Book Description
the challenge every man faces...the fight every man can win
From the television to the Internet, print media to videos, men are constantly faced with the assault of sensual images. It is impossible to avoid such temptations...but, thankfully, not impossible to rise above them.
Shattering the perception that men are unable to control their thought lives and roving eyes, Every Man's Battle shares the stories of dozens who have escaped the trap of sexual immorality and presents a practical, detailed plan for any man who desires sexual purity-perfect for men who have fallen in the past, those who want to remain strong today, and all who want to overcome temptation in the future.
Includes a special section for women, designed to help them understand and support the men they love.
Customer Reviews:
Wow. I felt like these authors were looking into my soul........2007-09-23
Wow. I felt like these authors were looking into MY soul as they were writing. At times, it frightened me. It was amazing how well I could relate to what the authors were writing.
This book, which is written to Christian males, is all about winning the war on sexual temptation. It gives great advice on how a man can win this battle in as little as 6 weeks. It explored the natural tendencies of men and how our very maleness can lead us down the road of sexual impurity. The authors then turn the focus toward recognizing theses male tendencies and being "on guard" against them so that sexual purity can be obtained.
Some men have been quoted as saying, "It's natural for a male to look [at an attractive woman]." Is this [looking] stealing something that doesn't belong to you? The book answers this question. Also, if you want to be more captivated by your wife (and you may not think it's possible because you are already enamored by her), then I strongly encourage you to read this book.
I believe this book will enable you to win the battle on sexual temptation as well as strengthen your marriage (if you're married).
I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. I plan to read it multiple times.
Real.......2007-09-19
This book gives men an accurate perspective of lust. It provides reasons why lust is wrong by quoting scripture. It provides stories by the authors' personal lives to show that lust attacks all men and in a variety of ways. The book provides real ways to stop lusting. Finally, it provides expectations of the struggle.
This One Pulls No Punches.......2007-08-28
We're living in an age of unbridled sensuality and desire, when almost nothing is taboo, and ideas such as morality, purity, sanctity, and respect are considered highly subjective concepts. Though temptations of the flesh have always been with us - and always will be with us as long as we have the old sin nature inside - it has never before been harder for men and women alike to control their thoughts, minds, and dare I say it ....hormones.
The battle for purity of mind, thought, deed, and heart has escalated to a fever pitch, and countless of men and women alike have hurt others and been hurt by others in the areas of sexual purity. Television ads, billboards, magazine inserts - even in the once harmless Ladies Home Journal - promote life-styles and standards of living that open even the best person to thoughts and desires that, if left unchecked, can run roughshod over good intentions and the way we'd like to live.
Men, in particular, have suffered greatly in this area; and though it's not entirely their fault, the rising numbers of divorce and extramarital affairs inside the church - even among those who have served long and faithfully in the ministry - speak very loudly and clearly that something is wrong.
"Every Man's Battle", by Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker, is one of the best devotionals targeting men and the battle for purity that I've come across in quite some time. It's practical, down-to-earth, and both authors "roll up their sleeves" and get right to the nitty-gritty details. It has a two-pronged approach: though it affirms men struggling with purity that they're not monsters, mentally ill, cursed, or alone in their fight; it also pulls no punches when it comes to their admonition to clean up their thought lives and behavior patterns.
"Every Man's Battle" also goes into great depth analyzing the male perspective and thought process - even going into biological detail as to why it's so hard for many men to keep pure - without succumbing to the age-old excuse, "boys will be boys". Much of what they discuss makes a tremendous amount of sense on a simple every day level, but at the same time they back everything with Scripture from God's Word.
It's very practical, and it doesn't just talk about the struggle for sexual purity and give enthusiastic exhortations and admonitions, it lays out and devises easy-to-implement action steps for any men to clean up their lives and obtain purity. In the battle for sexual purity, this isn't just a "Recon & Intel" report, it's a battle strategy aimed at one goal: to win, under the power and strength of God.
Finally, the best part about this book is the fact it's been written by two Christian men who have fought long and hard against the very beast troubling so many men. Other devotionals and books I've read about sexual purity and temptation have been on the ball and scripturally accurate, but they always read a little flat because you got the idea that though they were well researched and written, none of the authors really spent "time in the trenches". These guys have, and they aren't only recommending "good practices they've researched", but battle plans that saved their purity and marriages.
Great Book!.......2007-08-27
Another new bestseller which I highly recommend - The Exclusive Layguide: When Dating and Having Sex with Incredibly Hot Women is No Longer Mirage Even If You Don't Look Like a Model or Don't Make a Fortune
A Must Read for Every Christian Man.......2007-08-01
I just finished reading this book and found it very informative and enlightening. It is biblically based and a fun read. I believe it will help me both in my walk with Christ and in my relationships with my wife and family.
It's a MUST READ for any man who wants to grow spiritually with God. And when you finish, ask your wife to read it as well.
Amazon.com
Author Simon Weisenthal recalls his demoralizing life in a concentration camp and his envy of the dead Germans who have sunflowers marking their graves. At the time he assumed his grave would be a mass one, unmarked and forgotten. Then, one day, a dying Nazi soldier asks Weisenthal for forgiveness for his crimes against the Jews. What would you do? This important book and the provocative question it poses is birthing debates, symposiums, and college courses. The Dalai Lama, Harry Wu, Primo Levi, and others who have witnessed genocide and human tyranny answer Wiesenthal's ultimate question on forgiveness.
Book Description
While imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, Simon Wiesenthal was taken one day from his work detail to the bedside of a dying member of the SS. Haunted by the crimes in which he had participated, the soldier wanted to confess to--and obtain absolution from--a Jew. Faced with the choice between compassion and justice, silence and truth, Wiesenthal said nothing. But even years after the way had ended, he wondered: Had he done the right thing? What would you have done in his place?
In this important book, fifty-three distinguished men and women respond to Wiesenthal's questions. They are theologians, political leaders, writers, jurists, psychiatrists, human rights activists, Holocaust survivors, and victims of attempted genocides in Bosnia, Cambodia, China and Tibet. Their responses, as varied as their experiences of the world, remind us that Wiesenthal's questions are not limited to events of the past. Often surprising and always thought provoking,
The Sunflower will challenge you to define your beliefs about justice, compassion, and human responsibility.
Customer Reviews:
Gets you thinking.......2007-08-25
A wonderful short story of 100 pages, written very well. The opinions of all the commentators afterwards on Wiesenthals dilemma is very intriguing. This book gets you involved, and could be the best book ever written on the topic of forgiveness. You just can't help but think deeply about the author's decision to forgive, and also about forgiveness in your own life.
Wonderful book!.......2007-08-13
This book is a must for anyone who wants to understand the mortal dilemas which affected those who suffered so much from the violence of the holocaust. Amazing that ther author was able to retain his huaminity in the face of such evil, and a testament to his moral character.
The Sunflower.......2007-02-19
This book focuses on a cogent question by way of a true story and invites response from all sorts of people with pertinent experience, providing biographies of these respondents. The topic is forgiveness. I found the analysis by Dennis Prager, an L.A. talk show host, the most understanding of Christian/Jewish outlooks and Jose Hobday's perhaps the best of the Christian contributions. I am eager to discuss it with members of my theology group.
A must read on forgiveness.......2007-02-14
The title of the book comes from the tall, bright sunflowers placed upon the German soldier's graves who are buried just outside the concentration camp where the Jewish prisoners must pass daily on their way to work projects. Each grave had one "as straight as a soldier on parade . . . . " The tall golden flowers stand in contrast to the unmarked, unidentifiable mass graves, in which most of the prisoners will end up
.
