On Saturday,
February 16, 2019, I posted this quote from Walter Brueggemann and commented that
“One of the great challenges of this perspective is that what seem to me to be
harmful illusions are believed as truth by so many.” It elicited several
affirmative responses on Facebook from people who I know have conflicting ideas
of what is truth and what is illusion. As often seems to happen, the morning I
awoke well before the chime called me to Lauds.
I did review my entire Psalm index, though was interrupted several times by
thoughts about illusion and truth. These interruptions were so persistent that
I couldn’t discern whether this was part of my interior life or an exterior
distraction. So I am writing here to get the thoughts out and relinquish them but
do not at this point intend to link to Facebook or Twitter. After Vespers and during Compline ideas for another short story told by Rebekah Dahlberg
Anderson began to percolate and also seemed to brew before Lauds this morning. I hope that writing this essay frees my mind to
develop at least that story, and perhaps one for Daniel today and tomorrow as
we have no outside activities scheduled. After another snow, we have beautiful
sunshine today, which should be conducive to forming at least one story.
My observation
is that some of the greatest and most common illusions that obscure truth have
to do with safety and security. We humans seem irresistibly drawn to the false
security that we believe we create and depend on by and for ourselves. Nothing
new here. The Hebrew Scriptures are replete with warnings about false security.
Between the
time of settling in the Promised Land and the establishment of the monarchy,
Israel did not have a standing army. In the time of the Judges, when an enemy
threatened as discipline for failure of faithfulness to God, when they cried
for help, God would raise up a Judge who would rally a temporary militia to
address the threat. Eventually the Israelites prevailed upon Samuel to appoint
a king to go before them and fight their battles (1 Samuel 8:20). Samuel warned
of the great cost of a king raising a standing army (1 Samuel 8:11-12).
The Psalmists
recognized that this military force was a false source of security and safety.
·
Psalm 33:16-17 A king is not saved by his great
army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a vain
hope for victory, and by its great might it cannot save.
·
Psalm 44:6 Not in my bow do I trust, nor can my
sword save me.
In rejecting
these illusions, the Psalmists were clear that safety and security are found
only in God.
·
Psalm 4:8 I will both lie down and sleep in
peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in
safety.
·
Psalm 20:7 Some take pride in chariots, and some
in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God.
In our own time
the nations, including the US, depend on the illusion that military power keeps
them safe. I am convinced that military power is a great risk to safety and
security. Having a standing military makes using it to respond to fear and
threat an almost irresistible political and popular temptation. A standing
military, especially when it’s power is invoked as a supposed deterrent, easily
provokes other nations who feel threatened to mobilize their military. Slight
and even accidental provocations easily launch violent conflict.
Among the
classic principles of Just War Ethics are limited objectives and means,
proportionality. Amassed military might makes that almost impossible. I lived
through the Vietnam War era and found a visit to the Memorial Wall with our
sons to be emotionally challenging. The magnitude of the nearly 60,000 names of
US personnel killed in that war is visually overwhelming. What it doesn’t
recognize that 3,000,000 other people were killed in that war (South and North
Vietnamese, US allies, civilians, etc.). Fifty walls of the same size would be
required to list all of those names. Nor does this account for drug, PTSD, or Agent
Orange deaths that have persisted since the end of that war. Preventing a
communist takeover was the rationale for all of this death. Ironically, after
propping up corrupt regimes in South Vietnam, since the feared communists have
taken over, the US exchanges remarkably free trade and tourism with Vietnam.
The popular and
political reaction to the 3,000 deaths on September 11, 2001 has justified years
of military action. Brown University's Watson Institute for International
and Public Affairs, put the death toll between 480,000 and 507,000 killed in Afghanistan,
Iraq, and Pakistan. Interestingly, though those attackers had Saudi ties, the
US has not responded militarily to Saudi Arabia. More US personnel have been
killed in these wars than the original 3,000 on September 11. I am not making
any excuses for the September 11 attackers or suggesting not responding. I am questioning
the nature and proportionality of the response.
I believe the
same confusion between illusion and truth comes to personal pursuit of safety
and security. From automobiles to firearms, we want 100% airtight security and
safety. While we as a society and individually do need to be smart and prudent
about safety and security, such an absolute guarantee is illusory. I am not at
all suggesting a ban on all firearms or even handguns or semi-automatic
weapons. My point is that thinking of personal firearms in terms of safety and
security is an illusion. Statistically the truth is that a handgun in the home is
more likely to wound or kill a friend or family member than an intruder or
attacker, whether intentionally or accidentally. Yes, if you choose to have
firearms in your home, smart and prudent training and safety procedures are
essential, but thinking that they protect your safety and security is an
illusion.
When Babylon
invaded Judah, the people trusted that the Temple of the Lord would insure
their safety and security. Though they had basically been pushed from the
countryside into the environs of Jerusalem, they believed God would never let
the Temple be violated or destroyed. The Temple became a religious symbol of illusory
safety and security. But the prophet Jeremiah warned them. “Do not trust in
these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’” The truth was that the Temple was destroyed, and its
contents and the people were carried off to captivity in Babylon.
Symbols of
security and safety are not new, and those with religious meanings are often
particularly enticing. To suggest that posting The Ten Commandments in schools
would deter mass shooters or bombers is just such an illusion. That is not to
suggest anything wrong with The Ten Commandments, only that those bent on such
violence are not paying attention to them. Seeking security and safety in such
symbols too often interferes with clear thinking about how to address the
things that drive some people to violence.
While not
directly endowed with religious significance, the proposed wall along the US
border with Mexico is just such an illusory symbol of security and safety. I
know some have attempted to assign religious significance to it by comparing it
to Nehemiah’s wall at the resettling of Jerusalem. Such exegesis verges on
silliness and misses that the point of Nehemiah’s wall was not so much safety
and security as a sign of Jerusalem’s renaissance. Nevertheless, on both
popular and political levels, the proposed border wall is clearly a symbol of
the craving for safety and security in a time when fear seems to abound.
The threats of
drugs, crime, and human trafficking fuel the illusion of safety and security
envisioned in the wall. The truth is that very little drugs and other illegal
and immoral traffic come with those trekking individually or in small groups on
foot through the desert regions. Tunnels already go underneath stretches where
walls are in place. Much comes in through established entry points hidden in
legitimate cargo. Light aircraft and drones make drops over the border, wall or
no wall. Many of those who are counted as illegal immigrants entered the
country with legitimate and legal visas and just stayed when those expired.
I am not
suggesting open borders or even a position on building or not building the
wall. What I do believe, however, is that like the Jerusalem Temple, the wall
is a symbol that promises an illusion of safety and security it cannot deliver.
I know that
plenty of people in my family, friends, and social circle believe that what I
consider to be illusions are truth. I also know that I am neither able nor
responsible to convince them otherwise. In keeping with my intention of the
last several months, I have written this so that the thoughts that have been
churning in me, interrupting my Psalm index this morning, and distracting me
from focusing on my inner life have been set in order and can be relinquished. When
disturbing input comes to me, I can let it pass, knowing that I have clarified
my thoughts between me and God. If I am wrong, as I certainly may be, I do
trust that the Holy Spirit with nudge me from illusion to truth through
Scripture and prayer.
