September 16, 2004
(Below is an article written by my friend and former therapist, Edward Tick. It deserves to be shared widely. And so I leave it here as my last post before I leave town for a few days.)
The history of civilization is, in large part, a history of the causes, practices and consequences of warfare. Scholars count approximately 14,600 decisive wars in 5,600 years of recorded history. James Hillman declares “war is normal.”
Human beings kill aplenty but rarely without reason. Most of us have psychological and moral resistance to killing and must be supplied with transcendent purpose and whipped into some kind of frenzy to launch the act.
Today’s Iraq war is no different. The causes and practices of this war are not unique and are not solely about the dilemmas they purport to address.
The Civil War’s carnage was to end slavery and preserve the Union, World War I “to end all wars,” World War II to defeat Hitler and save civilization, Korea and Viet Nam to halt falling dominoes and save the world from Communism. This war, we are repeatedly told, is a war to defeat terrorism and the international Axis of Evil, cleanse the world of savage dictators, and protect ourselves against imminent dangers. All these reasons sound transcendent and of pure intent.
In fact, President Bush is replicating an ancient and archetypal pattern as irresistible as the flood of blood that follows it. The causes, intentions and purposes of the Iraq War seem to replicate the pattern of the Just or Holy War as it has reappeared throughout history.
The Just War doctrine, usually traced to Biblical origins, began when the Lord, “a man of war,” led the Israelites from slavery to freedom, granted them the right to take lands from the pagans, and devoured, destroyed and subdued their enemies. In Greek history, Zeus the sky father was god of battle, dispensing victory. Athena protected civilization and gained victory through strategy. Ares and his sister Eris fueled the lust for slaughter itself. In northern European mythology, too, the Norse gods' and heroes’ sacred task was to resist for as long as possible the forces of darkness that would eventually devour the earth. The beliefs about war were similar in all these traditions at the roots of western civilization. In all cases, war was directed by a divine power that chose rulers, favored warriors, and used war to further its own purposes in history.
Christianity inherited these traditions. Paul preached that earthly rulers were divinely appointed and properly determined what was good. Subjects must follow their will; leaders could use the sword to enforce it against domestic or foreign resistance. Augustine codified the Just War requirements: a leader has legitimate authority descended from God and must wage war for a just cause and have good intentions.
George Bush and his supporters claim to meet these requirements. Mr. Bush preaches that this war is against the Axis of Evil, protects America against imminent attack, punishes an evil-doer and rids the world of weapons of mass destruction. It is reported that Mr. Bush, like his antagonists, is a fundamentalist who believes he has been appointed by divine authority to conduct this campaign.
We now know there are no weapons of mass destruction and that Iraq did not have the capability or intention of directly attacking the United States. It is true that Saddam was a mad butcher of his own and other people. But there are many such butchers, and the United States, far from being committed to cleansing the world or punishing them all, in fact often ignores or aids and abets them. Just War theory states that these are unholy alliances and the world is correct to hold us accountable.
Augustine holds that wars are to be condemned if their intentions arise from the lust to inflict harm, gain revenge or procure power. With the overwhelming destruction and abuse we perpetrate, 9/11 forever invoked as our vengeful cause, corporations landing multi-billion dollar contracts and the world’s oil supply at their heart, are our intentions pure? Mr. Bush does not answer these charges but resolutely repeats his claim to the godly principles. He invokes Holy War which, as it always has, drives the citizenry into frenzy.
In Holy War, combatants became possessed, irrational, fearless, and bloodthirsty, terrors on the battlefield and off. Ares and Athena drove their favored warriors to frenzy. In northern European traditions warriors became the berserks of Odin, from which our word derives. In the Middle East, Jehovah and Allah still possess their warriors. During war the entire citizenry leans toward the berserk -- hungry for vengeance, blind to facts, fueling politics and actions with meanness, falsehood, and savage instincts that triumph over reason while leaders inflame our madness for political and military ends.
In Holy War the chain of power descends from its origins in Divine Principle through our leaders and to the people. We believe that our leaders guide us toward transcendent work and to do good we must follow and serve. Democracy grants the people their only power in the chain – by vote or action to grant or refuse legitimacy of rule to the ruler. We have only our vote left to determine whether “we the people” believe.
(Ah, yes, Vote or Die.)
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Old Comments (1)
Diane on 19 Sep 2004
The following verse from the Bible is just one of many that tell how war will end forever.
"In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it.
2 Many nations will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD , to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples
and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
4 Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken."
Micah 4:1-4