This revised edition was issued in honor of the twentieth anniversary of its publication. It is divided into two sections: an extraordinary request to Simon for forgiveness by a dying 21 old SS man and the 53 responses (ten from the original volume) from prominent theologians, political leaders, writers, jurists, psychiatrists, human rights activists, Holocaust survivors, and victims of attempted genocides in Bosnia, Cambodia, China, and Tibet. Their answers reflect the teachings of their diverse beliefs - Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, secular, and agnostic - and remind us that Wiesenthal's question is not limited to events of the past. Certainly there are fundamental lessons that are as essential today as they were 60 years ago.
Who can forgive crimes committed against others asks Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, one of the most significant Jewish theologians of the 20th century.
Are there any similarities between the national guilt faced by the German people for the Holocaust and ours for the institution of slavery and the genocide of Native Americans wonders Martin E. Marty, religious scholar and Lutheran Pastor.
Are followers in committing atrocities as guilty as their leaders inquires Dith Pran, photographer and subject of the film, "The Killing Fields," about Cambodian genocide.
Is silence its own answer if we could but learn to listen to it? Are there questions that are unanswerable queries of the soul, matters too awe-full for human response, too demonic for profound rational resolution poses Hubert Locke, Dean Emeritus, Evans School of Public Policy, University of Washington
By not forgiving do we somehow remain victims wonders Harold Kushner, Rabbi and best-selling author.
One day as part of a detail working at a hospital, Simon it taken by a nurse to see a dying young SS officer named Karl Seidl, who wants forgiveness and absolution from a Jew for the terrible things he had done, in particular an incident in which he murdered 150 Jewish men, women and children who were herded into a small house that was set on fire and when those trying to escape or jump to safety were all shot. Simon has no answer and leaves. He refuses a package of clothing the officer wants him to have telling her to ship it to the deceased's mother.
During the next two years, Wiesenthal shared this story with fellow camp mates, ending each time with: Was my silence at the bedside of the dying Nazi right or wrong?
After the war, Simon visits the officer's mother living in a bombed-out apartment in Stuttgart. All she has left are the memories of her "good son." Wiesenthal wrestles with whether he should tell her the truth about her son, but leaves saying nothing about the atrocities he took part in. She is allowed to keep her memories.
Simon addresses the reader with this critical question: "You, who have just read this sad and tragic episode in my life, can mentally change places with me and ask yourself the crucial question, 'What would I have done?'"
Simon Wiesehthal died on September 21, 2005 at the age of 96. He and his wife Cyla lost 89 relatives during the Holocaust. Simon helped to bring more than 1100 war criminals to justice, including Eichmann, Stangl, and the Nazi who took Anne Frank from her home and sent her to her death. He has been honored with numerous awards for his work, including "Commander of the Order of Orange" in the Netherlands, "Commendatore della Repubblica" in Italy, a gold medal for humanitarian work by the United States Congress, the Jerusalem Medal in Israel, and sixteen honorary doctorates. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, located in Los Angeles, is named in honor of him.
The Sunflower will force you to think deeply about issues we rarely discuss but which are essential to building and maintaining relationships, with each other and with ourselves.
Beautiful, horrifying and sad, but beautiful........2006-12-14
I didn't read this book so much as experience it. Not meant, I think, to be read from cover to cover in a sitting, but to be reflected over - or if you are like me, pondered for a long time after. I thought I could define forgiveness until reading this; I was wrong. it's many things to different people. I guess that I am in the same camp as those writers who subscribed to the idea that it is a rank act to pontificate about what a man in Simon Wiesenthal's position should have done. Most of the contributors transcended "preachiness", however, and have shared their ideas with compassion, anger and insight.
A wonderful, truly worthy read.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
|
History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Chinese
| Ethnic & National
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Irish
| Ethnic & National
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Japanese
| Ethnic & National
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Women
| Specific Groups
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Augustine, Saint
| ( A )
| People, A-Z
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Doctors & Medicine
| Humor
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Lawyers & Criminals
| Humor
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Love, Sex & Marriage
| Humor
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Assyria, Babylonia & Sumer
| Ancient
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Early Civilization
| Ancient
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ancient
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Historiography
| Historical Study
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| World
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Asian American
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Asian American
| Poetry
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
French
| Erotica
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Victorian
| Erotica
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Epic
| Poetry
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
German
| Poetry
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Russian
| Poetry
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Spanish
| Poetry
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Chinese
| Classics
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Conspiracy Theories
| Current Events
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
War on Drugs
| Crime & Criminals
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
English (All)
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Arabic
| Foreign Language
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Armenian
| Foreign Language
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Czech
| Foreign Language
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Greek
| Foreign Language
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Hungarian
| Foreign Language
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Japanese
| Foreign Language
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Korean
| Foreign Language
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Norwegian
| Foreign Language
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Persian & Farsi
| Foreign Language
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Polish
| Foreign Language
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Portuguese
| Foreign Language
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Romanian
| Foreign Language
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Russian
| Foreign Language
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Swedish
| Foreign Language
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Turkish
| Foreign Language
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Science
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Online Research
| Genealogy
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Native American
| Earth-Based Religions
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| History & Philosophy
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
History of Science
| History & Philosophy
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Magic & Wizards
| Fantasy
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Sailor Moon
| Popular Characters
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Pilates
| Exercise & Fitness
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
History
| Fashion
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
-
History: Fiction or Science? Astronomical methods as applied to chronology. Ptolemy's Almagest. Chronology III
-
Discovering the Mysteries of Ancient America: Lost History And Legends, Unearthed And Explored
-
Before the Pharaohs: Egypt's Mysterious Prehistory
-
They Cast No Shadows: A Collection of Essays on the Illuminati, Revisionist History, and Suppressed Technologies
ASIN: 2913621058 |
Book Description
Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
Book Description
As a veteran war correspondent, Chris Hedges has survived ambushes in Central America, imprisonment in Sudan, and a beating by Saudi military police. He has seen children murdered for sport in Gaza and petty thugs elevated into war heroes in the Balkans. Hedges, who is also a former divinity student, has seen war at its worst and knows too well that to those who pass through it, war can be exhilarating and even addictive: “It gives us purpose, meaning, a reason for living.”
Drawing on his own experience and on the literature of combat from Homer to Michael Herr, Hedges shows how war seduces not just those on the front lines but entire societies, corrupting politics, destroying culture, and perverting the most basic human desires. Mixing hard-nosed realism with profound moral and philosophical insight,
War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning is a work of terrible power and redemptive clarity whose truths have never been more necessary.
Customer Reviews:
Busting the Myth of Redemptive Violence.......2007-09-01
This book and its message is NOT an assertion that all war is inherently wrong and that there is no distinction between the administration of justice and the return of evil for evil. It is an assertion that aggressive militarism, the glorification of warfare, the failure to recognize that it is born of sin and human failure and the pimping of it by religious and political institutions is misguided at best and possibly disastrous when not discerned and/or allowed to go unchecked by Godly, moral reflection.
Very often, pacifism is equated with passiveness, even though there is no linguistic link between the two words. Therefore, the application of pacifism, or anything approaching pacifism, is regarded as disastrous.
In a certain sense perhaps pacifism and passiveness are similar. To be passive means to receive or be subject to an action without responding or initiating an action in return. But passiveness also implies that one is not participating, that one is inert. In this sense nothing could be farther from the truth.
At any rate, Hedges does not profess to be a pacifist- although I believe in a certain sense of the word that he is. Nowadays I consider myself a pacifist or peacemaker with regards to warfare. What that means to me is not a belief that all violence is always wrong no matter what. It does mean that I judge any given situation with a spiritual discernement. It means that I choose violence as a solution last... not first. It means that I do not hate my enemies, but rather love them and consider my ultimate enemy not my fellow man... but the spiritual forces of darkness in the celestial realm as the Bible teaches. It means that I know that the power to give life is far greater than the power to kill and destroy. It means that I think eternally and act spiritually inasmuch as I am able as a weak and pitiful sinner and carnal man. It means that I leave room for God's plan and God's sovereign right to vengeance before my own. It means that I do not fear death... and am thus not controlled by fear in my actions or reactions... inasmuch as I am able. I believe that this book ul;timately reveals that Mr. Hedges feels essentially the same way.
Chris Hedges is the son of a Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Thomas Hedges. He has a B.A. in English Literature from Colgate University and a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, where he studied under James Luther Adams. Thus, Mr. Hedges' view of the world and of warfare are undoubtedly colored by theology. Hedges is currently a senior fellow at The Nation Institute in New York City and a Lecturer in the Council of the Humanities and the Anschutz Distinguished Fellow at Princeton University. He spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than fifty countries, and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News and The New York Times, where he spent fifteen years.
Hedges' has a stinging, no punches pulled, no holds barred style of writing that I personally find very strong and inspiring. This book "War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning", is one of the few books that so deeply inspired me that I read it straight through as quickly as possible. The book left me a bit disenchanted and in a brooding mood in the end. The realization of the validity of Hedges' perspective and cultural commentary is a bitter pill to swallow for anyone who values true freedom and moral truth. This is heavy material for a moral, freethinking person to reflect on.
Here are two excerpts from the book that I discovered when skimming through it at the bookstore that made me buy this book:
1. "We make our heroes out of clay. We laud their gallant deeds and give them uniforms and put colored ribbons on their chests for acts of violence they commit or endure. They are our repositories of glory and honor- of power, self righteousness, patriotism and self worship - all that we want to believe about ourselves. They are our plaster saints of war- the icons we cheer to defend us and make us and our nation great. But they are part of our civic religion- our love of power and force. Our belief in our right as a chosen nation to wield this force against the weak and rule. This is our nation's idolatry of itself- and it has corrupted our religious institutions just as it has corrupted religious institutions in other nations- fusing the will of God with the will of the State to create a potent and deadly form of idolatry."
2. "War from a distance seems noble. It gives us a feeling of belonging, of comradeship, of power, a chance to play a small bit in the great drama of human history. It promises to give us an identity as a warrior, a patriot, a believer- as long as we go along with the myth- the one the war makers need to wage war. But, up close, war is a soulless void. The world of war descends to barbarity, perversion, pain and an unchecked orgy of death. It is a state where human decency and tenderness is crushed- where those who make war work overtime to reduce all love and sensitivity to smut and filth.
In war the moral order is turned upside down. All that is repulsive and feared in peacetime is lauded and cheered in war. The noise, the stench, the cries of pain, the eviscerated bodies, the bloated stinking corpses spin us into another universe. And in this moral void, often blessed by the church or the mosque or the synagogue- the hypocrisy of our social conventions, our strict adherence to religious edicts and virtues and utter refusal to honor others comes unglued. War, for all its horror, has the power to strip away the trivial and the banal, the empty chatter and self righteous obsessions that fill our days. It lets us see."
Whether you agreee with Mr. Hedges' take or not... his offering is/should be an important part of the dialog on these topics. I give the book my highest endorsement.
Prescient.......2007-08-12
A well argued work, the most amazing thing about it in hindsight is how while written before the Iraq invasion, and without once referring to its immenence, Hedges predicted so much of what has occurred in Iraq--how the 9/11 victims would become martyr fodder, the destruction of Iraqi culture, the connection between torture and pornography, the inciting of latent and rather benign ethnic differences into endless blood feuding by those who wish to perpetuate the fighting. Utilizing classic literature, an in depth understanding of conflict throughout history, and his own first hand experience as a war correspondent for decades, Hedges makes his argument that war is hell not a video game, and, while no, it's not a new one, we shouldn't as a result be going to war every time a kid who is well known for lying cries "wolf."
Thoughtful meditation on the wages of war.......2007-06-14
This book is basically a philosophical, psychological essay/meditation on war and its role in human life. At times it reads like a whirlwind tour of the atrocities and cruelties that humans have visited on one another. Hedges was a war correspondent for over a decade and traveled to many of the world's war zones, including Central America during the 1980's, the Balkans, and the Middle East. Hedges' experiences in these places obviously had a profound impact on him, and this book is essentially a collection of his impressions. Hedges seeks to situate war within the human consciousness. Using literature and actual political proclamations, he demonstrates that war is often depicted as the highest human calling, in which young men and women gain the opportunity to achieve heroism and fight (and often die) for lofty ideals. This is contrasted with the humdrum and monotony of everyday life in which many people struggle vainly to find some meaning in their lives. One of Hedges' goals is to shatter this romantic myth of war by exposing the carnage and emotional and physical destruction that it unleashes and the lies, foisted by political leaders, that undergird it. A good portion of the book follows a particular pattern. Hedges will make a general observation about "war," such as, "In times of war, such and such thing tends to happen." He then provides specific examples to back up his generalization. Probably my favorite aspect of this book was Hedges' savage indictment of nationalism. I have studied nationalism and its origins from an academic point of view (Gellner, Benedict Anderson), but Hedges here provides a compelling and damning depiction of the ways in which nationalist sentiments serve to mobilize people to commit the most barbaric acts. He provides numerous examples of how political leaders have exploited nationalist rhetoric to stir up animosities among communities for their own political gain, and how these communities far too gullibly often fall for this tactic. While fundamentalist religion in recent years has justifiably gained attention as a source of conflict, nationalism, which also creates artificial us versus them distinctions, has not garnered as much criticism.
This book is not a policy manual. Hedges concedes early on that, despite the cruely and barbarism of war, he is not a pacifist and that military action is often necessary. However, he is infuriatingly vague about what those conditions are under which war should be regarded as justified. He also takes pains to argue that he is not a moral relativist; in most conflicts, one can justifiably identify one particular side as being morally superior (or, at least, less immoral) than the other, but he doesn't clarify what criteria to use to make that distinction. In sum, this isn't the book to read if you are looking for any sort of moral guidance on when war is justified. But alas, this is probably an unfair criticism, since Hedges seeks here to write a more meditative reflection on the costs of war. Overall, I would recommend this short book (I read it in a couple of sittings) to anyone seeking such a philosophical reflection.
war is a force that gives us meaning.......2007-06-04
Chris Hedges uses past experiences to describe the reality of war. He uses what he calls "sensory reality", where people look at war in terms of what it really is as opposed to trying to justify it, making it a heroic movement. In one of his chapters he also describes "mythic reality" which he says is unfortunately used throughout the majority. Mythic reality is where people sugar coat the war in order to turn it into a success for their people. Hedges describes how the people of today try to use our constant need to fight as something to enlighten our country, they use this mythic reality in order to make themselves either the victim of the war or the heroic figure which textbooks constantly portray. As he's experienced a lot through war, he uses facts from what he himself has witnessed in order to prove that war is not a heroic event, it's rather just a brutal fight that our modern day justifies in order to be proud.
As the media today is trying to recruit, Hedges also discusses how the war is taught to the youth as something exciting, heroic and worst of all something to look forward to in order to find yourself.
Hedges is a magnificent author, ready to back up all of his points with facts from his past experience. I have nothing negative to say towards any of his theories as he has proven reality and is the one person who has let the world read the truth rather than what the textbooks say.
A Book for the Times.......2007-05-30
Prompted by reading Mr. Hedges' article on the same topic in The Nation, I wanted to read more. His book should be a 'must' reading in today's world; I have yet to read a better treatment of this timely and emotional subject.
Book Description
Hannah ArendtÂ's authoritative report on the trial of Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann includes further factual material that came to light after the trial, as well as ArendtÂ's postscript directly addressing the controversy that arose over her account.
Customer Reviews:
A Classic that Elaborates on the Genocide of Jews and Others.......2007-09-20
I am delighted to see this classic back in print. Jewish author Hannah Arendt has provided a wealth of timeless information that goes far beyond the trial of the German war criminal Adolf Eichmann. This review is based on the original (1964) edition.
