Tolkien’s Myth for the Iraq Invasion
As a teenager I was captivated with the world that Tolkien created. I lived in the world for many days. Many afternoons were spent tracking down orcs and goblins that lived in the gum trees at the bottom of my backyard. I would be filled with the righteousness of my cause as I swung my sword (ok, a big stick) through waves and waves of evil orcs. Naturally, Gandalf the wizard was always by my side, creating spells that would protect me.
A couple of months ago a friend of mine, Philip Hunt wrote an article about the world of Tolkien that I have been considering regularly in the light of the invasion of Iraq.
He wrote that; “Deep in the heart of humans lies this idea that violence brings peace. That when the sheriff rides into town, shoots the rustlers and robbers, everyone lives happily ever after. That stopping the Communists in Korea or Vietnam leads to world peace. Or that killing off the Jewish Menace would bring peace to Nazi Germany.”
My adventures in the backyard certainly were filled with this ambition. I had a God given right to bring order to the chaos between the gum trees and lop off the heads of those orcs.
Philip Hunt believes that Tolkien created a myth that has touched the souls of many people because it resonates with something deep within us. He suggests that Rene Girard of Stanford Univesity provides insights into this:
“Girard’s work shows that all human societies have mythologies. The most common is variously described as the victimage mechanism or scapegoating. Societies based on this mythology form when someone is accused as a scapegoat for the conflict that exists in society. Guilt is incidental.
Girard suggests that modern societies, too, are based on mythologies. The many symbols of nationalism-cheering the President, singing the anthem, waving the flag, and taboos and penalties against those who don’t cheer, sing or wave loudly enough-all these are typical of mythologies in other societies.”
Sometimes the myth has so much power that we don’t even recognise its influence.
As Philip Hunt says : “When some wild Arab spokesman describes America as the “Great Satan” we know immediately that he is appealing to a myth. But when President Bush puts Iraq and North Korea on the “axis of evil” we react as if he is stating a fact. Are we incapable of seeing in ourselves that which we see in others?”
I have been reflecting deeply on this over the last few weeks as I have heard the language of the coalition of the willing describe their reasons for war and have watched as the debate gets heated between pro-war and anti-war bloggers. This same myth stops the United States and its allies of examining their own failings. For instance, I have noticed how some pro-war advocates seem to suggest that if you are anti-war you are pro-Sadam.
I wonder if we could replace these myths with the myth that Jesus proposed?
April 5th, 2003 at 6:10 pm
@ 04/02/2003 13:08:
So, Phil, are you going to tell us what myth that was?
April 5th, 2003 at 6:11 pm
http://www.nccc.org.au/signposts @ 04/02/2003 15:37:
I am not completely sure what you are asking. But, we all have myths that guide us. In my post, I was trying to show the power of the myth of good and evil, but there are others that guide our thoughts and actions.
April 5th, 2003 at 6:12 pm
@ 04/02/2003 22:18:
Sorry if that wasn’t clear. Your last sentence asked “if we could replace these myths with the myth that Jesus proposed?” I was asking exactly which myth that was?
I appreciate the further explication of the myth of good and evil, although I’m still digesting it.
I think we should also mention that the “final solution” idea espoused by Nazi Germany clearly *was* evil. To say otherwise is to engage in moral equivalence of the worst kind. Same with slavery in the U.S.
Furthermore, the unspoken flip-side to Hunt’s equation is the fact that violence unanswered is not a solution for peace either. As is the case with Nazi Germany, appeasement doesn’t work as a solution.
Finally, I find it interesting that Girard talks about the scapegoat mythology using a clearly biblical description of the practice of placing the sins of the people on a single sacrificial animal (a scapegoat), which eventually becomes a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ.
April 5th, 2003 at 6:14 pm
@ 04/03/2003 10:07:
It is easy to bring up the spectre of Nazi Germany as an example of pure evil however history is written by the victors in any war. History typically promotes the evilness of the vanquished and the goodness of the victor. War is never that clear cut except of course in the myhological domain.
I may be going a bit senile but I seem to remember Jesus saying something along the lines of “Hate the sin, love the sinner” I think we may be losing this perspective when we try to justify our acts in this war. The papers are full of rhetoric that is promoting hatred of our enemy as pure evil. My thinking is that Christians should recognise that rarely, if ever, is an individual purely evil, or purely good for that matter.
April 6th, 2003 at 12:40 pm
Weren’t the Romans what we now call evil??? They were a bizarre form of government that hung their criminals on crosses……I wonder how Christ would have handled it - oh yeah: he died on one for us!
Hope that didn’t sound sarcastic - but thats the bottom line.
September 25th, 2003 at 2:31 am
Even with the “evil” empire of Rome, Jesus did not conquer them with violence…maybe that’s the bottom line. Love really is stronger than hate and forgiveness and understanding are stronger than revenge. If you live by the sword, you end up serving the sword.
October 30th, 2003 at 4:26 am
“outside of us is where all of our focus must rest in order to be able to justly point our fingers at all of the wrongs that surround us”… “This focus acts as a security blanket,” a defense from everyone else. Maybe thats the reason for this war, or maybe not. what do you think? Is that the reason for us becoming the “worlds cop”?
December 17th, 2003 at 9:06 pm
You are so right.
Tolkiens phantasy universe (and the recent movies made over the “Ring”-trilogy) is not at all just harmless entertainment. It represents all in all an almost hypnotizing seduction into a world of simplified illusions and thus in fact “stupification”. This is not culture, but the opposite: modern naivistic barbarism.
August 1st, 2006 at 10:55 pm
[…] As most of you didn’t read signposts back in 2003. In fact I think I knew the three people that did, you can read the post here. […]