A few days ago I wrote a post called “A War on Hatred” and later it occurred to me that, although I had said more or less what I wanted to say, I had also fallen into the trap that has distorted our lives since at least 1940: The metaphor is, of course, that we need “a war on…”
Think how well we’ve done, following that emotional line. [That, friends, is sarcasm!] I was going to list examples, but perhaps it’s best to leave you to make your own lists. Intrinsic to the metaphor is that there are two antagonistic sides (at least!), one of which (at least!) must lose.
It is the essence of division, and division comes always ultimately from fear. Engage on war against fear and you assure that fear will increase, because war can only be waged from a sense of division. It is true that sometimes we engage in war out of love of those we are protecting; still, war is war and as General Sherman pointed out, it is all hell. Continue reading Escaping the Metaphor