Arendt (p. 39) gives the readers a taste of the scale of the Kristallnacht (November 1938): 7,500 Jewish shop windows broken, all synagogues burned, and 20,000 Jewish men incarcerated in concentration camps. In common with many others who wrote during the first two decades after WWII, Arendt (p. 5, 11-12) addresses the issue of Jewish passivity in the face of death during the later roundups and transports to the death camps.
Arendt briefly discusses the fate of Jews of some individual European nations. She mentions the conniving of the Bulgarians (with, of course, the implied freedom to do so) performed in order to avoid sending their Jews to the death camps, and the fact that Finland, Germany's ally, was never seriously pressured to turn over her 2,000 Jews to be murdered (p. 170). Clearly, the latter part of the oft-repeated statement, "Not all of the victims of the Nazis were Jews, but all Jews were victims of the Nazis" is incorrect.
Throughout this work, Arendt gives various biographical details of Adolf Eichmann. For example, she mentions that he was a Gottglaubiger (p. 27), a Nazi term for those who had broken with Christianity, and which Eichmann maintained right up to the very moment of his hanging, having refused the solace and Bible reading of a Protestant minister (p. 252).
Arendt briefly discusses Hitler's flouting of the Versailles treaty and his rise to power. While Jan T. Gross has asserted that there were Poles who praised Hitler in the 1930's, Arendt makes it clear that this was far from limited to Poland during that time: "...Hitler was admired everywhere as a great national statesman." (p. 37).
While most recent Holocaust materials focus on the real or imagined collaboration of locals in the sending of Jews to their deaths, Arendt is unsparing in her criticism of Jewish collaborators in this regard: "Without Jewish help in administrative and police work--the final roundup of Jews in Berlin was, as I have mentioned, done entirely by Jewish police--there would have been either complete chaos or an impossibly severe drain on German manpower. (p. 117). She adds that, because of this collaboration, only a few thousand Germans, most of whom furthermore only did office work, were able to send hundreds of thousands of Jews to their deaths (p. 117). Finally, Arendt concludes that: "Wherever Jews lived, there were recognized Jewish leaders, and this leadership, almost without exception, cooperated in one way or another, for one reason or another, with the Nazis. The whole truth was that if the Jewish people had been unorganized and leaderless, there would have been chaos and plenty of misery but the total number of victims would hardly have been between four and a half and six million. (According to Freudiger's calculations about half of them could have saved themselves if they had not followed the instructions of the Jewish councils..." (p. 125).
Arendt (p. 42, 118, etc.) elaborates on the actions of a Jew, Rudolf Kastner (Kasztner). He made a deal with Eichmann in which 1,684 Jews were allowed to go to Palestine in exchange for Kastner's silence before and during which 476,000 Hungarian Jews were sent to the gas chambers of Auschwitz.
Jan Tomasz Gross, who has gotten a great deal of publicity for his books (NEIGHBORS and FEAR), has stated that the 2-3 million Poles who died in the hands of the Germans were largely the collateral victims of military action. Arendt knows better: "...Eichmann knew that right behind the front lines all Russian functionaries ("Communists"), all Polish members of the professional classes, and all native Jews were being killed in mass shootings." (p. 95). "At no point, however, either in the proceedings or the judgment, did the Jerusalem trial mention even the possibility that extermination of whole ethnic groups--the Jews, or the Poles, or the Gypsies--might be more than a crime against the Jewish or the Polish or the Gypsy people, that the international order, and mankind in its entirety, might have been grievously hurt and endangered." (pp. 275-276). Arendt realizes the alternative future: "The measures against Eastern Jews were not only the result of anti-Semitism, they were part and parcel of an all-embracing demographic policy, in the course of which, had the Germans won the war, the Poles would have suffered the same fate as the Jews--genocide. This is no mere conjecture: the Poles in Germany were already being forced to wear a distinguishing badge in which the "P" replaced the Jewish star, and this, which we have seen, was always the first measure to be taken by the police in instituting the process of destruction)." (pp. 217-218).
Arendt praises the Danes for saving Jews during WWII and then, without mentioning the incomparably more difficult conditions under which Polish rescuers of Jews labored, nevertheless gives the Poles their due. After listing some individual examples of Polish assistance to Jews, Arendt adds the following: "One witness claimed that the Polish underground had supplied many Jews with weapons and had saved thousands of Jewish children by placing them with Polish families. The risks were prohibitive; there was the story of an entire Polish family who had been executed in the most brutal manner because they had adopted a six-year-old Jewish girl." (p. 231).
Beneath the thin layer of civilization.......2007-07-19
In covering, from a moral and ethical rather than legal standpoint, the trial of former Nazi Adolf Eichmann, Arendt must have known she was jumping head first into certain controversy. While I disagree with her insistence on international law, as opposed to an Israeli-ran trial (unlike Arendt, I have the hindsight of the Milosevic trial, not to mention pretty much every other pathetic joke of international law flouted by the U.N. but to which no nation honestly adheres outside Belgium), I must say that she made a rather convincing case regarding the "banality of evil".
Her point seemed to be, to the outrage of her critics, that seemingly normal men are capable of doing terrible deeds. It doesn't take a monster to act monstrous. Her critics accused her of attempting to humanize a Nazi war criminal, but I think what most people were secretly offended at was her assertion of the duality of human nature. We like to think of history and sociology in terms of black and white, good and evil. There are good guys, and there are bad guys, and there is no blur between them...
What Arendt is saying is that, save the occasional saint, we are all capable of committing the crimes that Eichmann did. It may take years of systematic propaganda, carrots and sticks, career enhancements, and whatnot, but in the end, the leap Eichmann took from ethical civilization into barbaric genocide wasn't a far leap at all. Weimar Germany wasn't a Third World country. For an industrialized, cultured, and Western nation to descend so rapidly into the dark age of Nazism is not a sign of any inherent flaw in German civilization, but rather of how thin the line between humanity and barbarism truly is.
Whether you agree with Arendt or not, the book will make you think. There's nothing wrong with hearing a fresh and opposing viewpoint, even for debate's sake.
Book Description
The Star Wars films continue to revolutionize science fiction, creating new standards for cinematographic excellence, and permeating popular culture around the world. The films feature many complex themes ranging from good versus evil and moral development and corruption to religious faith and pragmatism, forgiveness and redemption, and many others.
The essays in this volume tackle the philosophical questions from these blockbuster films including: Was Anakin predestined to fall to the Dark Side? Are the Jedi truly role models of moral virtue? Why would the citizens and protectors of a democratic Republic allow it to descend into a tyrannical empire? Is Yoda a peaceful Zen master or a great warrior, or both? Why is there both a light and a dark side of the Force? Star Wars and Philosophy ponders the depths of these subjects and asks what it truly means to be mindful of the "living force."
Customer Reviews:
Good book, unil..............2007-01-15
I found this book to be quite entertaining and a good refresher in the basics of Plato and Aristole's writings. The only problem was the one sided view when you got to the "environment" section. The author who wrote this section came across to me as a tree hugging, socialist who would like to see corporation go down. Really a big turn off!!!!! Shame!!! Otherwise, with the exception of this one section, the book was fine. Nothing earth shattering, but neither is the "Jedi's mythology". All it is is an amalgomation of already written and explored mythologies with lightsaber fights and spaceships.
Philosophy and the Force........2007-01-11
I'm kind of a weirdo.
My wife and I went on a trip for our anniversary to a Bed and Breakfast in Thomasville, GA. We just stayed in the room and read the whole time. I read this book in about 1 day.
I have to say that I was more than a little surprised at how good a book it was. I've read other books in the Philosophy and Popular Culture series, but was expecting this one to be kind of lame. Star Wars is my favorite movie series of all time, and I find that it's easy for someone commenting on or writing about the series to provoke my ire. (Dorks hate it when other people get their life's obsession wrong.)
I am by no means a great mind. But I do enjoy the notion that Plato put forth that one cannot avoid popular culture, and it is better to teach by popular examples than by those examples that no one will understand. As a result, I say that this series is a good one if you want to get acquainted with philosophy in a "friendlier" setting than a classroom, though the average reader will still have to think more deeply than they usually do.
