This summer I will be participating in a Summer Fellowship at the Western Justice Center Foundation in Pasadena. The Western Justice Center was founded in 1996 and is actively involved in initiating, developing, and implementing programs in society aimed towards the dissemination of violence, through dialogue and teaching. The program that I will be engaged in developing this summer will be designing a Conflict Resolution Seminar for the Pasadena Police Department. Although I believe that I have a healthy critique of the overall function of the police in our society, this program is attempting to teach police officer's how to handle and re-direct conflict within their own department and on various calls for service.
My critique of the police is not necessarily the fault of the police themselves, but the fault of our culture in its individualistic mindset which has subsequently transferred control in society over to the government, who have taken that control and systematically created; Leviathan. In this sense, I am referring to the Enlightenment use of the word Leviathan, used by Thomas Hobbes' book in 1651 entitled: The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil, commonly called Leviathan, which has detailed the social contract which must be controlled by a "strong central government", which does not support any "right of rebellion," which was later supported by John Locke and Jean-Jacque Rousseau. This is in a sense Hobbes' own hermeneutic of biblical Revelation, in that Leviathan could be a metaphor for chaos in society, which must be put in order by God's instrument of divine order; the state.
This is a summary of Hobbes' Leviathan in his own words this describes his belief about the power of OUR state, please read carefully:
"The only way to erect such a common power, as may be able to defend them from the invasion of foreigners, and the injuries of one another, and thereby to secure them in such sort as that by their own industry and by the fruits of the earth they may nourish themselves and live contentedly, is to confer all their power and strength upon one man, or upon one assembly of men, that may reduce all their wills, by plurality of voices, unto one will: which is as much as to say, to appoint one man, or assembly of men, to bear their person; and every one to own and acknowledge himself to be author of whatsoever he that so beareth their person shall act, or cause to be acted, in those things which concern the common peace and safety; and therein to submit their wills, every one to his will, and their judgements to his judgement. This is more than consent, or concord; it is a real unity of them all in one and the same person, made by covenant of every man with every man, in such manner as if every man should say to every man: I authorise and give up my right of governing myself to this man, or to this assembly of men, on this condition; that thou give up, thy right to him, and authorise all his actions in like manner. This done, the multitude so united in one person is called a COMMONWEALTH; in Latin, CIVITAS. This is the generation of that great LEVIATHAN, or rather, to speak more reverently, of that mortal god to which we owe, under the immortal God, our peace and defence. For by this authority, given him by every particular man in the Commonwealth, he hath the use of so much power and strength conferred on him that, by terror thereof, he is enabled to form the wills of them all, to peace at home, and mutual aid against their enemies abroad. And in him consisteth the essence of the Commonwealth; which, to define it, is: one person, of whose acts a great multitude, by mutual covenants one with another, have made themselves every one the author, to the end he may use the strength and means of them all as he shall think expedient for their peace and common defence."
The goal of our understanding of Conflict Resolution then should come from the perspective of "the other". This "other" according to Hobbes should have their wills placed under the dominion of the Commonwealth because in essence, "humans can not be trusted". We then as Christians must acknowledge that out of this belief proceeded modernity and as we continue to move towards post-modernity we be careful to understand that we see "the other" through our worldview and the lens which has been created through the social structure of what Hobbes has detailed above. This "Commonwealth" which Hobbes created is in fact the Roman state wrapped in a new package and presented to humanity as that which will bring the "peace" which we desire. The very peace which we desire can in fact create another system which will justify the suppression of ideas based upon our belief in a "universal umbrella of logic" which will define how we act towards anyone who may disagree with us. To quote Dietrich Bonhoeffer he stated,
"The mistake of Anglo-Saxon thought is the subordination of truth and justice to the ideal of peace. Indeed, such a view assumes that the very existence of peace is proof that truth and justice have prevailed. Yet such a view is illusory just to the extent that the peace that is the reality of the Gospel is identified with the peace based on violence. No peace is peace but that which comes through the forgiveness of sins. Only the peace of God preserves truth and justice. So “neither a static concept of peace (Anglo-Saxon thought) nor even a static concept of truth (the interpretation put forward by Hirsch and Althaus) comprehends the Gospel concept of peace in its troubled relationship to the concepts of truth and righteousness.”
What can not be missed in this concept of peace as quoted by Bonhoeffer is the fact that it was developed on the system of Hobbes', Leviathan which in reality is always extremely violent. So, peace gained at the expense of violence is never the goal of peace. This is what Rev. Jeremiah Wright has said which caused so much controversy. Those who have participated in the system of peace brought by Leviathan have lived fairly comfortably, making the kingdom of God fit into this so-called, "structure of peace". But to those whom were on the receiving end of Leviathan, they were consumed by the "breath of his nostrils"!
