War For Your Entertainment

“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.