Which is why this is a good book. It's an introduction to critical thinking about philosophy. It causes you to question the nature of good and evil. (ie..The notion of Lying Jedi and Truthful Sith). And again, all of it is heavier thinking than the average movie watching TV viewer is used to doing, but it's worth it. It can open your eyes to philosophical notions that you hadn't really fathomed before. (ie...There is a wonderful article on Stoicism as represented by Yoda. I had no idea that stoicism was a philosophical movement, I just thought it described a certain quality. And even that was the vaguest of notions.)
There were certain aspects (philosophical not stylistic) of the book that I didn't really care for, understand fully, or agree with. But to be fair, the editor also put a note in the introduction saying that he didn't really agree with everything in it either. It does, after all, cover a wide berth of philosophical issues. No one can possibly agree with all philosophies.
So if you are like me, and probably watch too much TV, but occasionally let slip the surly bonds of your couch and reach out to learn something new, this is the book for you.
Son of Frost, Siblings of the Force.......2006-11-03
For those whose Heart burns with the fires of the cosmic energy, and loves Star Wars. This is the book for you.
Philosophy from the Jedi Masters.......2006-03-23
Certainly Abrams and the contributing writers are strong in the force. I enjoyed this book. While it may not be very deep for the seasoned philosopher, the book serves as a great intro to philosophy in a unique way. The material is clearly well researched, both from the movie and from the philosophies covered, but written in a way that beginners like myself can understand.
A great choice for both Star Wars fans and the padawan philosopher!
Great idea but a bit monolithic.......2006-03-06
I give the book high marks for its novel approach to integrating philosophy (so too the series) and popular culture in a creative way. The essays are brief, readable and mostly to the point. Fans of Star Wars, of course, will enjoy it the most. I was a little disappointed by its repetition and lack of deeper penetration. Great emphasis, for example, is place upon Yoda. He is the guru and his line "Fear leads to anger... hate .... suffering," is then a key point in many essays. Less emphasis upon the female voice is found. Padme a little but where is the voice of Lea?? Quite enjoyable but needs greater penetration!
Book Description
This classic work of political ethics has radically reconfigured the way that we think about war. From the Athenian attack on Melos to the My Lai Massacre, from the wars in the Balkans through the first war in Iraq, Michael Walzer examines the moral issues surrounding military theory, war crimes, and the spoils of war. He studies a variety of conflicts over the course of history, as well as the testimony of those who have been most directly involved--participants, decision makers, and victims. In his introduction to this new edition, Walzer specifically addresses the moral issues surrounding the war in and occupation of Iraq, reminding us once again that "the argument about war and justice is still a political and moral necessity."
Customer Reviews:
Very good. It defines some concepts which are absolutely essential in wartime and even before someone decides to go to war.......2007-06-28
This book is one of the most significant modern restatements of just war thinking and also a passionate defense of the old principle of noncombatant immunity. The author is both thorough and persuasive in his exploration of a very intricate subject, although some times he loses his objectivity, especially when he's treating the Israeli military responses to various challenges from state and non-state actors. Some other times he takes some sharp legalist turns whish are really difficult to follow. Of course there are many points which really impressed me with their clarity, fine logic and moral soundness: "The state that goes to war is, like our own, an enormous state, governed at a great distance from its ordinary citizens by powerful and often arrogant officials. These officials, or at least the leading among them, are chosen through democratic elections, but at the time of the choice very little is known about their programs and commitments. Political participation is occasional, intermittent, limited in its effects, and is mediated by a system for the distribution of news which is partially controlled by those distant officials and which in any case allows for considerable distortion". "Soldiers, it might be said, stand to civilians like a crew of a liner to its passengers". " I have argued that soldiers in combatcannot plead self-preservation when they violate the rules of war. For the dangers of enemy fire are simply the risks of the activity in which they are engaged, and the have no right to reduce those risks at the expense of other people who are not engaged".
In his afterword, Mr Walzer gives a chilling idea of how a population (even an unarmed one) can tear down and defeat an occupying force. "Nonviolence has been practiced (in the face of an invasion) only after violence, or the threat of violence has failed. Then its protagonists aim to deny the victorious army the fruits of its victory through a systematic policy of civilian resistance and noncooperation: they call upon the conquered people to make themselves ungovernable... They treat the aggressor in effect as a domestic tyrant or usurper, and they turn his soldiers into policemen". If you add to this recipe some dozens of IEDs daily, you have the nightmare of Iraq!
What is just and what is unjust.......2006-11-04
This is a very legalistic look at history. It helps one understand many of the words used in talking about wars.
As a required text book, it fits my MA degree program........2006-11-03
It is the best book sold by the Amazon and at a cheaper price
All Is Not Fair in Love and War.......2006-06-16
Walzer's historical approach to examining just war theory is, I think, the most useful way to understand morality in war. That is so because empirical facts back up all the philosophical evaluations. Walzer describes experience and draws conclusions here; he is laying a philosophical foundation and implying, if not prescribing, moral norms from which the rules have been extracted. Be forewarned, he does not cut the reader any slack. This book requires some serious attention to the author's train of thought.
Just war theory has two categories: the justice of going to war, and the justice of fighting once in a war. Walzer's discussion usefully and clearly separates the two and examines via historical events what we regard as right and wrong within each sphere. In doing this he has done the modern world a tremendous service. His logical breakdown speaks to thousands of years of tradition about what thinkers have considered right and wrong in war. One of the best outcomes of this landmark work is the complete debunking of the notion that "all is fair in love and war." That is the path of least moral resistance (or as Clausewitz would say, "friction"), yet we all know that soldiers are honored for fighting well and loathed for behaving like armed thugs and murderers. What is amazing from the discusion is the realization that Walzer knows he has to attack that age-old notion, something our collective sense of justice has historically always rejected. Yet it remains a prevailing idea for many. Originally coined by the Romans it seems (Walzer quotes them, "In war the laws are silent"), they themselves were self-consciously contrite over the fates they inflicted on the Greeks and Carthaginians. The book rates five stars for rigorously addressing this issue alone.
Some make the mistake of thinking Walzer is a pacifist--far from it. On the otherside some critics find his argument about "supreme emergency" a moral failure and a cop-out. The case of Nazi Germany is his paradigmatic case of supreme emergency, one where normal rules may be relaxed, if ever so little, because of the especially pernicious nature of state-sponsored genocide. In contrast Walzer does not see Imperial Japan, for instance, as having represented a supreme emergency, and so the atomic bombings and the fire bombings of cities could not be morally justified. Readers may want to compare his view to Paul Fussell's perspective in the essay "Thank God for the Atom Bomb." Walzer's argument here has lent unintended tacit support to many ideas about torturing terrorists at Gitmo and elsewhere. It's pretty obvious Dick Cheney, for instance, thinks the same relaxation of restraints would apply to Islamic terror (but the analogy seems weak). I recommend readers to Tim Challans' book Awakening Warrior for a critique of Walzer's idea of supreme emergency and a very impressive logical attack upon the recent trend toward torturing POW's in prisons outside the USA.
Significantly for current events, readers interested in the distinction between pre-emptive and preventive war will find a well articulated argument in Just and Unjust Wars. The US attack on Iraq was and still is often justified as pre-emptive. That impulse on the part of the neo-conservatives who devised or whipped up the casus belli reflects, I think, a need to cloak a morally questionable war in the robes of legitimacy. There is no way that attack can be justified under the historically accepted norms of "pre-emption." Michael Walzer's well-thought distinction between pre-emption and prevention makes sense even in the milieu of asymmetric warfare against terror and Islamic radicalism, and it clearly shows why the Iraq war was a moral mistake from the start, regardless of its practical success down the road, if we are fortunate enough to see that. The moral precedent of engaging in preventive war will continue to haunt America long into the future. The fact that Iraq was not even on the spectrum where the fine line between pre-emption and prevention exists is a telling aspect of the overall ongoing strategic fiasco. Where one fails to recognize the moral high ground, one is doomed to moral failure. Walzer was vocal about the run-up to war in 2003, and those who read his book would do well to find his comments about the Iraq invasion; they are edifying in terms of understanding the overall argument in this book and, not coincidentally, where we are going in this role as the world's police force.
