1/4/2024 0 Comments Wytchwood switch priceI only saw one sign that reversed the equation, “America bless God,” but that would have required actions from us rather than the deity. The only response demanded of Americans seems to be patriotic support of the war on terrorism. Twentieth-century Americans wish to believe that our democracy and not our policies caused 9/11. When the slogan appears on banks or buses or car bumpers, is it there because we are sure God is on our side, or should be on our side because we are so religious, or are unsure God is now protecting us because allowing 9/11 resulted from our sins. The biblical benediction in Numbers, “The Lord bless you and keep you …and give you peace,” has been simplified to affirm America the innocent and that God will give us victory in war. The meanings Americans attach to “God bless America” are ambiguous. When I gave an address at the annual meeting of the AFSC two months after 9/11, driving into Philadelphia on the Schuylkill expressway, a large billboard announced a special price on three adult (pornographic) movies and ended with “God bless America.” Still, the popular press, particularly since 9/11, has discovered that not only realpolitik, economics, or dictators but organized religion can play a major role in war – though it is often assumed that this happens elsewhere, in Donald Rumsfeld’s phrase, “the uncivilized nations”(3) However, a close observer of America’s response to 9/11 would have noticed the frequency that politicians, businesses, mass media, and individuals invoked and are still using the slogan, “God bless America,” and singing the Irving Berlin song has become customary at sports events. In spite of our infatuation with war, I have learned that a good way to kill conversation is to respond to a new acquaintance’s query as to subject of my research by saying, “Religions’ roles in war.” This generates two responses, “that’s relevant today” or “religious wars are the worst,” and then the subject changes. The result was to give "moral legitimacy" to "military activism." (2) And the dangerous messianic brand of religion, one where self-doubt is minimal, has increasingly come to color the modern world of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.(1) Bacevich relates America's new thirst for militarism to the rise of militant evangelicalism's post Vietnam love affair with Israel, reinterpretation of just war of contemporary life. "The moral certitude of the state in wartime is a kind of fundamentalism. Two recent books, Chris Hedges, War Is a Force that Gives us Meaning and Andrew Bacevich, The New American Militarism, discuss our nation's love of war and both link it to religion. What is normal for little boys is more dangerous in adults. So I went to the YMCA and made one out of wood that sufficed when I could not borrow the neighbor boys’ guns. I remember as an 8-year-old that my Methodist parents would not buy me a toy gun. "I really like war." The parents at this point hustled the child off (with a story likely to be retold often). You don't know yet what war is really like." The child did not back down. A Quaker matron pronounced, " I hate war." The child responded, "I like war." She replied, kindly, “You're just a little boy. After meeting one Sunday, a group of Friends, including the parents, were sitting in a circle having a discussion. II A Century of War (Lewiston, New York: Mellen Press), 2004.Ī colleague at Swarthmore College is attempting to raise her 8-year-old son in accordance with Quaker principles. "Why Religions Facilitate War" and “How Religions Facilitate Peace” were prepared by J.William Frost for the Friends Association for Higher Education Conference at Haverford College, June 16-19, 2005. This paper is based upon his A History of Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim Perspectives on War and Peace, vol. Why Religions Facilitate War and How Religions Facilitate Peace
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |