WARFARE AND LOVE

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I have been developing a hypothesis relating warfare to submission,
focusing upon the mentality of the soldier. Actually, I am attempting to
articulate the dynamics of a SOCIETAL process.

The intervening variable connecting warfare and submission is "the
sacred ideal," or omnipotent object. The psychological posture of submission
occurs in relationship to the desire for attachment or wish to connect to the
omnipotent object. One submits because one believes that the object is the
source of goodness and power. The object to which one wishes to submit is the
object one worships.

Warfare grows out of attachment to the sacred ideal or omnipotent
object. I use the term "submission" because I wish to draw attention to the
fact that what manifests as aggression has its source in the desire to "bow
down" to the object. The consequence of submission to the sacred object is
violence against an enemy. One imagines one is required to "punish" those who
do not respect or love the object as one does oneself. One commits acts of
violence in the name of the object. Persons do not perceive that their
aggression as being the consequence of submission because they so entirely
IDENTIFY with the omnipotent object.

Ruth Stein has written about "EVIL AS LOVE AND LIBERATION." We may
bracket the term "evil" (a culturally bound concept) and discuss the
relationship between religion and collective or societal destructiveness. The
histories of civilizations might be written (often they are) from the
perspective of acts of violence undertaken in the name of societal ideals.
Why do we hesitate to explore this relationship?

A profound mechanism of denial is operative. Everyone tends to identify
with some societal group and with "civilization." We have been unwilling to
perceive the relationship between destructiveness and society itself because
we do not wish to ABANDON OUR ATTACHMENT to civilization. We don't want to
acknowledge that evil or destructiveness is bound within the very fabric of
society. We desperately wish to preserve the belief that our nation is
"good."

Hitler said, "We don't want to have any other God, only Germany." He
stated that Deutschland uber allas is a "profession of faith which today
fills millions with a greater strength, with that faith which is mightier
than any earthly might."

Hitler said, "We may be inhumane but if we rescue Germany we have
achieved the greatest deed in the world." Hitler did not "use" the idea of
Germany in order to justify what he did. Attachment to the German Volk and
his fantasy of "saving the people" was the wellspring of everything that
occurred.

When Ruth Stein writes of "Evil as Love," she is not writing about an
obscure dynamic that applies only to terrorism. She is writing about the
FUNDAMENTAL PROCESS THAT GENERATES DESTRUCTIVENESS IN SOCIETY. Acts of d
estruction such as warfare and terrorism are generated by the belief that
such acts are necessary in order to SAVE OR RESCUE THE BELOVED OBJECT. Love
for the omnipotent object and collective acts of destruction are two sides of
the same coin.

Stein analyzes Mohammed Atta's letter and concludes that it "does not
speak of hatred. It is past hatred. Absurdly and perversely, it is about
love. It is about love of God." She speaks of a "sickening marriage of love
and murder."

Hitler proclaimed:

Our future is Germany. Our today is German. And our past is Germany. Let us
take a vow this morning, at every hour, in each day, to think of Germany, of
the nation, of our German people. You cannot be unfaithful to something that
has given sense and meaning to your whole existence.

He affirmed that "Our love towards our people will never alter, and our faith
in this Germany of ours is imperishable."

Franco Fornari states that, "Those who make war are driven not by a
hate need, but by a love need. Men see war as a duty toward the love object."
Collective acts of aggression grow out of identification with the beloved
object--conceived as the essence of goodness and source of power.

To awaken from the nightmare of history is to perceive the collective
dream that lies at the heart of civilization.

With regards,

Richard Koenigsberg

Richard Koenigsberg, Ph. D.
Director, Library of Social Science

Richard Koenigsberg, Ph. D.
Director, Library of Social Science

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<HTML>      I have been developing a hypothesis relating warfare to submission, focusing upon the mentality of the soldier. Actually, I am attempting to articulate the dynamics of a SOCIETAL process. 
 
      The intervening variable connecting warfare and submission is "the sacred ideal," or omnipotent object. The psychological posture of submission occurs in relationship to the desire for attachment or wish to connect to the omnipotent object. One submits because one believes that the object is the source of goodness and power. The object to which one wishes to submit is the object one worships. 
 
      Warfare grows out of attachment to the sacred ideal or omnipotent object. I use the term "submission" because I wish to draw attention to the fact that what manifests as aggression has its source in the desire to "bow down" to the object. The consequence of submission to the sacred object is violence against an enemy. One imagines one is required to "punish" those who do not respect or love the object as one does oneself. One commits acts of violence in the name of the object. Persons do not perceive that their aggression as being the consequence of submission because they so entirely IDENTIFY with the omnipotent object. 
 
     Ruth Stein has written about "EVIL AS LOVE AND LIBERATION." We may bracket the term "evil" (a culturally bound concept) and discuss the relationship between religion and collective or societal destructiveness. The histories of civilizations might be written (often they are) from the perspective of acts of violence undertaken in the name of societal ideals. Why do we hesitate to explore this relationship? 
 
      A profound mechanism of denial is operative. Everyone tends to identify with some societal group and with "civilization." We have been unwilling to perceive the relationship between destructiveness and society itself because we do not wish to ABANDON OUR ATTACHMENT to civilization. We don't want to acknowledge that evil or destructiveness is bound within the very fabric of society. We desperately wish to preserve the belief that our nation is "good." 
 
      Hitler said, "We don't want to have any other God, only Germany." He stated that Deutschland uber allas is a "profession of faith which today fills millions with a greater strength, with that faith which is mightier than any earthly might." 
 
      Hitler said, "We may be inhumane but if we rescue Germany we have achieved the greatest deed in the world." Hitler did not "use" the idea of Germany in order to justify what he did. Attachment to the German Volk and his fantasy of "saving the people" was the wellspring of everything that occurred. 
 
      When Ruth Stein writes of "Evil as Love," she is not writing about an obscure dynamic that applies only to terrorism. She is writing about the FUNDAMENTAL PROCESS THAT GENERATES DESTRUCTIVENESS IN SOCIETY. Acts of destruction such as warfare and terrorism are generated by the belief that such acts are necessary in order to SAVE OR RESCUE THE BELOVED OBJECT. Love for the omnipotent object and collective acts of destruction are two sides of the same coin. 
 
      Stein analyzes Mohammed Atta's letter and concludes that it "does not speak of hatred. It is past hatred. Absurdly and perversely, it is about love. It is about love of God." She speaks of a "sickening marriage of love and murder." 
 
     Hitler proclaimed: 
 
Our future is Germany. Our today is German. And our past is Germany. Let us take a vow this morning, at every hour, in each day, to think of Germany, of the nation, of our German people. You cannot be unfaithful to something that has given sense and meaning to your whole existence. 
 
He affirmed that "Our love towards our people will never alter, and our faith in this Germany of ours is imperishable." 
 
      Franco Fornari states that, "Those who make war are driven not by a hate need, but by a love need. Men see war as a duty toward the love object." Collective acts of aggression grow out of identification with the beloved object--conceived as the essence of goodness and source of power. 
 
      To awaken from the nightmare of history is to perceive the collective dream that lies at the heart of civilization. 
 
With regards, 
 
Richard Koenigsberg 
 
Richard Koenigsberg, Ph. D. 
Director, Library of Social Science 
 
 
Richard Koenigsberg, Ph. D. 
Director, Library of Social Science</HTML>

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