This book is ultimately not very instructive about just war.......2006-06-11
At a lecture at West Point United States Military Academy April 6, 2006, Naom Chomsky argued, "Just war theory" literature "deserves special attention but is ultimately not very instructive about just war". "Just war theory" is "declarations of personal preference", which "never tells you anything. It doesn't tell you when it is proper to intervene, what it tells you is 'I think it is proper to intervene'...there is a big gap between assertion and argument, between surmise and evidence." "We learn very little about just war from 'Just war theory'" what we do learn is "mostly about the prevailing moral and intellectual climate in which we live." Walzer's book relies crucially on such premises as "Seems to me entirely justified, or I believe, or no doubt." Chomsky then discusses scientific studies on human behavior which is noticeably absent from Walzer's book.
Walzer uses the term "I think" at least 52 times in the book. "I don't think" 7 times. "I believe" twice, "no doubt" at least 41 times, and "seems to me" 12 times (I write "at least" because the same phrase twice on one page would be counted once.)
Walzer's hypocricy
In a book which suffers from terribly bad organization, on page 62 Walzer finally systematically lays out his arguments, stating that "Once the agressor state has been militarily repulsed, it can also be punished."
On December 29, 2005, in an interview on NPR Morning Edition ('Just and Unjust Wars' Author Critical on Iraq.) Walzer stated that the Iraq war was not a just war:
"If you are going to use military force in someone else's county...There has to be a cause of some urgency, a massacre in progress. A massacre in memory is not a just cause."
Therefore, if you follow Walzer's assertions to its obvious conclusion, the Iraq war was not a just war and therefore "the agressor state", the US, should "be punished."
But Walzer signed and endorsed The Euston Manifesto, which states in part:
"We are also united in the view that, since the day on which this occurred, the proper concern of genuine liberals and members of the Left should have been the battle to put in place in Iraq a democratic political order and to rebuild the country's infrastructure...rather than picking through the rubble of the arguments over intervention."
Therefore in Just and unjust wars, Walzer argues that "agressor states" should be "punished" but yet Walzer signs a document which criticize those who "pick through the rubble of the arguments over intervention."
Although the Iraq War is not covered in this book, Walzer's inconsistent views on the Iraq war should give serious students of International affairs pause before subscribing to his arguments. It is one mans opinion, full of statments such as "Seems to me entirely justified" "I believe" or "no doubt."
Walzer's arguments are unscientific rablings of one intellectual which are "ultimately not very instructive about just war".
Book Description
Transmitting an understanding of warfare from World War I to the present, WHY NATIONS GO TO WAR, a unique book and a product of reflection by author, John G. Stoessinger, is built around ten case studies, culminating in the new wars that ushered in the twenty-first century: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the wars between Arabs and Israelis in Gaza and in Lebanon. The distinguishing feature of the book remains the author's emphasis on the pivotal role of the personalities of leaders who take their nations, or their following, across the threshold into war.
Customer Reviews:
Good read.......2007-02-25
I don't normally read non fiction but this book is excellent- giving a different view of history and war.
Great idea and great book.......2006-12-14
This was one of the best textbooks I have read in college. It covers most of the major wars post world war 2 and gives the history leading up to them. You can see a clear dichotomy where the major power in the world leading up to the conflict causes the conflict through foolish colonization policies. Mostly British for the first half and then the United States. It is a good summary overall and is a must have for any student in International Relations or military history. It is a well written and quick read. 5 stars.
Fascinating and Insightful.......2006-03-02
"Why Nations Go to War" is a very fascinating book to read as it provides some unique perspectives on the reasons that the author views as the cause of nations to go into conflict. The author uses a clear and simple style of writing that make it easy to read and understand his arguments, propositions and conclusions, even if one does not agree with them.
Basically, Stoessinger argues that the national leaders play the decisive role in bringing nations into conflict. It is the characteristics and ego of the leader that, at the critical moment, makes the difference between nations crossing the Rubicon and ultimately committing to go to war. Other factors such as territorial disputes, economic considerations or clash of religions or civilisations may be contributory but not the main cause for nations to go to war. The author supports his views with some well presented, insightful and compelling case studies.
Stoessinger critically examines the characters, personalities and egos of some of the modern leaders that took their nations to war and shows how poor judgements and wrong perceptions led to disasters and untold suffering for their countries.
This is a well researched book that emphasises the importance of moral courage on the part of leaders to prevent war and not allow their fragile egos to cause unnecessary suffering to other human beings. Although this is easier said than done, this message from the author is compelling.
I recommend the book to anyone with an interest in history, international relations and war.
Very interesting perspective.......2005-10-09
I was originally required to read this book for a class, but found it interesting anyway :).
In any case, I have always been interested in history, and almost majored in it in college, and so found this book particularly interesting. His concept is so simple, and yet so often overlooked. As I understand it, his basic point is that people often think of wars as being caused by factors such as religious differences, economics, etc. Stoessinger argues that these types of factors are necessary but not sufficient. You also need additional factors, particularly misperceptions.
I think that he makes a pretty decent case for this, his examples are appropriately chosen, and he makes some very interesting observations. I think many of his ideas have very great explaining power and should be a consideration in any discussion of war.
Definitly a recommended read, particularly if you're interested in history or political science.
A Product of a Non-Existent Discipline.......2005-09-13
The title of a book is a promise to the reader, in this case to answer the question. Stoessinger makes little effort to make good on his promise.
When we ask "why" we are asking a question of causation, not a question of what proximate events surrounded and immediately preceeded another event. Nor are we asking for speculative assertions about the centrality of the psychological culture of a country which are easily disproven by any broader knowledge of human behavior and history.
For example, Stroessinger is "convinced that Hitler's charismatic grip on Germany can best be explained by the authoritarian structure of the family." How then do we explain the numerous similar charismatic grips held by leaders in other countries, with different family structures, throughout history? For example, Stalin, Mao, Peron, Napoleon, numerous rulers in Africa and elsewhere in the third world?
When we ask a question of causation we are not looking for answers that simply push the question back a level, or back in time, and leave it to languish there. When we ask a general question of causation such as "why nations go to war" we are seeking general answers, answers that reveal regularities and provide insight into why they exist.
So an examination of the proximate details, yet again, of WWI or WWII or any other specific war is not germain to the question at hand. To pretend to answer by describing some detail or asserting some psychological state is to beg the question...why then did that detail or psychological state exist?
Stroessinger seeks to emphasize the role of the individual leader and find the ""moment of truth" when leaders crossed the threshold into war." Unfortunately this is a very poorly concieved approach. First, because nations are not buttons to be pushed that respond automatically. Bush could decide tomorrow to attack Britain, but I doubt that anyone would respond. The people of the country have to also largely be willing to go to war with whatever country is in question.
The second problem is that he appears to be ignorant of the psychology of commitment, that one small decision can commit us psychologically to many more larger ones in the same direction. This is how corruption and corporate scandal often develops as well. People dont start out corrupt, they start out willing to look the other way and not say anything. People also dont start out willing to go massacre a whole enemy town, there is a process. That process has it's own momentum that pushes it along, each step making the next more likely, so the critical issue is when the process starts and how, not some randomly judged "threshold."
International Relations is terminally conflicted. On the one hand they seek regularities of human behavior, and on the other hand they seek to ignore the fact that all the people involved are humans, that there is just one species involved here.
