Appetite for violence
After losing so many lives and witnessing unprecedented destruction across each of world war, any intelligent civilization would naturally opt and work only for peace, serenity and happiness. Which therefore drives the point that human civilization definitely isn't an intelligent one. We love violence under the pretext of strength, superiority, revenge and any illogical excuse that our heart can cook up. I wouldn't want to blame brain for this never-ending mess because if everyone were using their brain alone then the world wouldn't have come to this. How poisonous can our heart be to justify violence against women, children and any living being?! Why is it so easy to instigate us and rally us behind war cries by narrating fictional stories? It definitely is not greed. It is also not fear. It must be our darkest desire for unfettered and uncontrollable violence. Proof are aplenty. John wick can spawn a franchisee by just dishing out sheer violence. Indian mythological scriptures can spawn infinite serials and movies not only to justify but also glorify violence. You will land into heaven if you are fighting for dharma. Yeah, right! Where else did we hear something like this so recently? Desiring for virgins post death (well, it may be their version of heaven). So all of these scriptures will urge you to opt for war over peace. And you cannot question them back just because they are 'religious' writings or commands from god (or his/her/their true follower). But no book that paints war in glory can ever give an ounce of rational justification even in their cooked up story. It always has to be emotional justification. Even if there's any ounce of truth in those mythology books, isn't it weird that we turned those mortals engaged in selfish wars in their own times as the unquestionable gods of our times?
I am not atheist and I love the idea of god. Because it becomes an endless source of hope in your darkest times to retain that will to survive through struggle. I like witnessing God in people around me and as a child in my imagination whenever I am alone. I love the stories of Gopal escorting a fatherless child through the jungle in story books over the one who encourages battles every few chapters of mahabharata. I adore story of selfish giant by Oscar wilde even if it is purely fictional just because it shows transformation of a lonely soul.
I think it's about time we stop glorifying soldiers. Because we are throwing away their lives and pumping them to trample on other people's lives. We are just treating them as pawns to indirectly glorify wars. If you want still want to glorify then why not doctors, teachers, farmers, scientists and students? Before you are tempted to turn any individual into messiah, please check if he/she/they are not messengers of social injustice and promoter of war. At the end of the day, he/she/they are not to be blamed if your blind pursuit of their path landed you in quicksand and a hell hole.