Hobbes himself was reacting towards the wars created by "passionate man", his answer was to subvert passionate man with a dominant state. The whole point of the Enlightenment was the develope a "unifying scientific rationale which will allow everyone to agree", but when that didn't work, the state was created as; Leviathan.
My critique of the police is not necessarily the fault of the police themselves, but the fault of our culture in its individualistic mindset which has subsequently transferred control in society over to the government, who have taken that control and systematically created; Leviathan. In this sense, I am referring to the Enlightenment use of the word Leviathan, used by Thomas Hobbes' book in 1651 entitled: The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil, commonly called Leviathan, which has detailed the social contract which must be controlled by a "strong central government", which does not support any "right of rebellion," which was later supported by John Locke and Jean-Jacque Rousseau. This is in a sense Hobbes' own hermeneutic of biblical Revelation, in that Leviathan could be a metaphor for chaos in society, which must be put in order by God's instrument of divine order; the state.
This is a summary of Hobbes' Leviathan in his own words this describes his belief about the power of OUR state, please read carefully:
"The only way to erect such a common power, as may be able to defend them from the invasion of foreigners, and the injuries of one another, and thereby to secure them in such sort as that by their own industry and by the fruits of the earth they may nourish themselves and live contentedly, is to confer all their power and strength upon one man, or upon one assembly of men, that may reduce all their wills, by plurality of voices, unto one will: which is as much as to say, to appoint one man, or assembly of men, to bear their person; and every one to own and acknowledge himself to be author of whatsoever he that so beareth their person shall act, or cause to be acted, in those things which concern the common peace and safety; and therein to submit their wills, every one to his will, and their judgements to his judgement. This is more than consent, or concord; it is a real unity of them all in one and the same person, made by covenant of every man with every man, in such manner as if every man should say to every man: I authorise and give up my right of governing myself to this man, or to this assembly of men, on this condition; that thou give up, thy right to him, and authorise all his actions in like manner. This done, the multitude so united in one person is called a COMMONWEALTH; in Latin, CIVITAS. This is the generation of that great LEVIATHAN, or rather, to speak more reverently, of that mortal god to which we owe, under the immortal God, our peace and defence. For by this authority, given him by every particular man in the Commonwealth, he hath the use of so much power and strength conferred on him that, by terror thereof, he is enabled to form the wills of them all, to peace at home, and mutual aid against their enemies abroad. And in him consisteth the essence of the Commonwealth; which, to define it, is: one person, of whose acts a great multitude, by mutual covenants one with another, have made themselves every one the author, to the end he may use the strength and means of them all as he shall think expedient for their peace and common defence."
The goal of our understanding of Conflict Resolution then should come from the perspective of "the other". This "other" according to Hobbes should have their wills placed under the dominion of the Commonwealth because in essence, "humans can not be trusted". We then as Christians must acknowledge that out of this belief proceeded modernity and as we continue to move towards post-modernity we be careful to understand that we see "the other" through our worldview and the lens which has been created through the social structure of what Hobbes has detailed above. This "Commonwealth" which Hobbes created is in fact the Roman state wrapped in a new package and presented to humanity as that which will bring the "peace" which we desire. The very peace which we desire can in fact create another system which will justify the suppression of ideas based upon our belief in a "universal umbrella of logic" which will define how we act towards anyone who may disagree with us. To quote Dietrich Bonhoeffer he stated,
"The mistake of Anglo-Saxon thought is the subordination of truth and justice to the ideal of peace. Indeed, such a view assumes that the very existence of peace is proof that truth and justice have prevailed. Yet such a view is illusory just to the extent that the peace that is the reality of the Gospel is identified with the peace based on violence. No peace is peace but that which comes through the forgiveness of sins. Only the peace of God preserves truth and justice. So “neither a static concept of peace (Anglo-Saxon thought) nor even a static concept of truth (the interpretation put forward by Hirsch and Althaus) comprehends the Gospel concept of peace in its troubled relationship to the concepts of truth and righteousness.”
What can not be missed in this concept of peace as quoted by Bonhoeffer is the fact that it was developed on the system of Hobbes', Leviathan which in reality is always extremely violent. So, peace gained at the expense of violence is never the goal of peace. This is what Rev. Jeremiah Wright has said which caused so much controversy. Those who have participated in the system of peace brought by Leviathan have lived fairly comfortably, making the kingdom of God fit into this so-called, "structure of peace". But to those whom were on the receiving end of Leviathan, they were consumed by the "breath of his nostrils"!
Hobbes himself was reacting towards the wars created by "passionate man", his answer was to subvert passionate man with a dominant state. The whole point of the Enlightenment was the develope a "unifying scientific rationale which will allow everyone to agree", but when that didn't work, the state was created as; Leviathan.
So, here is the question, "How do we resolve conflicts?" Any responses are appreciated. Thanks, Love ya' all, Paul
No comments:
Post a Comment