Somehow they have convinced themselves of the obviously false proposition that explaining universal paterns by asserting that it is the "state system" which makes the paterns happen means that they can avoid being "deterministic." They seem to feel that explaining universal regularities of human behavior by noting that humans share a lot of genes in common with each other would be "deterministic." They also want to examine a behavior patern at the state level but ignore all the piles of evidence that the same behavior patern occurs at the band and tribal levels as well. As if ignorance will allow insight.
When it comes to the issues that Stroessinger promises in his title to address he is in fact hilariously ignorant. In the few paragraphs he devotes to the asserted topic of his book, why humans go to war, he makes a complete fool of himself. He has been so dismissive of human nature, the effects of evolution on making humans behavioraly predisposed for war, that he is beyond entirely ignorant. I quote from the sixth edition...
"Whereas aggression may be inherent, war is learned behavior and as such can be unlearned and ultimately selected out entirely.Humans have overcome other habits that previously had seemed unconquerable. For example, during the Ice Age, when people lived in caves, incest was perfectly acceptable, whereas today incest is almost universally taboo." (pg 210)
This is just comical! For one thing, plenty humans did not live in caves during the ice age. There just are not that many caves in Africa, Asia, and Australia. For another, there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that incest was perfectly acceptable then, or that it had seemed an unconquerable habit. Seeing that, in evolutionary terms, incest is maladaptive, and that all primates(see Human Universals), even most mammals in general, avoid incest, this assertion is highly unlikely to be true.
Of course, there are examples such as the ancient Egyptians where the ruling Pharoahs kept their bloodline 'pure' by only marrying close relatives, like sisters. Even here though this was not the practice of the larger society, and it took place well after the ice ages.
There is just no factual basis for asserting that war is entirely a learned behavior. All human societies have war, except for a small handful of tribes that share one common trait; they are geographicaly isolated and have no neighbors. Overwhelming evidence shows that humans have made war on each other for at least the last 30,000 years (see Constant Battles), and we know now that even chimps have primitive warfare.
Denial of this only leads to a hopeless effort to show regularities while fighting to maintain complete ignorance of why such regularities exist. When the title of your book promises to in fact explain just that, why the regularities exist, it is quite a problem that you are in some strange state of denial. All you can do then is beg the question, force us to ask further questions. Why were the Germans the way they were psychologically? Why was Hitler insane? Why did this or that condition arise in the first place? Why was the government organized like that? We can keep going back and back with this method of answering why until we end up explaining WWI by looking at the Germanic wars with Rome, and perhaps back before that even.
Descriptions of proximate circumstances and purely uninformed speculative generalizations about the psychological cultures of millions of people do not constitute an answer to the causative question why.
What should be the starting point for a book by this title is showing that while the precise proximate details leading to war are infinite in variety, the psychological processes are not. There has yet to be a circumstance where mutual admiration and trust led to war. Feeling that your two nations have much in common also has proven a poor road to combat. Ditto for describing the other people as honest and good and hard working. On the other hand, opposites of the above have consistently led to war no matter what individual was the leader or what the specific circumstances were.
Stroessinger has failed to address the topic of the assignment he gave himself, so I must give him an F.
Book Description
Millions of American families have turned to The Book of Virtues and The Moral Compass by William J. Bennett for moral guidance in troubled times. Our Sacred Honor offers inspiration and instruction as well...this time of a particularly American sort.
The lessons it contains are especially welcome. We live in a time when the practice of representative government in the United States of America is under siege from both the left and the right. Scandals abound. We are first shocked, then wearied, to learn that our national leaders have feet of clay. We live in a time, in short, which demands that we return to our origins to discover the common principles that make us essentially American. Our Sacred Honor reveals those common principles. They are articulated by the flawed but deeply admirable men and women who first wrote what it is to be American. The pledge made by the Founders to one another that hot July day in 1776—the pledge of "our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor"—has been redeemed many times in the centuries since, but the nation they founded has never failed to profit from their example.
It is time to profit from their advice.
In Our Sacred Honor, William J. Bennett has collected the best that has been thought and said by and about the men and women who founded America. And what a group they are: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John and Abigail Adams, and so many more that otherwise first-rate intellects such as John Dickinson, Benjamin Rush, and George Mason are relegated to the status of footnotes in the popular imagination. Not since Periclean Athens has such a small nation been led by so many larger-than-life figures. The only characteristic they shared more widely than revolutionary ardor was their talent (and inclination) for advice. Here is that advice on virtually every aspect of "the good"—good government, good relations between individuals and nations, and what it means to live a good life. Here are Thomas Jefferson on piety ("Adore God. Murmur not at the ways of Providence"); James Madison on justice ("It ever has been, and ever will be pursued, until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit"); and Patrick Henry on patriotism ("Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?"). Here are Abigail Adams on love ("When he is wounded, I bleed..."); Benjamin Franklin on industry ("Have you somewhat to do tomorrow, do it today"); and George Washington on friendship ("Be courteous with all, but intimate with few"). Here are the lyrics to "Yankee Doodle," Longfellow's celebration of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, and the Declaration of Independence. Here are the stories of the Liberty Bell, Washington at Valley Forge, and Nathan Hale. Here are selections from The Federalist Papers, and Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Concord Hymn," with "the shot heard round the world." Here are Poor Richard's Almanack, the extraordinary correspondence between John and Abigail Adams, and George Washington's Farewell Address.
The stories, songs, letters, and speeches collected in Our Sacred Honor are an inspiring celebration of American exceptionalism, produced by a collection of exceptional Americans. It is the best book of advice in more than two hundred years.
Customer Reviews:
Our Sacred Honor..........2007-10-06
As always, Bennett tosses us a great story about our founding fathers. His writing is coordinated and he points out the best of the dramatic tales (real) that they endured--as individuals, as well as family heads. If only, when future historians look back on our current days, they would be able to say..."Those were great days." Alas, I doubt it. Although the founders were what might be called "normal mortals", to challenge each other to create our great nation makes one proud to be able to say "we belong!" They were clearly heroes.
One Inspirational Read.......2007-05-14
I was tasked to find an appropriate book to give to outstanding high schoolers for our local Rotary Club. I felt this book well represented the ideal of the club. This book should serve as a valuable resource in future years as these young men and women matriculate to higher learning, and careers.
Bennett chose material well.......2007-03-26
Bennett chose his material well. Historians may argue with some of the details in his commentary (e.g., that Burr shot to kill Hamilton, aiming directly at his chest). Others may take issue with some of the "nuclear family" biases inherent in his commentary. That isn't the meat of the book. The importance of the book rests in the quotes of the founding generation, and Bennett went beyond some of the most famous quotes and speeches, although these are represented as well, to give us a true feeling of a generation that approached life with a genuine goal of self-improvement. Most interesting were some passages from Abigail Adams, from her "tough love" to John Quincy through her disdain for french dancers. Anything regarding Bennett's personal life is irrelevant for assessing the value of this work.
The greatest generation speaks .......2006-07-09
The United States of America was blessed with a generation of founding fathers who were at the same time people of action, and people of thought. They were an incredibly brilliant group of political and moral thinkers. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, Madison had a profound understanding of both human nature and the unique circumstances bound up with the founding of the United States. Their dream was of creating a nation like no other before, one based on principles of freedom, and dignity of the individual The ideal formulation is of course in one of the documents central to this collection, ' The Declaration of Independence' , life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
In this anthology of the founding fathers' writings in story, letter song, speech and hymn we feel the spirit of a new and great nation and vision for mankind.
God Bless America.
Quite Enjoyable.......2005-12-31
Bill Bennett has collected some of the greatest pieces of rhetoric and stories of our founding fathers. This work includes everything from patriotism, the meaning of freedom, and romance to ethics and advice. It's a wonderful collection, one that will connect the listener to the intellect of the greatest Americans, at least the greatest of the early Americans. Bennett doesn't read any of his selected pieces, only some of the introductory material. However, the people who do read the work do a magnificent job. It's an abridgement of the source work and runs about 4 hours. It's a perfect collection for long drives.
