Political violence goes beyond rhetoric, it is a spiritual and moral failure | Opinion

In the wake of two assassination attempts on Donald Trump, pundits have decried the uptick of “political violence.” On the left, folks blame Trump’s “enemy of the people” rhetoric. On the right, they blame Democrats for saying that Trump is a “threat to democracy.”

This political blame game does not probe deeply enough. Violence is not only a political problem. It is a spiritual and moral failure. Violence is stupid and wrong. This is true whether it is schoolroom shootings, political assassination, or war. Easy access to powerful guns is part of the problem. But the larger problem is violence itself. Gun violence is wrong. But so is child abuse and police brutality.

Opinion

The obvious wrongness of violence is found in the harm it causes. All of the world’s moral traditions condemn intentional attacks on other human beings. This general condemnation of violence is often sidetracked by conversations about the rare cases in which violence could be justified, say in self-defense. But the basic presumption of civilization is that violence is wrong.

Most real-world examples of violence fail to live up to any ethical standard. Schoolroom shootings and child abuse certainly cannot be justified. Assassination and terrorism subvert democracy and the orderly functioning of social and political life. And most wars involve atrocities that violate basic principles of moral decency.

The purveyors of violence are usually not interested in the moral discourse of justification. Rational arguments are complex. But violence is reductive. It ends complexity in the simplicity of the deed. Violence is also typically motivated by emotions such as hatred, jealousy, anger, or despair.

This is what it means to say that violence is stupid. It resides outside the realm of intelligent moral discourse. As political scientist John Mueller said in his recent book “The Stupidity of War,” “War has come to seem not only futile, destructive, and barbaric, but profoundly stupid.” This same conclusion holds for other forms of violence.

The “logic” of violence, if we want to call it that, is subhuman. Violence takes us outside of civilized humanity and into the world of brute animality. Violence makes no arguments. It does not appeal to our rational nature. Rather, it grunts and growls. It is physically coercive. But it is not rationally persuasive. It targets the body rather than the mind. It destroys without building. It kills without creating.

Despite fantasies of heroic violence saving the day, violence typically does not achieve good outcomes. Assassinations, assaults, and terrorism usually do not change the world for the better. Violence is unpredictable and chaotic. It often provokes a backlash that makes things worse. Violence can cause people to flinch or hunker down. But it does not create a political movement. Violence does not build institutions. Nor does it offer legislation, education, or a path to enlightenment.

Beyond the momentary outburst of violence, violence offers no plan for tomorrow or the next day. After destroying a hated enemy or rampaging in anger, what next? Many acts of violence are nihilistic. The violent perpetrator has no intention of doing anything tomorrow. They are fueled by emotion, focused entirely on the present moment. Like a wolf immersed in the thrill of the hunt, or a cornered badger fighting for its life, they simply do not care what happens tomorrow.

This tendency toward nihilism shows us the problem of violence. It is often an expression of cynicism and despair. Far from being a heroic manifestation of superhuman nobility, it is a sad result of failed humanity.

The stupidity and wrongness of violence is well-known. This moral message is as old as Jesus, who taught his followers to turn the other cheek and love their enemies. It is found in the teachings of the broad pacifist tradition. This tradition includes thinkers like Albert Einstein who said, “Violence sometimes may have cleared away obstructions quickly, but it has never proved itself creative.”

The basic insight into the futility and inhumanity of violence must be taught anew to each generation. This is especially true in a culture infused with images of violence and a world awash in weapons. As we seek to find culprits to blame for recent attacks, we must think more critically about violence itself.

Andrew Fiala is a professor of philosophy at Fresno State University.