-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: owner-foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]Namens Allen Miller
Verzonden: maandag 31 maart 2003 15:55
Aan: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Onderwerp: Re: power and war
Paul Allen Miller
Professor of Classics
Director of Comparative Literature
Graduate Director, Dept. of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
(ph.) 803-777-0951
(fax) 803-777-7514
>>> jehms@xxxxxxxxx - 3/31/03 5:10 AM >>>
So is this war not a medieval
kind of war, based on a mythical consciousness? The comparison with
the
crusades might not be so far fetched as it seems. If so I can
understand why
the fundamentalist protestants and Muslims are so inspired. These
people
have been brought up with tales of personal absolute power of a
personal God
and his chosen ones. Would it be fair to conclude that religion creates
thus
islands of personal power dynamics within the rizomatic power
structure?>>
Certainly any religion that believes in a personal god. It's a bit
ethnocentric, however, to say that all religion functions in the same
way. All of which begs the question of is there a stable entity that
can be termed religion or merely an unstable body of practices for
constructing a self relation to the Other(s)?
Allen
I didn't mean to put the blame on every religion. On the whole the Semitic
religions or desert religions seem to be more into war then others, but for
every rule there're plenty of exceptions. But I agree that the concept of
religion is problematic. The question of change and stability as well. Maybe
the attitude towards war has something to do with the predominance of the
metaphysical other above the physical.
What is less problematic is the fact that the prowar discourse has a strong
metaphysical tone. The opponent is inherently evil and the enemy of being.
There's an absolute line between the good ones and the bad ones. The good
ones are the defenders of mankind, because they serve the supreme god. They
have been chosen to do so. They are blessed by the god which rewards them
with technology, because they live in the chosen nation. Technology is good
because it's clean and non-violent. The good ones have more to consume and
they show their gratitude by consuming as much as they can. They are chosen
to lead the world, to be the head of leviathan. The principle of shock and
awe seems the be inspired by the tale of Jericho.
erik