Charles Bellinger On the Root Cause of War and Violence
Up to this point, we've relied heavily on the stellar work and insights of Charles K Bellinger as presented in The Genealogy of Violence.
And here, we are first going to present a very, very brief sketch of Bellinger's perspective, and we are then going to as you to explore the work of Bellinger directly, without us butting in.
We highly recommend Bellinger's approach as an incredibly worthwhile and thought-provoking read.
A basic introduction to Bellinger's message:
Bellinger is heavily influenced by the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, and the following passage illustrates the essential different between Kierkegaard's/Bellinger's perspectives and the theorists previously mentioned:
"Each of the authors just surveyed focuses on an aspect of human relationality. For Miller, the key relationship is that between parent and child. Staub stresses the person's relation to his society at a particular time, his "age." Jung evoked the interrelations of the part of the self. Becker paints a picture of human beings existing before Death, the transcendent limit of the ego.
But none of these authors, from Kierkegaard's point of view, has discovered the most important relationship, the one thing needful: the relationship between the individual and God. *
Human violence is understood, therefore, as the end-product of a refusal of "the divine call to selfhood," where violence toward others is the actual substitute for faith and love of one's neighbor. Essentially, conflict between people becomes an external, dramatic display of the internal conflict of the self's resistance to it's own potential selfhood.
In essence, this quotes that we found from a prominent thinker and psychoanalyst seems to, in our minds, sum up his position very well:
"Destructiveness
is the outcome
of an unlived life."
- Erich Fromm
- and just taking this for now as a working hypothesis,
if this is the case...
How can one avoid - and help others avoid - an "unlived life"?
Well, that is exactly what this cool, groovy, ultra-stellar web site is all about.
So hey, see for yourself - go to the source: Check out The Genealogy of Violence.
Then come back, and let's talk about it.
More to come on our progress investigating this problem...
so stay tuned...
Appendix One
How could almost every person in a small, quiet, peaceful, town in Maine, within a very short period of time, turn violent and even murderous towards their neighbors and friends?
You can see the story of this exact (fictional) event unfolding, step by step, in the movie Needful Things.
Appendix Two
How could two normal, basically well-meaning, generally law-abiding gentlemen - each of whom are actually trying to "do the right thing" - eventually turn to crime and even violence to ruin each other's lives?
You can see the story of this exact (fictional but realistic) event unfolding in the movie Changing Lanes.
Appendix Three
It's worth noting here that a lot of folks have been killed "in the name of 'God'" (or more specifically, deluded morons who think they understand something about God).
This is a fact that Bellinger is well aware of, and devotes an entire chapter to. The question, of course, becomes a matter of really getting clear on who, or what, is "God"?