A Perfect Day

I recently watched a film called A Perfect Day (highly recommend it).  It's a story set in the Bosnian war in the nineties and centres around a group of aid workers who are trying to remove a corpse that is polluting the only useable well in the area.

At one point in the film they have almost managed to pull the body out when a UN Peacekeeping Convoy stops them. The Captain explains that the new peace treaty forbids them to touch the body without a local Judge giving them specific permission.

Of course this law was not really designed for this type of situation and it's clear to us all that the humanitarian and the most sensible thing to do would be to remove the dead body, sanitise the water and return the well to the local population.  But the UN Captain insists upon the letter of the law being upheld despite the fact that ignoring it would be beneficial to all.

And so the locals are forced to buy their water at extortionate prices from local criminals or, if they don't have money they have to do without water.

In so many ways there is a parallel between the UN Peacekeepers depicted in the film and the Governing Body of Jehovahs Witnesses.  Numerous bible verses don't make any sense in modern society and yet the GB insist that all Witnesses must obey them whatever the costs.  Their argument is that they are displaying loyalty to Jehovah.  This is interesting because Witnesses often describe themselves as soldiers in a battle against Satan and his world.  In a real battle the last thing a commander needs is soldiers who blindly follow the letter of the law no matter what the consequences (though I admit this wasn't always the case).  However a modern soldier is expected to think, in fact he or she is told that the most important weapon in their armoury is their mind.

In the first world war hundreds of thousands of men were expected to leave the trenches and run towards the enemy at the order of a commanding officer, even though they knew they were going to die.  The term 'cannon fodder' was coined to describe this completely pointless waste of young lives. By the 2nd World War soldiers were still asked to storm beaches and fields but now the soldier could take cover, attack when a window of opportunity presented itself and individual ideas amongst the troops were discussed and sometimes used during a battle to overcome the enemy.

Today many soldiers are often sent on their own or in very small teams to carry out assignments. They have an objective but they are not constrained by a specific set of instructions as to how they must meet that objective.  They are expected to improvise and adapt.

The Governing Body are still fighting in the style of the 1st World War commanders, unable to adapt, to think logically, to realise that the objective is more important than the commander.

They cling to the belief that women are inferior to men, they persist with the idea that blood is more sacred than life, their insistence on having more than one witness to an accusation has landed them in serious legal problems around the world on charges of covering up child sexual abuse.

I'm sure the leaders who drew up the terms of the peace treaty in Bosnia would have thrown their arms in the air in despair at the way it was being interpreted by the UN Peacekeepers on the ground. Sometimes it is patently obvious what is the right course of action.

If God exists I would imagine he is equally as frustrated and annoyed that his 'servants' don't show any degree of common sense when it comes to interpreting the bible.  As the human race develops and we shed the intolerance's, superstitions and naivety of our forebears religions like Jehovahs Witnesses are fighting to undo those advances and return us to a time of blind obedience.