Illusions of Safety and Security

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. I have decided to post this in my Writing Workshop rather than Pilgrim Path as it seems more analytical than formative. If someone stumbles on it, so be it.