Courage and ANZAC Day 2012.

It was a beautiful calm day in Perth, Western Australia – a balmy autumn day in fact. While I was outside reading, the thoughts about the importance of this day to Australians came to mind. Not being born in Australia and not have any Australian relatives who were involved in any “Australian” wars I do not have any emotional attachment to ANZAC Day. Not that I decry Australian’s reverence of the Day – just that I have no attachment to it.

 I always wonder at the human trait of honouring those who are brave in war situations. I admire them and I too honour them. But why only war? I know that bravery in war focuses the attention on a brief window of time when witnesses may attest to the actions – above and beyond the call of duty - of a particular person, or group of people. This is as it should be and they should be commended. But people are brave not just in a war situation. And some people are not brave they are fearless – which is a different thing completely.

Someone who is brave has the courage to rise above their fears and, with their adrenaline flowing freely, often with what appears superhuman strength, and in the heat of the moment they perform their act of bravery. This is courage and an act of bravery that is very often a one-off situation. On the other hand someone who is fearless appears to have no feelings, no anticipation, no apparent understanding of any consequences of their actions. In fact they can be quite scary people to be with. More often than not they are young, reckless and one is never quite sure what next scrape they are going to get themselves into.

There are brave, courageous, people everywhere – but they are seldom recognised, certainly never to the same degree as in a war situation. For instance consider the “boat people” so denigrated by politicians. They show a high degree of courage – firstly in abandoning (or escaping from) their home environment, then travelling by uncertain means across land and sea to attempt to get to Australia. This is a journey, often taking many months, only to arrive at an uncertain destination to an uncertain reception and an uncertain future. Then what about children forced out of their homes, for whatever reason, and living on the streets, fending for themselves? They also show a great deal of courage – in situations requiring courage on a continuous basis for months, even years on end. Similarly a person who cares for a disabled family member – this requires courage on a seemingly never ending basis. The emotional and physical drain requires such people to, as it were, pick themselves off the floor, every day with minimal respite. A mother may sacrifice herself to save her child by giving food, or medicine she herself desperately needs. This degree of courage is seldom, if ever recognised but it takes place all the time. These people are not fearless – they are courageous – they are brave.

These are everyday life and death situations requiring courage and bravery of a high order.

Then of course there is the famous Bible quote (John 15:13) “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Anders Behring Breivik - and Mental health.

Can you imagine it – one of the most gruesome mass murders in modern times and psychiatrists cannot determine if the perpetrator is sane or insane! This is bizarre. After over 100 years of research and “experts” still cannot determine, with any degree of accuracy, if someone is sane or insane – it's a matter of a health professional’s judgement regarding the apparent behavioural and thought disorder patterns presented by an individual. This is a kind of “suck it and see” approach. There is no “test” for insanity or in fact for any other mental problem. This is something that the general public is never told.

I have been following Breivik’s trial in Norway quite closely and I have read much of what has been said about him on the internet – newspaper articles and scientific journals. Breivik is intelligent (possibly above average); he is articulate; he is meticulous in his planning (his killing spree was at least three years in the planning – possibly more); he is a conforming conservative in that he conforms to an older idea of what a “white”, Christian, Norway should be and he appears to be quite rational in that he can explain why he did what he did and is apparently satisfied that he achieved a level of success.

Breivik may have delusions of grandeur – just read some of the things he has said and look at photos of some of the uniforms he has worn. But these sorts of delusions are not unknown among the general public – this includes politicians and businessmen.

Breivik may be grossly misguided but he is certainly not insane (and my “assessment” is as good as any experts – just an educated guess). He knew what he was doing and is quite prepared to accept the consequences.