Beliefs

Bosnia: No time to daily with pacifism

Letter to Citizen from Rev. Brian Kopke, July 19, 1995

I am a dedicated pacifist. My grandfather chose Boston as his home rather than join Germany as a soldier in the First World War. My father had a defence deferred job in the Second World War. I had a divinity school deferral during the Vietnam War.

I chose to move to Canada 11 years ago. It was better to be part of a country going broke over social programs rather than one going broke over missiles and bombs.

Deeply held values must be tested against the real world. We should not be proud of the fact that we are a tolerant people, but spend time discussing the limits of our tolerance so that we are remembered as an ethical people. Unbridled pacifism will allow horrors to grow in a place like Bosnia, grow while I await the preferred results of diplomacy.

There is no longer time to dally with pacifism. The time has come for the UN, or NATO alone, or Canada alone, to act decisively to put an end to the rape of Muslim women, the abuse of their children, the slaughter of their men. If we choose not to confront the Bosnian Serb barbarians ourselves or with our allies, we must sell or give arms to the Muslims so they can defend themselves.

Sadly, the atrocities, the genocide, the ethnic cleansing must be resisted with every means at our disposal. Only decisive action will send a message to future generations that such actions will not be tolerated.

Rev. Brian S. Kopke, Ottawa