The Real Focus of American Violence — Thomas Merton — A Brief Reflection

I have been reflecting a lot on the situation in the US and specifically the actions of our military off the coast of Venezuela. The more informed I become, the less sure that I am of the ethics and morals of an institution that I once was a part of… the US Military.

As a Chaplain, one of my key responsibilities was to provide moral and ethical advice and guidance to combatant leadership at all levels. I was called upon to do that a number of times throughout my career. It wasn’t always easy to “buck the system” so to speak, but at times I had to make that decision. Sometimes my questions or concerns were accepted and the commander took my advice into consideration. At other times I was essentially told to go back to the chapel and stay in my lane.

I’ve been retired and out of that world for over fourteen years now but this current moral quagmire has me wondering what in the blazes is going on in that institution (let alone in Washington, D.C.)and what sort of ethical and moral advice is being given and/or ignored. It’s at times like this that my mood darkens as I watch hope and love being snuffed out by hate and fear. Thomas Merton, as always, spoke to my heart concerning this matter.

I discovered the following quote from Thomas Merton’s paper Note on Civil Disobedience and Non-Violent Revolution which he wrote in 1968.

“The real focus of American violence is not in esoteric groups but in the very culture itself, its mass media, its extreme individualism and competitiveness, its inflated myths of virility and toughness, and its overwhelming preoccupation with the power of nuclear, chemical, bacteriological, and psychological overkill. If we live in what is essentially a culture of overkill, how can we be surprised at finding violence in it? Can we get to the root of the trouble? In my opinion, the best way to do it would have been the classic way of religious humanism and non-violence exemplified by Gandhi. That way seems now to have been closed. I do not find the future reassuring.” — Thomas Merton On Peace, p. 230

I admit it, quite often I do not find the future reassuring either. Yet somehow I know that I must continue to search for that light shining in the proverbial darkness. I don’t know how that’ll happen… yet I find comfort and promise in these words from Gospel of John: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. John 1:5 (New Revised Standard Version Updated)

Dear reader, as we enter the season of Advent,ay that light not only shine, may it become brighter as we traverse these challenging times.