Sunday, January 11, 2009

Victory is Like a Funeral

The Dao De Jing has many passages which you could call anti-war. It admonishes leaders who rely on brute force and, like in this passage, it reminds us of the simple truth that war and killing brings suffering. This passage says, "The killing of many should be mourned with sorrow. A victory should be celebrated like a funeral." The Iraq war, and Bush' pre-mature crowing about victory are stark reminders of how not to behave according to the Dao De Jing.

The painting has some figures, possibly sodiers with expressions of grief in the foreground and a car on fire in the background. It didn't seem appropriate to do something witty or overly clever for this passage.

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