ON JUNE 24, 1859, HENRI Dunant witnessed the Battle of Solferino in northern Italy…

Seeing the bloodshed, Dunant immediately began enlisting local peasants to carry the wounded from the battlefield and take them to local churches, where doctors tried to relieve their suffering.

Deeply troubled by the inhumane treatment of wounded soldiers, Dunant and four other men organized an international conference of thirteen nations in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss ways to make warfare more “humane.”  At the end of the conference on August 22, 1864, the representatives had signed the Geneva Convention.  This agreement provided for the neutrality of ambulances and military hospitals, the protection of people who helped the wounded, and the return of prisoners to their country.  It also adopted the use of a white flag with a red cross on hospitals, ambulances, and evacuation centers–whose neutrality would be recognized by this symbol.

Even though the Geneva Convention has gone through several revisions in the past 150 years–including the denunciation of chemical weapons in battle–it has stood like a sentry over hundreds of battles.  And tens of thousands of soldiers have been saved because of its protection.

Every marriage needs a “Geneva Convention.”  They are non-negotiable situations where we’d never mistreat the wounded or treat them with mustard gas:

1.  We will not criticize each other in public including in the presence of our kids.

2.  We will not address areas of disagreement when we’re at our worst.

3.  We will not resort to name-calling.

4.  We will not, in the heat of battle, bring up information shared in moments of sincere vulnerability.

5.  We will not use each other’s physical characteristics as ammunition when we’re arguing.  Robert Wolgemuth & Mark Devries, “Conflict: Only You Can Prevent Forrest Fires,” THE MOST IMPORTANT YEAR IN A MAN’S LIFE, 91-92

“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your wrath.”  Ephesians 4:26

Mike Benson