“The important thing about protest is not so much the short-range possibility of changing the direction of policies, but the longer range aim of helping everyone gain an entirely new attitude toward war. Far from doing this, much current protest simply reinforces the old positions by driving the adversary back into the familiar and secure mythology of force. Hence the strong ‘patriotic’ reaction against protests in the United States. How can one protest against war without implicitly and indirectly contributing to the war mentality?”
– Thomas Merton, from New Seeds of Contemplation
Thomas Merton…wonderful man, wonderful quote. It is so true and reminds me of the saying, “there is no way to peace, peace is the way”
“helping everyone gain an entirely new attitude toward war”
How do we foster conversation and discussion about civic society? Encouraging people to learn about the issues at stake, the choices at hand, the decision-makers, the past mistakes, the impact of how we govern ourselves… I believe stronger community and collective decision-making will help us “gain an entirely new attitude toward war” and improve our quality of life. By way of learning about an issue, addressing how you live in testimony towards improving it, holding an opinion about how to fix a problem, or educating others about what you’ve learned: discourse will improve the way we live together. Perhaps more so than protest.
Nope. Ecclesiastes is older and wiser than Tom M, and he said there is a time to protest and a time to not do so. I happen to think we’re in a period when big protests don’t seem to fit the current conditions, so I’m not presently involved; but they have filled a need before, and the time for them may well come again.
Tom is correct to the extent that he is echoing the even more ancient wisdom of the great war strategist Sun Tzu:
“In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory.
Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.”
So work to overcome militarism is best when it applies many approaches and takes many forms.
I appreciate this quote from Thomas Merton and the responses to it. Because this work was published in 1962, when I was a child, I don’t know personally what he meant by “much current protest” so don’t understand the context of his statement. I’ll guess he was referring to early protests against the Vietnam war, but I don’t know what forms those protests took.
However, I can still apply his question, how can one protest war without contributing to the war mentality, to my limited awareness of our current condition. American war protests have sometimes been large marches that disrupt community life and lead to the menacing presence of riot police; I can understand why some may think they contribute to the war mentality. There are other forms of protest such as sit-ins, teach-ins, die-ins, AFSC traveling exhibits, and civil disobedience. There are also the local groups such as Dawn and Michael described; dedicated local people who peacefully stand in their own communities holding signs and talking with other local people who want to discuss the issues. These may be considered “indirect tactics” (wonderful Sun Tzu quote from Chuck Fager).
However, we are still a foolish, stubborn people, such as Jeremiah’s people. Jeremiah was an Old Testament protester whose people mostly ignored or threatened him. Jeremiah’s people did not see the need to change their ways until they were led to Babylon in chains. We also generally do not learn from our past errors nor try to mend them as long as our lives are comfortable and easy, and we can blame our problems on others.
There are glimmerings of hope from the environmental movement, which has persuaded many people to open their eyes and take some positive steps to avoid more environmental disasters such as Katrina. I think this has come about often through the efforts of contemporary creative thinking, such as social media activism and documentary films that can reach large numbers of people within a short period of time. Of course, much more needs to be done. But it shows that there are other methods “inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth” to change minds and hearts.
If these efforts take the high road and stay positive, I think they can work without contributing to the war mentality. One great example is the relief work that resulted in AFSC getting the Nobel Peace Prize. People clearly responded to it in a positive way. Now there are lots of nonprofits doing relief work all over the world. Can this kind of positive action eventually move us beyond a war mentality? I take hope from nonprofits such as the African Great Lakes Initiative that are working proactively to prevent violent conflict. Yes, I think there are ways to get beyond the war mentality, but perhaps part of it is to go beyond the concept of “protest” to something that has more positive resonance in our culture.
Coming in late to this discussion, with two thoughts to offer.
Occupying Wall Street is a great educational event for the people who participate. Many different folks, with very various agendas, are sharing space, talking and listening, and making decisions by consensus. There are many traps for them, as we all know, but there is also opportunity for a new community consciousness to emerge. There are also people who see them as simplistic, unfocused, and dilettantish, and react with scorn. The politicians are either waiting to see how the wind blows, or they’re trying to coopt the energy and claim it as their own.
The other thought I have is that the environmental movement has been growing from tree-sitters into problem solvers. Not all of them, of course, but an effective number. They are working with landowners, and even manufacturers, to identify shared goals, and to provide assistance for making changes that will promote those goals. They have seen the futility of trying to save the environment by sponsoring a “war on pollution,” and have moved on.