Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
War For Your Entertainment

War For Your Entertainment

Last updated on: March 14, 2022 at 6:21 pm by C. Don Jones

War For Your Entertainment 2022-03-14T18:21:26-06:00 C. Don Jones

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“Of course, war is entertaining” – Screwtape

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not entertainment for the people experiencing it. Ukrainian civilians and soldiers are being injured and killed. Russian soldiers are dying too. Politicians from the West are reassuring and arming NATO allies at an alarming rate. The truth takes a beating. The infotainment of 24 hour news and social media is reminds me of a Medieval feast. People engorge themselves with Misinformation, disinformation, and lies. They spew it all out to consume more. I see this war for what it is. It is a tragedy. But it is an entertaining one for we the viewers.

War As Tragedy

Aristotle in On Poetics discusses the elements of a Tragedy. “The tragic fear and pity may be aroused by The Spectacle; but they may also be aroused by the very structure and incidents of the play -which is the better way and shows the better poet.” War is a spectacle. We see the fear and are moved to pity the victims in the spectacle. But it is better to have a story for the war. The tellers (who represent media, governments, and NGO’s) must keep the attention of the audience.

“The tragic pleasure is that of pity and fear, and the poet has to produce it by a work of imitation.; it is clear, therefore. that the causes should be included in the incidents of his story.”(emphases added) Comparisons are made between the enemy and a former enemy casts the villain. Is Vladimir Putin another Hitler, Stalin, or Attila the Hun? Descriptions of imagined atrocities solidify the enemy as being devoid of humanity. Do you remember the story about Iraqi dumping Kuwaiti babies out of incubators before taking the devices to Iraq? Many people don’t remember it because it never happened.

The narrative given to a war is important. The purpose of the teller defines the narrative. The more riveting the story is the better.

The Sports Analogy

My stepson makes a witty comparison between the drama of the Russia/Ukraine war and that of NFL teams and coaches. It is funny. The story got me thinking about this topic. Americans use sports analogies for many big issues. Politics, for instance, has become high school trash-talking against a rival team. As a loyal fan of my team, I am obliged to hate yours. Taunting one another adds to the perception that the other person is petty or evil depending on who is doing the taunting. Hating the other team can degenerate to hating the other fan.

News stories talk about Putin, his failed strategy, the sanctions he faces, and what outrage he will do next. This all passes for analysis. But it is merely heaping loathing on the coach of the other team. We must be vigilant about he manipulation.

War As Destruction

The reality is that war is destruction. Christians are to build and not destroy. Yet, for some reason, we become instruments of divine wrath and judgment. This is our evil. No atrocity, crime, or murder is impossible for us when we believe we are the avenging arm of God. “Saul gave consent” to the murder of St. Stephen. Why? Because that was what should happen to blasphemers.

Russian and Ukrainian soldiers could conceivably walk into the same Orthodox Church this Sunday and receive Holy Communion. But if they do so, they cannot do it in good conscience because they have shed the blood of each other’s companions. Jesus shed his blood for love of them all. They would be just as guilty as if they crucified Christ himself.

The destruction of war is all encompassing. Lives are destroyed for the benefit of those who share no risk. And unfortunately in our era, lives are destroyed and turned into entertainment for others.

Culture of Death

Screwtape told his nephew Wormwood wars were entertaining because of the fear, cowardice, and immorality they produced. But, during wars, soldiers know they could be killed. Having contemplated mortality, they go into battle often “prepared to die.” C. S. Lewis’ summation is revolting. For him, death is tragic except when one dies in grace.

Death is not glorious. The New Testament writers do not describe death that way. Death is always tragic in the New Testament. People are bereft of children, helpers, servants, and means of support when someone dies in the Gospels and Acts. St. Paul writes, “For me to live is Christ and dying is gain.”(Philippians 1:21) Paul’s hope is his death would allow him to participate in the Resurrection. But he did not value death. St. Paul considered it an enemy.

Our culture celebrates death while at the same time denying the reality of it. The people of the West were once entertained by public executions. The first Battle of Bull Run in the American Civil War included spectators from Washington. No other battle did. We forget it too easily.

Divine Judgment

Exploitation of the Poor

Previous Post

March 10, 2022

The Revolution Begins May 1st

Next Post

March 17, 2022 Covenant Hope

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Addiction Advent Afghanistan Anxiety Ascension Sunday Baptism Barack Obama Biblical Interpretation Bigotry Book Banning BSA Buddhism Choice Christmas Church Discipline Community Conscience Conspiracy theories COVID-19 Culture Wars death cults deconstruction Devotional Divine Judgment Donald Trump Earth Day Election Day empathy Environmentalism Evangelism Exploitation of the Poor Faith False Claims fascism Fear Forgiveness Genocide government Grace Gun Violence Halloween Hate Health Hillbilly Elegy Hindu Holy Communion Holy Week Homelessness Hope Identity Integrity Islam Joe Biden John Hagee Kamala Harris Labor Lent Liberation Theology Lies Love Love as action Neurological disorders Non-Christian Religions Online Worship Original Goodness Pandemic Peace Pentecost Philosophy Preaching Progressive Christianity Racism Redemptive Violence Myth Resentment Saint's Days Satire Sobriety social media Spiritual Self Care Spirituality Technology The Kingdom of God The United Methodist Church Theology Transfigurations Sunday Transgender persons Truth Uncategorized Violence Wesleyan Working Class

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 March 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 January 2025 October 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 September 2018 July 2018 February 2018 January 2018 August 2017 May 2017 November 2016 July 2016 June 2016 November 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 January 2015 November 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 June 2013 March 2013 February 2013 December 2012 August 2012 July 2012 May 2012 February 2012 December 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How should Christians handle anger according to Ephesians?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Hold it in for years Shout to release it Do not let the sun go down on it Ignore it completely