Are we destined to self-destruct? (Sabong News)
Author
Fr. Rolando V. De La Rosa, OP
Date
MARCH 13 2022
As Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine continues, the possibility of a global war looms on the horizon. The Russians are intent on winning the war. They forget that war has its own law that works in unpredictable ways. Violence is merciless not only to its victim but also to the aggressor. Violence establishes this kind of justice: “He who lives by the sword perishes by the sword” (Matthew 26:52).
The Russia-Ukraine war is just one of the many ongoing bloody ethnic conflicts happening in the world, especially in the Middle East, Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The civil war in Myanmar has raged for more than 60 years but the western press hardly mentions it now because it doesn’t affect them.
Wars seem to confirm what Sigmund Freud wrote — we are the only animals in the world whose violent impulses can be turned inwards. Like cancer cells attacking their healthy host, human beings can become predators of other humans. What other species systematically aborts or kills unborn offspring for fear of overpopulation? What other animal invents weapons of mass destruction to destroy other animals?
Today, we have invented more sophisticated ways to wage war. We use not only high-tech guns, tanks, and bombs, but also the wily strategies of intimidation, diplomacy, double-dealing, double talk, subliminal advertising, and group conditioning. War rages not only on the battlefields, but also in the minds of people. The effect is no less disastrous, especially as regards our way of relating with people. Mistrust and suspicions can poison our most intimate and friendly relationships.
For instance, we generally agree that a dog is man’s best friend, but we hesitate to say this of our fellow humans. One of the first lessons a child learns from his parents is: “Do not talk to strangers.” The presumption is: every stranger is a potential enemy. Thus, any individual, tribe, nation, or ethnic group that looks different or strange becomes threatening.
Nobody really wins in a war. It exacts its own rigorous retribution according to a geometrical rigor that defies human reason. In the East, we understand this idea of retribution as karma. The Western world, however, no longer has a word to express this because its vocabulary seems too focused on technology, progress, exploitation, and conquest. Words that pertain to the necessity of limits, divine justice, and retribution have become devalued to the point of meaninglessness.
You might ask: “If centuries of wars show that we are inclined to self-destruct, why have we not succeeded in annihilating ourselves?” It is because another human instinct, more powerful and compelling, overpowers our instinct to kill and destroy. This is our God-given desire to perpetuate life, to unify, to forgive, to live together in peace.
The polarities in nature that move the universe — attraction and repulsion — exist in each of us in the form of love and hatred. Yes, the lust for cruelty and violence has been with us since time immemorial, but, as we read in the Bible, “deep waters of hatred can never quench love” (Song of Songs 8:7). Love always triumphs over our tendency to self-destruct.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why our Lord Jesus Christ was transfigured (Luke 9:28b-36). By His transfiguration, He revealed what would happen after His death on the cross. It was as though He was telling his disciples: “When you see me mocked, ridiculed, helplessly carrying my cross, and crucified like a criminal, remember my transfiguration and remind yourself that death is not my destiny.”
His transfiguration gives us the assurance that even if war and death seem inevitable, love is greater than hate, and faith in a God who conquered violence is our best weapon against our tendency to self-destruct.