Book Description
A timely reconsideration of “just war,” this landmark history closely examines the moral underpinnings of the War Between the States
When the nation tore itself apart during the Civil War, the North and the South marched under the banner of God. Yet the true moral aspects of this war have received little notice from historians of the period. In this gripping volume, Yale religious historian Harry S. Stout demonstrates how both groupsÂ' claims that they had God on their side fueled the ferocity of the conflict and its enduring legacy today.
Proceeding chronologically from the election of Lincoln to the start of Reconstruction, Stout explores how the fundamental moral conduct of the war shifted from a limited conflict fought over constitutional issues to a total war in which slaughter both on and off the battlefield was justified as the only means to unconditional victory. As North and South alike enshrined their causes as sacred, a kind of national religion emerged based on martyrdom and rebirth through violence.
Drawing on a fascinating array of Civil War letters, sermons, editorials, diaries, and battle photographs, Stout reveals how men and women were ensnared in the timeÂ's patriotic propaganda and ideological grip and how these wartime policies continue to echo in the debates today. Sure to provoke a major reevaluation of this bloody and tormented period and appeal to readers of James McPherson, Garry Wills, and David Herbert Donald, Upon the Altar of the Nation is a provocative and surprising examination of motive and conduct, both on and off the battlefield.
Customer Reviews:
Confusing and not what I expected.......2007-07-20
When I picked up this book I was eager to learn about the moral reactions to the Civil War. I wanted to know how the public responded to major battles, and in return Stout drabs on and on about what this minister said and what that minister said. This book should be re-titled "a religious review of the war." The actual moral side does not seemed to be touched on succinctly because it seems that the author doesn't know when to wrap up a chapter.
So, I guess it could be considered that I wasn't too happy with this book. You know when I was happy? When the end of the war was coming along and I knew the book would be over. I enjoy when people that aren't experts like Gallagher or Sears or Phanz write about the battles and such, but when they drone on and on about ministers spitting fire from pulpits, it really defeats the purpose of the book.
Some accounts of soldiers are included and are interesting. In fact, there's not enough of that. It would have been more interesting if the author took more accounts of soldiers and generals responding to the horrors of battle rather than a few paragraphs about the fight and then pages upon pages of how the religious responded.
I wouldn't recommend this book to the general armchair historian since it would probably fail to hold your interest.
A De-Romanticization of the American Civil War.......2006-08-13
This book is clearly written, informative, and brutally honest in that it asks questions about the morality of the Civil War that were not asked during this great conflict, and have many times not been addressed in subsequent histories of the war. This book does a great service to all humans made in God's image who struggle to understand what precisely this war was about, how this war still affects us all intellectually and emotionally today, and how we will tell this important story to our children. There were many sacrifices made in God's name and for the good of these United States in the Civil War, but there were many gross sins, intentional and unintentional, that blurred the vision of many church leaders, politicians, soldiers, and citizens in this watershed war that defines us all today! I agree with another reviewer that Professor Stout's honest and superbly written moral history of the American Civil War is the best place to start when considering this important war that has been told from many different perspectives. I highly recommend this book to all interested in history, ethics, and those seeking to better understand exactly it means to be an American. As a Christian, who also is an American citizen, this book truly helped me to look beyond my regional identity to identify myself with Christ's Kingdom made up of every tribe, tongue, nation and people. As the Bible teaches so clearly in every historical "hero" there is also a villain lurking in our flesh, and in every historical "villain" there is oftentimes an unexpected hero to be found within. As Professor Stout writes candidly in the introduction: "'Upon the Altar of the Nation' tells difficult stories of unjust conduct on both sides of the struggle. Understandably, most Americans prefer not to face the evidence of an immoral war, especially when the war in question is the American Civil War. But I believe that if we are to understand the meaning of America today, then face it we must....Only when the reader hears the anguished cries of the suffering - -My God, why have you forsaken us?- -will the full moral dimensions of 'America's costliest war' be revealed for him or her to judge and, in judging, to learn timely lessons for today."
Thank you Professor Stout, you deserve great praise for all of your excellent historical work, and particuarly the Pulitzer Prize for this one!
Cornerstone Civil War History.......2006-07-29
Since the history of the Civil War fills libraries, it's difficult to know where to begin to study the vast subject. Stout's superb work is an excellent place to start. The book's subtitle, "A Moral History of the Civil War", is an accurate description of what the book is about. Rather than just a history of battles, Stout supplies the context that stands behind the combat and the politics. The reader gets an appreciation for civilian life as the war continues from year to year. You come away with a sense of how and why the opposing sides justified their actions. Unlike many historians and other authors, Stout does not feel compelled to make every judgment for the reader. He lets his meticulous sources and endnotes speak for themselves, while he covers the war's biggest themes. This is a book to take your time on and linger over - it's not a history to skim, but the effort is worth it. Helpful maps and illustrations. Highest recommendation. If you always wanted to do some Civil War reading, I suggest pairing it with E. L. Doctorow's "The March" (which is excellent in audiobook format).
a new twist on the Civil War.......2006-06-05
I have read so many books about the Civil War that I didn't think there was anything interesting left to say, but I was wrong!
Racism, God, and Destruction.......2006-05-21
While tempted to add some moralizing of his own, Harry Stout leaves final judgement up to the reader. When I first browsed this book, what struck me was the sheer volume of "moral history" that the Civil War generated for future generations to sort out. I had never seen all of the issues compiled in one volume before.
Although religion is naturally a recurring theme throughout, it pales in comparison to the issue of race. And the author does a great job describing how neither side could easily claim the moral high ground on racial matters. From the Emancipation Proclamation, to the recruiting of black units, to the assignments of those units in the field, to the ultimate morality or leaving black troops out of prisoner exchanges, and the final exclusion of black units in the grand review at the conclusion of the war. Lincoln's genius is in large measure portrayed as the ultimate moral arbiter who could balance racial issues with affairs of war and politics.
The role of religion and the religious press is explored in detail in the book. One thing I never realized before is that the traditional Thanksgiving Holiday was created out of the Civil War religious observances (and was later coopted by New Englanders)
The closest any book has come to exposing the ambiguous nature of moral claims by both sides.
Books:
- Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil
- Film Directing: Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen (Michael Wiese Productions)
- Film Directing: Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen (Michael Wiese Productions)
- Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legends of America's Famous WW1 Epic
- Fireground Strategies
- Flags of Our Fathers
- French Chivalry: Chivalric Ideals and Practices in Mediaeval France
- FRENCH IMPERIAL GUARD - VOL 4: 4 - Cavalry and Horse Artillery (Officers and Soldiers)
- From Sand Creek: Rising in This Heart Which Is Our America (Sun Tracks)
- German Battlecruisers 1914-18 (New Vanguard)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Other Side of the River: A Story of Two Towns, a Death, and America's Dilemma
- Kick Ass: Selected Columns of Carl Hiaasen
- Birth Control for Christians: Making Wise Choices
- Concise Encyclopedia Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- History: Fiction or Science
- Quick Guide to the 16 Personality Types in Organizations: Understanding Personality Differences in t
- Love for Sale
- Daniel Libeskind: The Space of Encounter
- Design-Build: Planning Through Development
- Prokaryotic Genetics Genome Organization, Transfer and Plasticity
Every Man's Battle Workbook: The Path to Sexual Integrity Starts Here (The Every Man Series)
Every Woman's Battle: Discovering God's Plan for Sexual and Emotional Fulfillment
Every Man's Marriage: An Every Man's Guide to Winning the Heart of a Woman (previously released as Every Woman's Desire)
Every Heart Restored: A Wife's Guide to Healing in the Wake of a Husband's Sexual Sin (The Every Man Series)
Preparing Your Son for Every Man's Battle: Honest Conversations About Sexual Integrity (The Every Man Series)
