This past week saw the end of the 2012 presidential election. At Razdolna Villiage School a great deal of our social studies time was devoted to the electoral process, the candidates and the process of election. None of their families watch TV or let the students surf the internet. Because of this, all of the students were excited to come to school on November 5 in order to find out who had won the election. As teachers, we were excited to share the news with them. Their excited attitudes were in sharp contrast to the anger and frustration being provoked over American social media sites and television news reports.

                After learning that Obama had won, one third grader asked, “Will there be a war now?”

When the US election result was called for Obama, Donald Trump tried to instigate a war by writing, 'He lost the popular vote by a lot and won the election. We should have a revolution in this country!' Many racist groups are trying to use hate speech to create rebellion. Conservatives are fighting over ‘liberal agendas’. Liberals are gloating over their popular vote. This is in sharp contrast to their “Regime Change Now!” slogan of 4+ years ago. Storms are being blamed on political views. Secessionist petitions have been submitted to the federal government by a few radical individuals in traditionally conservative states.

The students of Razdolna Elementary do not know anything about any of this and yet they think to ask, “Will there be a war now?”

I am taking my young family to a predominantly Buddhist country which has been dealing with civil unrest for the last 70 years. The civil war caused many thousands of people to die. Countryman turned against each other. Religious men turned directly away from the edicts of their faith to fight. What was the fighting for?  Nationalism?  Religion?  Idealism?  Freedom?

Sri Lanka has been referred to since Western contact as “Eden from the Book of Genesis”. The land is so lush and diverse their food supplies are grown in country and sustain them. The weather is beautiful, with monsoons happening on opposite sides of the island during opposite times of the year. The flora and fauna are distinct and diverse: elephants, monkeys, chameleons, blue whales, and peacocks are wild and abundant.

And yet, for some reason, the Buddhists cannot stop fighting with Hindus and Muslims. For an American, this seems completely counter intuitive. What comes to mind when we think of Buddhists? We think of the Dalai Lama getting kicked out of Tibet for protesting the Chinese government through the use of peace. What do we think of when we think of Hindus? We think of Gandhi revolting against the British using peace as his weapon. What do we think of when we think of Muslims? We consider them war mongers and terrorists! Remarkably, none of these stereotypes hold true in this war. They are fighting simply because of “Nationistic Agendas”. For Americans that means, “Political Differences”.

Since I announced our decision to visit Sri Lanka, my extended family and friends cannot help but express a variety of concerns: “How could you take your family to a Buddhist and Hindu and Muslim nation at Christmas? Will anyone think to acknowledge Jesus?” Why am I taking my children into a country being accused of war crimes? I have heard the country is still littered with landmines in the north. There are so many laws in Sri Lanka designed to hold onto ancient cultural beliefs and to maintain the peace. Free speech is illegal. If we disrespect any religious sites or religious symbols in any way we can go to jail. Homosexuality is illegal. This is a ‘conservative’ country. Women have a place in it, as do white people, and this place is…well…antediluvian. Don’t these things go directly against my belief system?

At this point I must ask these well wishers that, as an American, we turn an eye onto ourselves.

I feel that the authentic nature of our culture is masked by commercialism. I often think of George Bush’s request to the nation after the World Trade Center attacks to keep the economy moving by shopping. Sometimes I am acutely aware that we call ourselves a conservative nation of holy Christian soldiers praying to live up to God’s law and yet we are brutal and confrontational and unjust. We use faith to mask our consumerism and our greed. Do we follow Jesus's words, "Those who have been given much, must give much"?  We do things like protest abortion laws and then spend hundreds of dollars a week on goods produced in factories in nations that have mandated abortion policies. Homosexuality might not be illegal here, but is it legal? I mean really legal to where people feel safe to be who they are? Do women really have equal rights to men? Do women in America not constantly have to fight for things like reproductive health rights and equal pay? Is our government not being accused of atrocities linked to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Is our government not killing people through drone missile strikes in Pakistan to this day? Notice, I’m not even mentioning what we did to the Native Alaskans, native Americans, African Americans, Jews, Pollack, Irish…

Although we are a nation acutely divided politically, we Americans have not yet fallen into a modern civil war. We pay taxes for roads and schools and police and Social Security and military. After paying taxes we have enough to buy cars and get mortgages and we live the dream that so many people throughout the world would give anything to have: the freedom to improve our lot in life.

When the banking system of the United States collapsed a couple of years ago I was listening to a heated debate about the merits of rescuing the financial system or allowing it collapse upon itself. An elderly man was interviewed about the difference between the depression era of the 1920’s and 30’s and now. He said, “Then, we did whatever it took to keep our family together and alive. We were growing gardens and we saw a cause greater than ourselves. We were willing to take up arms to fight against any evil we saw in the world. Now days, people would easily take up arms against their neighbors. People don’t seem to think nothing about killing each other. The government cannot let the banking system collapse. The bloodshed on the streets will be too intense.”

What did he mean by that? Is our American society that brutal and spiritually impoverished that we would turn arms against one another instead of supporting each other? I’ve thought a lot about that statement. Consider Aurora Colorado. People simply went to a movie and a lunatic came in and started trying to kill everyone. It seemed completely random except that no one around the killer seemed to notice that he had been plotting for months to execute this plan. Imagine a group of rebels which included just one or two twisted individuals such as the Washington DC sniper. People were getting picked off while driving home from work.   Think of the havoc they could create. Brutal civilian deaths in a revolution would happen and these deaths would be deemed by the United Nations as atrocities.

               Think of how we Americans seem to behave when disaster strikes. People became violent after Hurricane Sandy because they could not get their gasoline. A Filipino friend said to me one time when we were talking about the unusual dietary delights in Filipino cooking, “You Americans have no idea what it is like to be hungry. You have no idea what it is like to be hungry and have no way of getting any food. You don’t understand the feeling of being hungry and not being able to feed your children!” Now imagine what would happen if instead of gasoline there was no food, no way of getting any food, and no FEMA or Red Cross to blame for this problem. What would Americans do in that type of situation?

When I turn my eye onto my country, I believe that if we continue on our current path, the political division that many hold so passionately will combine with random violence, drug wars, immigration policy fueled racism, and homophobia to create the perfect climate for civil war.

This year many instigators called for a revolution…a revolution with ramifications of which these individuals have no personal knowledge. They do not take the time to think what those ramifications would mean to people like us average Americans. These instigators have not walked in the shoes of a person who has lived through the terror of civil war. They have not sat down and talked to an immigrant who has escaped that brutality.   

The Greear family will go to Sri Lanka. We might not have an opportunity or the courage to talk to people about their experiences living through the war. We will, however, see the ramifications of civil war. We will see armed soldiers on the streets. When my children ask me about them, I will have enough knowledge to explain to them what has happened. My goal is to teach them to stand up to divisive ideology. I will show them through our travel what can happen when political differences become more important that harmony.

I believe that because of this trip, my children will become much more able to participate effectively in our American civil society. Instead of being children who ask, “Will there be a war now?” My children will say, “I will not allow there to be a war now.”