{"id":95144,"date":"2015-12-22T00:52:26","date_gmt":"2015-12-22T07:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=95144"},"modified":"2015-12-16T22:03:25","modified_gmt":"2015-12-17T05:03:25","slug":"on-using-the-language-of-war-for-stuff-that-is-not-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/12\/on-using-the-language-of-war-for-stuff-that-is-not-war.html","title":{"rendered":"On Using the Language of “War” for Stuff that is Not War"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A reader writes:<\/p>\n

I know I\u2019m behind, but I had the chance to listen to your podcast episode where you and Simcha Fisher disagreed over the use of warfare language in response to the Paris terrorist attacks (and terror attacks in general, I think).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u00a0 <\/p>\n
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote>I thought I would weigh in.\u00a0 Let me say, too, that I am a big fan of Ms. Fisher\u2019s work and normally agree with everything she says.<\/p>\nTo get right down to it, in this case I agree with you.\u00a0 Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\nThe use of the term \u201cwar\u201d carries psychological baggage that will interfere with all kinds of related issues, from smart strategy to confront terrorism to how we treat refugees.\u00a0 Invoking \u201cwar\u201d implies a sense of scale that far exceeds the scale of violence ISIS is capable of bringing to American shores and a sense of risk that is far higher than the likelihood any American will fall victim to ISIS.\u00a0 The problem with failing to properly scale the threat is that we need to properly scale if we are to properly respond.<\/p>\nThe use of the term \u201cwar\u201d also carries a certain level of being okay with things we wouldn\u2019t normally be okay with.\u00a0 When you\u2019re at war, collateral damage happens (i.e., innocents die).\u00a0 When you\u2019re at war, torture is a little less repulsive.\u00a0 When you\u2019re at war, you have to be vigilant and watch for infiltrators.\u00a0 When you\u2019re at war, your survival might be contingent on \u201ctheir\u201d demise.\u00a0 This is why<\/em> the language of war is invoked at all.\u00a0 This logic has underpinned practically every mass human rights catastrophe I can think of, from the Holocaust to the Rwandan Genocide and beyond.<\/p>\nThe fear of ISIS and refugees has more to do with the exceptional brutality of ISIS violence than anything.\u00a0 Analogies that some are tossing around about discarding a whole bowl of grapes if one were poisoned are absurd.\u00a0 Should we stop driving because we never know when a drunk driver could have infiltrated the ranks of sober drivers?\u00a0 Should we shut down the roads?\u00a0 Of course not, yet drunk drivers kill 10,000 Americans a year and injure 300,000, and certainly being hit by a drunk driver is as unpredictable as being a victim of terrorism.<\/p>\nAnyway, like you, I don\u2019t have many solutions.\u00a0 I do believe, however, that an effective military response, a smart prioritization of our resources to deal with the threat, a humane approach to the refugee crisis, etc., cannot happen unless we properly scale the threat.\u00a0 Using the term \u201cwar\u201d undermines that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nI agree.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A reader writes: I know I\u2019m behind, but I had the chance to listen to your podcast episode where you and Simcha Fisher disagreed over the use of warfare language in response to the Paris terrorist attacks (and terror attacks in general, I think). \u00a0 I thought I would weigh in.\u00a0 Let me say, too, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8,115],"class_list":["post-95144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-mailbag","tag-war"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>On Using the Language of "War" for Stuff that is Not War<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A reader writes: I know I'm behind, but I had the chance to listen to your podcast episode where you and Simcha Fisher disagreed over the use of warfare\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/12\/on-using-the-language-of-war-for-stuff-that-is-not-war.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On Using the Language of "War" for Stuff that is Not War\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A reader writes: I know I'm behind, but I had the chance to listen to your podcast episode where you and Simcha Fisher disagreed over the use of warfare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/12\/on-using-the-language-of-war-for-stuff-that-is-not-war.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-12-22T07:52:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-12-17T05:03:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/12\/on-using-the-language-of-war-for-stuff-that-is-not-war.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/12\/on-using-the-language-of-war-for-stuff-that-is-not-war.html\",\"name\":\"On Using the Language of \\\"War\\\" for Stuff that is Not War\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-22T07:52:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-17T05:03:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\"},\"description\":\"A reader writes: I know I'm behind, but I had the chance to listen to your podcast episode where you and Simcha Fisher disagreed over the use of warfare\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/12\/on-using-the-language-of-war-for-stuff-that-is-not-war.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/12\/on-using-the-language-of-war-for-stuff-that-is-not-war.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/12\/on-using-the-language-of-war-for-stuff-that-is-not-war.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"On Using the Language of “War” for Stuff that is Not War\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\",\"description\":\"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\",\"name\":\"Mark Shea\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Shea\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"On Using the Language of \"War\" for Stuff that is Not War","description":"A reader writes: I know I'm behind, but I had the chance to listen to your podcast episode where you and Simcha Fisher disagreed over the use of warfare","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/12\/on-using-the-language-of-war-for-stuff-that-is-not-war.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"On Using the Language of \"War\" for Stuff that is Not War","og_description":"A reader writes: I know I'm behind, but I had the chance to listen to your podcast episode where you and Simcha Fisher disagreed over the use of warfare","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/12\/on-using-the-language-of-war-for-stuff-that-is-not-war.html","og_site_name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","article_published_time":"2015-12-22T07:52:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-12-17T05:03:25+00:00","author":"Mark Shea","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Shea","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/12\/on-using-the-language-of-war-for-stuff-that-is-not-war.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/12\/on-using-the-language-of-war-for-stuff-that-is-not-war.html","name":"On Using the Language of \"War\" for Stuff that is Not War","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-12-22T07:52:26+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-17T05:03:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5"},"description":"A reader writes: I know I'm behind, but I had the chance to listen to your podcast episode where you and Simcha Fisher disagreed over the use of warfare","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/12\/on-using-the-language-of-war-for-stuff-that-is-not-war.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/12\/on-using-the-language-of-war-for-stuff-that-is-not-war.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/12\/on-using-the-language-of-war-for-stuff-that-is-not-war.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"On Using the Language of “War” for Stuff that is Not War"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/","name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","description":"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5","name":"Mark Shea","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark Shea"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95144\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}