A Force That Gives Us Meaning

A few weeks ago I finished reading a book entitled “War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning”. I was browsing for something to read and the title struck me as something unusual; not your typical tell-all memoir about combat nor an anti-war message, but a close examination of conflict, and how and why it is such a part of the human experience.

It was ironic that I would find this book. I have been spending a lot of time over the past few months thinking and reading about beliefs and belief systems. Not so much the specifics of what this group believes or what that group believes, but the nature of belief itself. What are they, why do we have them, where do they come from, and given that so many held beliefs turn out to be quite irrational, why do we hold on to them so passionately.

A few years ago the state of Maryland published a comprehensive list of all property owned by the state. The purpose of doing this was to look at each property, find properties that were not being used for any purpose, and to place them for public sale. The list included empty lots where buildings once stood, lots where buildings still stood but where no longer in use, properties confiscated by the state for various legal reasons such as non-payment of taxes, abandonment, etc. Of course, because the list was a COMPLETE list of ALL Maryland property, the list also included Maryland State Parks and other natural and recreational areas.

Some people who are strong advocates for the environment “believed” that this meant that the state was about to start auctioning off parcels of woodlands and wetlands so they could be developed for commercial or residential use.

At the school where I teach, one of the teachers organized a student environmental group and rallied them to attend a protest at a local state park area called “Falling Branch”. They made signs and shirts, got their tree hugging (I’m not calling them this to be demeaning; they actually call their group “The Tree Huggers”) friends together, and spent a Saturday afternoon wandering around the woods with their picket signs protesting the pending sale of Falling Branch.

Lo and behold, Falling Branch was not sold off to developers so they could build a Wal-Green’s. This was of course, because it never was for sale. The state never intended to do anything with Falling Branch except let it continue to be Falling Branch. All they did was publish a list of all the properties they owned and Falling Branch happened to be one of them.

But you couldn’t convince the protestors of this. They knew that the reason that Falling Branch was saved was because of their concerted actions.

Why did these people believe so adamantly that the state was going to sell their beloved park? They believed it because it angered them, and because it angered them it rallied them to action, and because it rallied them to action they were able to feel like they did something meaningful that was for a higher cause or purpose. And when nothing happened to their beloved park (as was the plan to begin with), they could congratulate themselves for having rescued what was (they believed) an endangered nature area.

They essentially took a piece of harmless public information, interpreted it in a way that would cause them the most inner turmoil, refused to believe that it meant anything else but the way they interpreted it, and went to war over it.
They created a conflict because it gave them a goal. They got to plan and implement the attack, and they got to feel rewarded when it was finished. They got to feel important. They got to rise above themselves and feel part of a unified front. The whole episode allowed them to participate in, at least to them, a meaningful experience.

There is a reason that the Jews believe what they do about the Palestinians, and there is a reason the Palestinians believe what they do about the Jews. There is a reason that young Muslim men will voluntarily blow themselves up in a bus station, and that young American men will voluntarily march off to try to stop such men from doing so. There is also a reason that people are racist, sexist, homophobic, feminist, ultra-liberal, ultra-conservative, etc, etc, etc.

It creates conflict. It rallies them to act. It creates meaning within their lives.

So the question remains: given the power of this force, can we ever live in peace?