You, and Who Else. . .
"Forgive Me," tattooed on American soldier in IraqThere are crimes which no one would commit
as an individual which he willingly and bravely
commits when acting in the name of his society,
because he has been (too easily) convinced that
evil is entirely different when it is done
‘for the common good'
--Thomas Merton
______________
This poignant photo was found via Alternate Brain. It is by embedded photographer Zoriah who has posted his photos here.
This soldier is seeking absolution for doing his job. He is not to be faulted. But who will forgive, how and how many will benefit? Is there a special dispensation granted to soldiers? How about planners?
Catholic Theologian Thomas Merton calls the eradication of the impulse to violence the "great Christian task" for our time. He alleges that people suffer a "deformation of conscience" when they affiliate with their societal group, thereby failing to see the equal humanity of the other.
The soldier's duty is diametrically opposed to the task of peace. "Prayers and sacrifice must be used as the most effective spiritual weapons in the war against war, and like all weapons they must be used with deliberate aim: not just with a vague aspiration for peace and security, but against violence and against war."
Merton spoke of violence within and on an interpersonal level, as well as the geopolitical level. But addressing the violence within is primary.
This soldier is seeking absolution for doing his job. He is not to be faulted. But who will forgive, how and how many will benefit? Is there a special dispensation granted to soldiers? How about planners?
Catholic Theologian Thomas Merton calls the eradication of the impulse to violence the "great Christian task" for our time. He alleges that people suffer a "deformation of conscience" when they affiliate with their societal group, thereby failing to see the equal humanity of the other.
The soldier's duty is diametrically opposed to the task of peace. "Prayers and sacrifice must be used as the most effective spiritual weapons in the war against war, and like all weapons they must be used with deliberate aim: not just with a vague aspiration for peace and security, but against violence and against war."
Merton spoke of violence within and on an interpersonal level, as well as the geopolitical level. But addressing the violence within is primary.
Labels: please forgive me tattoo, soldier seeks absolution, zoriah photo
posted by Lisa at 5:46 PM
13 Comments:
once, while playing poker with my chaplain friend i commented that given the absence of a belief in god folks would be free to follow the dictates of their personality, the good free to be good and the evil to go that way. although some of the purest evil i've ever seen happens when essentially good people are commanded by god to commit evil.
that's when massacres get started. and bonfires.
when i get to heaven
...... The sun will never hurt you
Never harmed anyone
But you must realize
If you try to stare her down
She will win in the end
She will burn your eyes
Too deep for me, Lisa. I especially wonder about using Catholic or Christian theologians as sources for inveighing against violence, inasmuch as the Christian faith and its subsidiary, Catholicism, has been guilty of much of the institutional violence visited upon mankind.
I happen to be pretty anti-violence myself, but it sure isn't because of any religious nostrums from Catholics, Christians, Jews or Muslims. I say they've all caused far more harm to mankind than good. The very existence of these organized religions. that they thrive as they do, and are rich as they are, is the major thing that's caused me to question the existence of the God to whom they pledge fealty.
MB, to me the existence of and the intolerable acts of the cults or sects termed "religions" pretty much argue against the existence of a God. I always follow the dictates of my own conscience/personality—with no God involved—and I haven't been hit with a lightning bolt yet.
There is a lot to be said for the proposition that human beings would be better mammals and would be nicer to each other and to other mammals if "God" hadn't been invented.
Publius,
You have gotten the exact point of it: this man who inveighed against humans cleaving to divisive institutions himself sought refuge in a Trappist monastery.
However, I could have used the same thoughts from any number of thinkers, which is not to diminish the essential truth of the assertion, IMO.
I am with you, and think that any affiliation de facto separates us from those who are not members. This is why patriotism, religiosity, and any number of other ostensibly noble feelings can lead to such horrors -- because we lose sight of the essential connectedness of all things.
We get carried away in our desire to do good, and be safe from the heathens. We are amazed when we find the heathens think that we are heathens!
From my experience talking with and reading others, it seems that most people only apprehend our connection, if ever, in moments of religious ecstasy or a drug-altered state. But to know it when you're not out of your mind is to feel a sad joy at the reality. I do not know when and if people will ever get it. We do not have a great track record on this account.
Meanwhile, the Baptists have very nice fish fries for the congregants, and the missionaries of any number of faiths do nicely abroad building churches, while children go without in their own backyards.
For MB and Publius,
As Mark Twain sagely said,
"Man is the religious animal. He is the only religious animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion, several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat, if his theology isn’t straight.
"He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother’s path to happiness and heaven."
What more can be said? There is a cold brutality in the heart of man which allows this behavior to be perpetrated, with relish. There is something aberrant about man in comparison with the animals.
Could it have something to do with the opposable thumb?!
Saw that pic when AB had it up and was shaken then. It disturbed me past all articulate discussion then and now.
they make a desert and call it peace.
tacitus, referring to the ruins of carthage.
labrys,
When I saw it I thought,"This is like some apocalyptic graphic novel," like The Preacher. This is crazy. It was so surreal I had to post it.
Indeed, the only good use for war is to end violence in the face of an existential threat to the nation or to vulnerable populations (e.g. Darfur). In the absence of either, the only moral thing to do is to cease making war. The purpose of a "just war" being to end violence, the only moral thing to do is to apply as much force as necessary to do the job until the enemy is no longer capable of sustaining operations. William Tecumseh Sherman understood this implicitly when he destroyed the South's ability to feed and clothe its soldiers with his March to the Sea, thereby causing the majority of the South's soldiers to desert (General Johnston's Army of North Carolina had 140,000 soldiers on paper, and maybe 20,000 actual real soldiers who hadn't deserted). He ended the existential threat against the United States via applying as much force as necessary to do so in the shortest amount of time possible, and then when Johnston surrendered, gave very generous terms (basically, "go home, and sin no more") because the goal had been accomplished -- end the war.
Which is why the war in Iraq is doubly a moral atrocity. First, it was not necessary in order to end an existential threat against the United States. Secondly, all necessary force was not applied -- that would require over 500,000 boots on the ground. The result is a moral atrocity that drags on with no end in sight, all for... what? Nothing. Less than nothing. Profits for Halliburton, perhaps. That's it. That's all. Sold our souls for a few coins of gold. This nation is truly damned...
- Badtux the Morality Penguin
this is such a good high quality discussion....... human nature, religion, war, peace........ thanks
Badtux,
Well-said--a double moral atrocity.
Ghost dansing,
Thanks for The Strokes!
MB,
It is provocative to consider Nietzsche's pronouncement, "God is dead." Now what? If our hands are not tied due to fear of eternal divine retribution, and the only thing we must answer to is civil society, how does that alter our behavior?
Some mystics say one should live as though one was already dead, and so not curry favor for later times, but actually behave as though living in purgatory (or not, depending on your vision of things.) It opens up many possibilities when you live with the handcuffs off. . .
There's hope yet for that tatooed soldier, if that tatoo was/is a comment re the war. I'll bet there are a hell of a lot of peace signs on helmets, too, but you don't see them on FAUX news, the US Pravda.
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