Women and War

Why War??

Exploring Religion and Violence

Five Reasons for Concern:

• Existential Reasons

• Philosophic/theological Reasons

• Doctrinal Reasons

• Social/Political/Economic Reasons

• Physiological Reasons

Existential Reasons Contributing to Violence

The human existential dilemma:

We are, at the same time:

• Apart = possessing a separate, individual sense of self, i.e, the ego

• A part = possessing a sense of or longing for interconnection, wholeness, fulfillment, belonging, love

Religion and the Existential Dilemma

General observations about religion:

• What is most common in human experience is present, even magnified, in human religious activity.

• Religion represents the often desperate attempt to symbolically bridge the existential chasm between a part and apart.

Religion and Identity Formation

• Religion, at the most fundamental level, is about identity-formation.

• Identity formation answers profound life questions:

l Who am I?

l Why am I?

l Where am I?

l What do I do?

Religion and Relationship-Guidance

• Religion is also about relationship-guidance:

• Relationship questions are questions directed at THE OTHER:

l Who are you?

l How should I relate to you?

l Why are you different from me?

l Are you good or evil?

Violence and Identity Formation

• Religion is about identity formation

The origins of violence are found in a particular and common variety of identity formation:

• the creation of THE OTHER

• Imagining ourselves apart from an other make us feel a part of our own group; separation creates unity.

Negative Identity Formation (NIF)

• NIF is the process by which human beings create “who they are” by “what they are not.”

• “I am this because I am NOT THAT!”

• Not That is almost always inferior.

• Not That is usually dominated, controlled, oppressed, or killed.

Negative Identity Formation

• “Star Wars” mentality = the evil other as the enemy

• Examples:

l racism

l sexism

l wars between nation states

l the “Devil”

l gangs, some cults, tribalism, etc.

Philosophic and Theological Reasons for Violence

The Other as Evil:

• Ontological dualism = a philosophy that divides the world into opposing, antagonistic forces; good v. evil.

• Star Wars Theology = “God” is on the side of the Good people; the Other, therefore, must be the Bad people.

• “The Axis of Evil” must perish!!

Doctrinal Reasons for Violence

• Exclusivity = “our sacred text tells us that our way is the ONLY WAY!

• Apocalypticism = the “old, evil world” must be destroyed; the “new, good world” can only be realized after a period of terrible violence.

• “Chosen-ness” = God chooses one people over any other

• Totalism = total commitment to the belief system is required; to err is to be evil!

“When Religion Becomes Evil”

Charles Kimball’s 5 reasons:

§ Absolute Truth Claims

§ Blind Obedience

§ Establishing the “Ideal” Time

§ The End Justifies Any Means

§ Declaring Holy War

Social/Political/Economic Reasons for Violence

• Social = dehumanizing the Other, then committing violent against them.

• Political = creating boundaries that define who is “in” and who is excluded; denying land and sovereignty to the Other.

• Economic = creating cosmic reasons to justify the economic demarcation between the “Haves” and the “Have-nots” – example: the caste system in India.

Physiological Reasons for Violence (and its reduction)

• Neuro-theology reveals that the human brain is “wired” for aggressive action when it functions in the “apart” mode.

• Meditation, prayer, chanting, and other spiritual practices actually still the part of the brain that triggers the “fight or flight” instinct while reinforcing a sense of oneness and peace.

Myth & History

• Myths: stories, filled with archetypes, that address existential questions.

• Who am I?

• Where did “all this” come from?

• How do I find safety in a dangerous world?

• DEATH! …the BIG ??????????

Brain Science & Myth

• Neurotheology = a new field that uses advanced scientific technology to understand how the development of the human brain has influenced human belief systems, i.e., “religion.”

• Self-consciousness is related to the evolutionary development of the brain

Neurology & Myth

• Cognitive Imperative = drives the higher functions of the mind to analyze the perceptions processed by the brain and transform them into a world of meaning and purpose.

• Humans are compelled to “figure out” basic existential challenges to safety and security and grapple with mortality.

Neurology & Myth

• How can we live in this confusing, uncertain world and not be afraid?

• The cognitive imperative uses to operators to answer this question:

l The causal operator = the mind’s ability to think in abstract causes – why??

l The binary operator = the brain’s ability to frame the world in basic polar opposites

Neurology & Myth

• As the neocortex evolves and becomes more complex, the mind can “think” in abstract terms:

l Dread

l Danger

l Scarcity/lack

l Death

Why War?

• War is the ritual cleansing of existential dread; war is ritual violence

• Abstract fear and dread can be turned upon a real enemy

• The youth of nations are a blood sacrifice in the service of releasing existential dread

Property = power & control

• In patriarchal societies, men gained power and control by gaining and controlling property (land).

• The warrior became important in fighting for land and control.

• More property means more power which means more control of other people.

Property & Sexual Behavior

• Men had to control women’s sexual behavior if they were to dominate the social structure and laws of society.

• Lands & estates = power; males wanted land passed down through the paternal line; paternity is extremely important!

• Men controlled women’s sexual behavior to be sure a male child was his own.

Two Critical Turning Points

n The transition from agrarian, tribal life to urban life

• Created an elite group of males whose power-base is political and economic

• They develop ideologies of female inferiority

• Shapes the earlier patriachal systems into institutionalized anti-female social constructs

Two Critical Turning Points

n The development of mass industrialization

• Shifts economic production from the family to a place separated from home

• Women become marginal to production

• Women become economically dependent on men; can’t compete for valued goods

• Women provide domestic support systems for males

Structure of Myths

l Myths focus on a crucial existential concern.

l Myths frame the concern as a pair of polar opposites = good vs. evil, heroes vs. monsters, life vs. death, etc.

l Myths reconcile those opposites in ways that relieve existential concern.

Myth in Popular Movies

• Lord of the Rings trilogy

• The Matrix trilogy

• Sea Biscuit

• Star Wars series

• Virtually any action movie, moving love story or historical documentary blends myth-making with story telling.

• AND WE LOVE IT!!!

Myth & History

• The “winners” get to write the history.

• “History” is a process of sorting out events; separating the meaningful from the mundane.

• “Myth” designates which events “resonate” with fundamental human need to resolve existential questions.

• There is no history without myth.

Myth, History, & Power

• History is written by people in power.

• People in power have achieved some measure of control and stability in a dangerous world.

• Power justifies past actions and validates the cultural and political success.

• “History,” then, takes on an almost sacred quality; history and myth blend!