War... Good G-d! What is it good for?

I just watched a very interesting anime movie with my brother called "Steamboy". Since the link which I have just posted should tell the reader any extensive information about this movie which is desired, I will not go into more detail than is necessary here.

I found the main character in this movie - and ultimately the thought that went into the plot line - to be quite morally sensitive. I think the guiding question behind this movie is "In whose hands are the weapons of war well used?". The main character in the movie, Rae Steam, gets plunged into a conflict between two powers: one, the O'Hara corporation, representing capitalistic greed taking precedence over every other consideration; the other, the British Government, representing the interests of a Nation bent on maintaining its position of power over all other parties.

For the first half of the movie it seemed to me that the O'Hara corporation should be the ones to be considered the "bad guys", therefore naturally the movie should center around having them defeated! As the movie progresses (and I'm truly sorry for this spoiler) we see that the grand picture is not so black and white. The British Government wants to get its hands on this technology which, invented by the main character's grandfather, can help them build better machines of war. At first it seems that it is only the O'Hara corporation that wants to do this, if only for the purpose of selling war machines to other nations. We soon find out Britain's intentions, and are left in a quandry as to who exactly the "good guy" is!

The movie seemed to take me on a carousel ride went from the very nurembergish topic of how much violence can we justify marching under the flag of scientific advancement to the topic of nations and their justification for owning the means of violence.

I would like to, if I may, refer to everyone's favourite contraversial document for some advice here. The reference that we are going to use (retrieved from http://judaism.about.com/library/3_askrabbi_o/bl_simmons_warviolence.htm ) is Sefer Devarim, Parashat Shoftim, Perek 20, Pasuk 10. Otherwise known in English as Deuteronomy, Chapter 20, Verse 10. "When you approach a city to wage war against it, you must propose a peaceful settlement. If the city responds peacefully and opens its gates to you, all the people inside shall become your subjects and serve you." (This is a translation of Rav Aryeh Kaplan, in his "Living Torah" book). Under the exceptional circumstance which this verse refers to, the Jews were actually enjoined to fight an aggressive war against their enemies. Judaism seems to take a responsive stance to war. Even in this case, when Judaism commands the nation to fight against another nation at the beck and call of the G-d of their fathers, they still must take care to preserve life whenever possible.

Juxtaposed with the actions of historical Britain, France and Spain, a Jewish theological nation would not be so intent on expanding its borders without serious debate. An interesting proof from Torah comes from a dialogue between Abraham and G-d during the matter of the infamous Sodom and Gommorah (the first of which was not problematic due to any rectal activity!!!) : "'Will You actually wipe out the innocent together with the guilty? Suppose there are fifty innocent people in the city. Would You still destroy it, and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty good people inside it?' .... G-d said 'If I find fifty innocent people in Sodom, I will spare the entire area for their sake.'" (Genesis, 18:23) Again we see this concern for the well being of people in a perceptibly bad nation.

All of this inquest into Torah really helps me to understand why I liked the main character in this movie. He strove to maintain peace between two potentially evil powers, while leaving the problem of what to do with this new technology in the hands of people who will hopefully come to a better rounded decision that does not require aggression.

It is at this point that I had better stop, as it seems that I am projecting my optimism on to society, which many times does not seem that deserving. I hope I haven't come across as overly preachy in this Blog, as when I am encountered with the concept of morality, it is hard not to think of the religious tradition of my forebears :)