The worldview of redemptive violence in the US / Wayne Lavender.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lavender, Wayne, author.

Series:

Palgrave studies in religion, politics, and policy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Myth.

History.

Armed Forces.

Expenditures, Public.

Military policy.

United States--Military policy--History.

United States.

United States--Armed Forces--Appropriations and expenditures--History.

Myth--History.

United States--History.

Physical Description:

xvii, 207 pages ; 23 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Worldview of redemptive violence in the United States

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.

Summary:

The Worldview of Redemptive Violence in the US is based on research that documents the existence of a dominant worldview within the US that supports the myth of redemptive violence, i.e. the concept that a nation can used its military (violence) to improve the human condition (redemption). Evidence is presented from the building blocks of worldview, namely collective memory, history, symbols, religion, and legends and myths. This worldview, however, leads to policies that support excessive military spending and a default position in which to use the military to solve international conflict. These policies are unsustainable, immoral, and ineffective given the realities of the world in the early decades of the twenty-first Century. Alternatives are presented in order to encourage the current recessive worldview that supports conflict resolution, cooperation, collaboration and peaceful efforts to solve humanity's biggest existential concerns: global climate change, pandemic poverty and an overabundance of weapons. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Was 1st Eine Weltanschauung, aka What Is a Worldview? 15

2 The Worldview Discovered in Marble, Granite, Bronze, Steel, and Concrete 27

3 The Comingling of US History with US Military History 57

4 The Stars and Stripes in Church: Confusion over Sacred and Profane 75

5 Post-Constantinian Christianity in the United States 99

6 George Washington and the Apple Tree: Legends and Myths in the United States 125

7 Seeing the Water Wherein We Reside and Understanding Its Consequences 155

8 The US Can (and Must) Change Its Worldview! 175.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781137482358

1137482354

OCLC:

903193866