The Varieties of the American Mood and Motivation

27 Sep, 2001    ·   587

Prof Chandrasekhara Rao argues that there lurks a nagging fear in the US Administration of bravery turning into bravado, and tempered strategy giving way to intemperate revenge


President Bush has announced the nature and scope of the American response to the horrible terrorist attack. As anticipated, the US declared all out war on terrorism and its haven-givers. More precisely he identified Osama bin Laden and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan as the enemy. The latter is given an uncompromising ultimatum to surrender and eradicate every vestige of terrorism or else face the consequences.

 

 

The very scope of the American design against terrorism, while welcome in its purpose, has left room for many uncertainties and imponderables. Apart from fears about how and where the war against terrorism can lead the US , some reflection on the American mood in times of crises like the present one are in order. One can start from the scene of America at prayer and then venture to examine its mundane motivations.

 

 

Watching on TV the National Prayer Service at the National Cathedral, Washington DC was indeed an uplifting experience. The occasion was the immense tragedy that hit the United States three days earlier (11th September), the most horrendous of terrorist-perpetrated carnages that the world has ever witnessed on a single day. The solemnity of the spectacle was heightened by the ecumenical character of the worship. The cathedral is Roman Catholic, Protestant pastors were the main preachers and participating in the worship were Rabbis and Muslim Divines. The theme of the service in the cathedral was to seek the Lord’s blessings for the souls of the victims and benediction on the nation’s resolve to confront this evil in the most fitting manner.

 

 

It is in relation to the theme of this solemn service that poignant feelings are bound to surface. For, at one level of the worship, there is the sublime theme of redemption and the sense of holy horror at the mystery of evil. This aspect of the prayer ended with the exhortation that ‘thou shall not return evil with evil’. Yet one cannot help the feeling that a prayer to bless the American resolve for stern retributive action against the evil doer was also there. In other words, the service in the minds of many was a canticle for revenge. This is not to belittle the piety behind the prayers or to cavil at the ceremonial of worship. In fact, it is an authentic feeling generated by the very paradox of facing the realities of human suffering. Perhaps, the acquisition of the religious sensibility in human evolution can itself be regarded as an attempt to reconcile the existential realities of raw instincts with the search for moral imperatives. Yet, such reconciliations are incomplete solutions to the challenge of human relations, both inter-personal and inter-societal. The reason for venturing to reflect on these issues is to highlight the contradictions inherent in thinking about war and peace, conflict and cooperation, and revenge and forgiveness. The current American reaction illustrates these contradictions.

 

 

To the outsider it would appear that the modern American civilization is a paradigm case of parallel commitments to contrary value systems. Chastity, charity, humility are values held high and intoned from altars and pulpits. Yet another range of values are dinned daily into the ears of the average American – under the rubric of the American Dream and the Pursuit of Happiness. These, by a strange dialectical process, defy and deny the first mentioned values. Chastity is teased, tempted and trumped by virility, which is symbolized by aggressive capitalist macho. Charity is transformed beyond recognition into self-righteous acts of conspicuous largesse in the shape of international aid. And humility is humbled before the verities of aggressive individualism.

 

 

Thus, the disjunction between the perennials of the Christian spirit and the reality of human frailty are more evident in contemporary American culture than in any other place or time. And this characteristic has played itself out rather prominently. Referring back to the church service itself, while the clergy laid stress on the virtues of prayer and peace, the politicians’ refrain was retribution and retaliation. The latter refrain found more than an echo in the public’s voice. Some analysts say that now it is the public mood that is in the driver’s seat, contributing to the pressures on the Administration eagerness to prove its worth.

 

 

Thus behind the stern face of an Old Testament prophet with a punishing countenance, there lurks a nagging fear in the Administration of bravery turning into bravado, and tempered strategy giving way to intemperate revenge. Intimations of the latter are to be found in some indiscretions, like naming the military response as Operation Infinite Justice. Nothing could be more inappropriate both in terms of mature use of language and a sense of the occasion. The analogy of the US playing Captain Ahab avenging the Moby Dick of international terrorism is indeed a troubling thought. 

 

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