It seems to me that far too little importance is given to the brief outbreak of sanity and humanity that was the 1914 Christmas Truce ("Last soldier serving in 1914 Christmas truce dies", 22 November 05). How different the 20th Century might have been if the generals and politicians on both sides had shown the humility and wisdom necessary to follow the lead from the lower ranks and put an end to the horror and madness into which Europe had descended, instead of putting an end to the sanity and humanity.

It was the first Christmas of the First World War. Three more would come and go, and with them millions of young men's lives. Where those in power and authority - and responsible for this unnecessary slaughter and brutalisation of our developing and hopeful civilisation, and then for the unjust peace that led to the rise of Hitler and the even worse horrors of World War 2 - ever held accountable? Far from it. We continue to remember and celebrate them as great men, just as many Frenchmen and Russians still celebrate Napoleon and Stalin.

The mistake we always seem to fall into is in seeking "individuals" to praise or blame (our primitive need for heroes and villains), when in fact the dividing line between the two runs through everyone of us. Not that it runs squarely down the middle, but is biased one way or the other, perhaps inherently, but surely influenced by past experience, added to which are present circumstances: all have a profound influence on an individuals behaviour. Today's hero may turn out to be tomorrow's villain, and visa versa. It is particular behaviour that we should praise or condemn, rather than individuals, which would make it easier for us to recognise and admit our mistakes. It would not have been easy for the politicians and generals who got us into the First World War to recognise, let alone admit, their mistake, which is why instead they chose to snuff out the very suggestion of it embodied in the Christmas Truce.

We place far too much importance in maintaining and cultivating traditions and a version of history that confirms and perpetuates the illusions we have about our own greatness (i.e. of those in power and authority, past and present). We think that we are so damned clever, when in fact - not withstanding our many achievements, big brains and impressive intelligence - we are extremely stupid: Earth's Greatest Ape (Homo sapiens, indeed!). Having spent the past 1500 years worshipping a God who cursed and condemned us for desiring knowledge and (self)-awareness (see the biblical story of Adam and Eve), perhaps it is no wonder that we have made so little progress on our journey from the animal kingdom towards becoming truly human, leaving us still dominated by our animal nature and patterns of behaviour that evolved over millions of years to serve the survival and advantage of individuals and family groups in the natural environment, certainly not of modern man in the socio-economic environment of his own, primitive and misguided creation.

I suggest that we (native Britons) return to our pre-Christian roots and celebrate the Sunturn (not the birth of a mythical saviour from a sin - wanting knowledge and (self)-awareness - we should be proud of), along with the sanity and humanity of the Christmas Truce, the brief but brilliant light of which might still illuminate the darkness in which, at this very moment, we are blindly rushing towards the next big, perhaps final, catastrophe.

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