Warfare and Devotion to the Sacred Ideal

The following announcement comes from Orion Anderson. (Thanks Orion!) Please- if you are able to attend, let me know your thoughts about the event!

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THE PEACE EDUCATION CENTER invites you to attend a special colloquium presented by
Richard A. Koenigsberg:
“Warfare and Devotion to the Sacred Ideal”

Wednesday, April 18 - 7:00–9:00pm

Teachers College, Columbia University
Room 179 Grace Dodge
(525 West 120th St. between Broadway and Amsterdam)

There is no charge for this special event, but space is limited. To hold your place, please send an email ASAP to: PEC-Colloquium /AT/ ScholarlyCalls.com

If warfare and other forms of collective violence were viewed solely as a bad thing, achieving peace would not be difficult. But warfare often is conceived as a grand and noble enterprise. This colloquium will explore the relationship between violence and a group’s attachment to its sacred ideals.

Bin Laden and other Islamic radicals often proclaim, “We love death the way you Americans love life”—implying that the United States is decadent and corrupt—lacking in spiritual values. September 11 provided the occasion for Americans to recommit to their sacred ideals.

President George Bush declared after 9/11: “I see out of this evil will come good as youngsters all of a sudden understand the value of sacrifice.” He calls freedom the “mightiest force in history.” Waging war allows a nation to demonstrate the depth of its devotion to its sacred ideals.

Space is limited. To hold your place, please send an email ASAP to:
PEC-Colloquium /AT/ ScholarlyCalls.com

Perhaps the following idea has sustained the Iraqi war: “Do not imagine that the United States lacks sacred values. We too possess ideals for which we are willing to kill and die: As young people in the Middle-East martyr themselves for Allah, so young Americans sacrifice their lives for freedom and democracy.”

Through lecture and intensive discussion, this colloquium seeks to move toward the possibility of peace—by exploring the sources of the human attachment to war.

Richard A. Koenigsberg holds a PhD in Social Psychology from the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research. He is the author of numerous books and papers including “Dying for One’s Country: The Logic of War and Genocide.” He lectures extensively on the sources of societal violence. In the fall he will embark on a college lecture tour on “Civilization and Self-Destruction.” Please see: http://www.programsthatmatter.com/program.php?program_id=3