WAR AND PEACE

Lepas tengok cerita Kingdom of Heaven hari tu, Zaim tanya aku,' In the battle, the Muslims killed the Christians. I thought we cannot kill one another, even if we are of different religions?'

Aku tercengang sebentar. Aku memang dah fikir satu hari nanti, Abang akan bertanya sesuatu macam ni. Tetapi aku jangka soalannya akan lebih kepada kenapa ada pengamal intifada mengebom orang Yahudi, yang serentak membunuh diri dan membunuh orang. Sekarang konteks pertanyaan dia dah lain. Aku kena lihat aspek sejarah.

'Zaim, war, battles and violent killings were the common things of those days. When an empire grew, a government or a kingdon would have to go to war against another to protect its people, property and to gain wealth. The Persians attacked the Byzantine who were in return attacked by the Goths or whoever la. The great Abbasid caliphate was destroyed by Mongols.'

'Even the Crusades was actually an effort to relieve the knights, lords and vassals of the prevailing poverty in Europe, not really a fight for religion, at least not to me. The Dark Ages remember?'. Panjang aku cerita. Kalau sekerat-sekerat, dia tak akan berpuas hati pulak nanti.

Zaim mengganguk, 'So, war is a tool?'
'If you look at it that way, yes!' kata aku. 'A tool to satisfy humanity immediate needs. The bottom part of Maslow's hierachy', kata aku menatap tepat muka Abang. 'Maslow what?', muka Zaim berkerut. 'Never mind', kata aku.

'So, war is justified?', .... Laaa dia belum selesai lagi.
'At that time, probably yes', kata aku sambil berfikir cepat. 'But, personally, I don't think it should be. Violence begets violence. You'll destroy a century of civilizational gain in an act of madness'. Aku mengakhiri. Letih dah.

'Then, Ibu is always right. Violence is bad', kata Zaim.
'Yup, another fact you should know is that IBU IS ALWAYS RIGHT!', aku menutup cerita.

Abang termangu-mangu, ' Errr.. I should go mandi now?'.
'You should know the answer', aku sengeh kat Abang.