War, we have come to believe, is a spectator sport. The military and the press have turned war into a vast video arcade game. Its very essence-death-is hidden from public view.
Chris HedgesRead
The moral certitude of the state in wartime is a kind of fundamentalism. And this dangerous messianic brand of religion, one where self-doubt is minimal, has come increasingly to color the modern world of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques the unwavering moral certainty present in wartime, likening it to a fundamentalist mindset that can influence major world religions.
Chris Hedges argues that in times of war, the moral certainty exhibited by the state resembles fundamentalist ideologies, where individuals possess minimal self-doubt. This kind of absolutist thinking not only drives wartime actions but also permeates the modern interpretations of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, which can lead to a dangerous form of religious fervor that neglects critical reflection and dialogue.
Themes
FundamentalismMoralityStateWarReligionSelf-Doubt
In practice
Example use cases
A political speech discussing the moral implications of wartime decisions.
More from Chris Hedges
All quotes →As long as we think abstractly, as long as we find in patriotism and the exuberance of War our fulfillment, we will never understand those who do battle against us, or how we are perceived by them, or finally those who do battle for us and how we should respond to it all. We will never discover who we are. We will fail to confront the capacity we all have for violence.
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The moral nihilism of celebrity culture is played out on reality television shows, most of which encourage a dark voyeurism into other people's humiliation, pain, weakness, and betrayal.
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The few surviving Armenians no longer ask to go home. They do not ask for restitution. They ask simply to have the memory of their obliteration acknowledged. It is a moral obsession, the lonely legacy passed onto the third and fourth generation who no longer speak Armenian but who carry within them the seeds of resentment that will not be quashed.
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It is better to be an outcast, a stranger in one’s own country, than an outcast from one’s self. It is better to see what is about to befall us and to resist than to retreat into the fantasies embraced by a nation of the blind.
Chris HedgesRead
Of the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them, or just 8 percent of recorded history.
Chris HedgesRead
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