[infowar.de] Colloquium at Columbia University: "Love of War."

["Orion Anderson" <libraryofsocialscience -! - earthlink - net>]

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THE PEACE EDUCATION CENTER invites you to attend a special colloquium
presented by 
Richard A. Koenigsberg:


"warfare and devotion to the sacred ideal"



Wednesday, April 18 - 7:00-9:00pm 


Teachers College, Columbia University
Room 179 Grace Dodge
(525 West 120th St. between Broadway and Amsterdam)


There is no charge for this special event, but space is limited. To hold
your place, please send an email ASAP to: PEC-Colloquium -!
- ScholarlyCalls -
 com
<mailto:PEC-Colloquium -!
- ScholarlyCalls -
 com> 


If warfare and other forms of collective violence were viewed solely as a
bad thing, achieving peace would not be difficult. But warfare often is
conceived as a grand and noble enterprise. This colloquium will explore the
relationship between violence and a group's attachment to its sacred ideals.

Bin Laden and other Islamic radicals often proclaim, "We love death the way
you Americans love life"-implying that the United States is decadent and
corrupt-lacking in spiritual values. September 11 provided the occasion for
Americans to recommit to their sacred ideals. 

President George Bush declared after 9/11: "I see out of this evil will come
good as youngsters all of a sudden understand the value of sacrifice." He
calls freedom the "mightiest force in history." Waging war allows a nation
to demonstrate the depth of its devotion to its sacred ideals.


Space is limited. To hold your place, please send an email ASAP to: 
PEC-Colloquium -!
- ScholarlyCalls -
 com
<mailto:PEC-Colloquium -!
- ScholarlyCalls -
 com> 


Perhaps the following idea has sustained the Iraqi war: "Do not imagine that
the United States lacks sacred values. We too possess ideals for which we
are willing to kill and die: As young people in the Middle-East martyr
themselves for Allah, so young Americans sacrifice their lives for freedom
and democracy."

Through lecture and intensive discussion, this colloquium seeks to move
toward the possibility of peace-by exploring the sources of the human
attachment to war.

Richard A. Koenigsberg holds a PhD in Social Psychology from the Graduate
Faculty of the New School for Social Research. He is the author of numerous
books and papers including "Dying for One's Country: The Logic of War and
Genocide." He lectures extensively on the sources of societal violence. In
the fall he will embark on a college lecture tour on "Civilization and
Self-Destruction." Please see:
http://www.programsthatmatter.com/program.php?program_id=3



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