Combination history/philosophy question?

Question

I'm watching the movie Uprising, the story of the Jewish uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto, and one of the themes is "What is honor?"

In a situation where no answer is a good one, how would you define "resistance?" How would you define "honor"?

Can a person choose not to take up arms and still be resisting? Can going to your death without begging to be spared, or even suicide, be considered an honorable death?

Is it honorable to take up arms to die fighting, if you taking up arms for yourself will result in tens, hundreds, even thousands of others being killed?

One of my favorite arguments is between the two leaders of the resistance, and they argue about the difference between being passive and being prudent.

In Nazi Europe, retaliation was completely out of proportion. One Jew killed one German, Jews in the entire city paid for it.

And what of the orphanage director, who knew he couldn't stop the Nazis from taking the children? He marched the children to the deportation trains, and got on the train with them.

In fact, his act of resistance was insisting on dying, not insisting on living. The Nazis "forbade" him to board the train to be deported.

Was he resisting? Was he being honorable? Did he just follow the tide?

Then there was the leader of the Jewish council, who refused to take up arms and committed suicide. He tried to bargain with the Nazis. What about him?

Answer 1

There is great honor in dying for pacifism, but no life.

Where there is life, there is also death. Its OK to love life isn't it?

What does it take for a pacifist to take up violence in order to preserve life? As much as I would like to answer that question, I can't.

My ancestors had to make that choice too. They were Menonnites (pacifist Christians) living in the Ukraine when the Red Army of 1920 (mostly drunken Cossacks with no ideology other than slaughter for fun) swept in and slaughtered the men, raped the women and tortured anyone who resisted.

Some were so revolted by this that it shook their faith and they took up arms, others remained true to their pacifist ideals. At that moment of brutality it is a personal choice and no matter what you may have thought before or what ideology you ascribe to, nothing can prepare you for it.

No matter how you might think you will react and with all the foresight you can muster, you will decide right there and then on your own terms.

I too consider myself a pacifist but I truly can't say which way I would go. There is no answer other than trying to prevent such things to begin with.

Answer 2

I have weighed this question often in my life. I really do believe that eventually people are going to find themselves in a similar situation in England and America, since the governments there are morphing toward fascism,
and who knows who they are going to finally decide to make the jews of the day...

I have come to believe that there is no honor is surrender.
If the brown shirts begin rounding up people, whoever, for whatever reason, the right place to be is in a high building, the right tool is a good rifle, the right action is to fight and survive.

Resistance is absolutely fundamental to preserve freedom and prevent tyranny.

Answer 3

I haven't seen the movie which you reference.

I think we are all faced, perhaps in a different way from what you presented, with life choices. What will they be? When will they arise? No one knows for sure, but think of the lenghts that most, and I say most because there are some who don't care, mothers go to protect their children. The movie that had a huge impact on me was "Sophie's Choice." What a horrible situation for anyone to be put into, deciding who gets to live and who must die, but to be the mother and to have to make the decision of which of your children must die and which can live... I can't imagine.

Honor to me is doing that which is right, just, and courageous. No one know how he or she might react in a given situation, but I can uncategorically tell you that if anyone threatened my children, and I'm not sure that it would be looked upon as honor, I would do whatever it takes to protect my children! Anything!

My husband spent 20 years in the US Air Force, so my thinking on resistance might be somewhat skewed. He was in investigations and counter intellegence, which meant that he was in some situations where resistence meant assuming alternate identities to escape either death or capture, which would not have served the mission completion or protected the freedom of the people in the US. He was an officer and the "price" on an officer's head is considerably more to the opposing side. Was that honorable? I don't know, but by doing what he and his men did saved the lives of countless people, including their own, and helped to protect our freedom as we know it. I will never know the details and didn't even know where he was until it was all over and many years later.

Our soldiers in Iraq and Afganistan and other places around the world are faced with this each day...all in the name of freedom for you and me and preserving our way of life in the US. Each day they face the possibility of kill or be killed. To me there is no honor either way, but I guess I'm on the side of our soldiers because they put their life on the line for me and you every minute of every day in the name of honor, valor, and committment to freedom for all..

I believe that we each have a date/time/number that if it's our turn we will die. Death is a fact of life, as much as we don't like to think about it or talk about it. I'm not sure that I would look on begging for MY life as honorable, nor would I consider suicide an honorable way to die, mainly because I believe in God and his plan for everyone. Then again it could be argued that suicide was God's plan for someone, I suppose, but the person made a conscious decision to end their life without thinking of the others around them who might be irreparably harmed. Where is the honor in that? There have been studies done that when a teenager in a high school commits suicide, others around them, thinking they should have known or recognized the "signs" enter severe depression and it results in several other kids committing suicide because they either blame themselves or have a guilt complex about living when their friend died. Is that honor? I don't know. I don't think so, but who knows?

Everything you proposed depends on specific circumstances and how can we predict with 100% accurracy what we would do unless we have been in the situation? Even then every situation is different.

You're right, this is one of those philosophical questions that were we all together in a room, could come up with enough to discuss for hours and never really have a definitive answer. What would you do? What would I do? I don't know until I'm put in the situation, but I will say for sure that I would do ANYTHING to protect my children and any other child!! Would that include killing? I'm not an aggressive person, but given the "right" circumstances with children in risk of harm, it might, I can't rule it out. I think, knowing me, that I would report it to the "authorities" rather than physically confronting someone. Is that honorable? For me? For the children? For society? We never really know until we are in a given situation. I would view that as resistance, however, in that police or child welfare who are experts would be involved as a result of my action. Is that the honorable way to handle it? I don't know!!

Very thought provoking question!

Answer 4

Can going to your death without begging to be spared be considered an honorable death?

Well you could ask Christians that question.

Answer 5

Depends on what you want to study after school. Picking random subjects without a plan is pointless. Do you not and guidance about this?