Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Teaching about War

My youngest son, 6 years, has developed a fascination with war and terrorism.  We are constantly bombarded with questions about why we can't kill the terrorists this way, and why don't we just drop a bomb on the terrorist's mountain, or use all of our tanks, or send in the Navy Seals.  You get the idea. 

So what to do?  Tonight, I sat him down after a particularly callous comment about war and showed him pictures of its victims.  We looked at soldiers and children, we looked at Hiroshima before and after.  And I asked him if he still thought it better that people kill each other rather than U.S. Soldiers (as opposed to learning to hate death of any kind).  

At prayer time, I asked him to pray for the Iraqi people and for the terrorists.

I wonder if I did right - or is he too young and I'm just showing him stuff that will make him more callous?

What to do?  God, give us the grace and wisdom.