On a deeper more fundamental level, we are all always in some sense at war. I oppose falsehood, lies, deception, confusion, propaganda, simple-mindedness, and ignorance generally. Total victory, unconditional surrender, when it comes to exposing and dealing with what is demonstrably untrue, are the goals of a university professor. The artist too has something in common with the military. Every artist leaves a personal mark in their medium, demonstrating creative power, rebuking the ugly or the nondescript, turning on a light, turning up the sound.
Art is forever against mere convenience.
The soldier may destroy, the artist create, but they each respect what is of value, which is why E.B. Sledge distinguished between soldiers and savages, pulling back from the edge where nothing matters. Mother Theresa and her sisters in Calcutta conduct a mission against disease, pain and loneliness even at death's door. No surrender here, not even for those who will die tomorrow because they too need to be cared for, to the end. These sisters are soldiers of mercy comforting the dying, defying the fate they cannot change. Mothers and fathers are at war too with everything that corrupts good character.