Peace from Hell, Peace on Earth: self, Self and a Theology of In/Between

How did we come to sanction unending war and torture? Why are some enemy combatants deprived of the right to a livable life without due process of the law? What makes violent video games so appealing, and why is Ivan Boesky applauded when he asserts that “greed is healthy?” Do we have a “self,” like we have an arm or a leg, which requires defense? I believe that our understanding of the “self” motivates our behavior. The extent to which we understand the self as a bounded container, inherently selfish and impelled to have an advantage over others, is the extent to which war and dominative stances make sense. But what if our understanding of self is different—what happens when we believe all life to be inextricably and dynamically interrelated so that our individual well-being depends on the well-being of all? Would this later understanding cause us to act with greater empathy and compassion?

My project is to explore the construction of the reified atomistic self in the Western tradition, and to propose interventions that may serve to interrupt oppressive technologies of power and the cycles of war, domination, violence and bigotry that result from this reification. These interventions are not structured as acts of resistance to current conditions. Instead, I seek to open vistas and craft re-visions that elucidate a compassionate way forward. