U.S.A., and Major
John W. Lang, U.S.A.

 

 

And those that killed and maimed these boys of ours, and whom our boys
were so carefully trained to harm and destroy, scarcely knew what it was all
about, never knew each other and had no personal grudge of any kind – just a
wild, organized orgy of murder and venom in the name of “patriotism,” in the
cause of “glorious war”, and all of us so blithely, smugly, sacrilegiously
sure the Lord, the Prince of Peace, was on our side.

– Editorial article,
Los Angeles Times, July 30, 1922

 

 

An army exists to kill men, when ordered, in the nation’s quarrel,
irrespective of its justice. It should train its men to a single end. If we
object to any of our citizens thus specializing on murderous and unchristian
activities, we should abolish the army. If we want an army, we should
recognize it for what it is. We should not tell lies about its being a
school of citizenship or manual training.

– An army officer, Christian Century, March 11, 1926

 

With which of these voices would you disagree?

 

I do not wish to be among those who cannot hear the past voices of wisdom,
and I choose to object to organized conflict. Since the government accepts
my position as a conscientious objector to war, it would be reasonable for
it to understand that neither do I wish my taxes to support war.

Since you are now in a majority government, it would be an easy thing to
take just a brief moment to introduce and enact a bill to establish a Peace
Tax fund for others who, like me, would prefer that our hard-earned tax
dollars be put to peaceful purposes.

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. It is appreciated.

 

Sincerely,

 

Eric Unger
Member of Conscience Canada

 

PS: An additional quote from a former president of the United States, D.D.
Eisenhower, who intimately understood what war is all about, and shares his
wisdom from the grave:

 

I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, as only one can who has
seen its brutality, its stupidity.