Civilization a misnomer?

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December 04, 2007

Civilization a misnomer?

This is one of those strange synchronicity days. One of my first thoughts this morning, just as the caffeine had begun to work, was about the word "civilization," and how history shows that this concept comes with a dark side, which leads to organized armies and persons who devote themselves to fabricating ever more destructive weapons for those armies to use.

I don't know what got me thinking about the fact that war has been such an ever-present part of our human story -- and how religion can play such a part in creating reasons to go to war -- but it seems like I wasn't the only one contemplating the topic of late.

Fast-forward to just a few minutes before eleven o'clock (time for a little smackerel of something, as Pooh would say), and I'm checking my Bloglines on a quick break, and come across this:

“Since 3600 B.C. there have only been approximately 270 years of peace. An estimated 3+ BILLION people have been killed directly or indirectly in the war years by conflict. Enough wealth has been destroyed or assets expended to promote these wars to provide for EVERYTHING for EVERYONE on earth for the next 1000 years.
Sounds horrible, and it is. War sucks. I just wish other nations would not force us to make war.“

~ Tennessee Representative Judd Matheny (R-Tullahoma)

I don't know about other nations forcing us to make war. (I acknowledge there are solid arguments regarding the Confederate States of America, Japan, Hitler's Germany, and, perhaps, England; but not so much when it comes to Native North American tribes, Mexico, Spain, Korea, Vietnam, Central America, Serbia, Iraq, or even perhaps Kaiser Wilhelm's Germany.)

I do think it's interesting that Rep. Matheny (whose name has crossed my mind recently for inexplicable reasons) and I have had these strikingly similar thoughts.

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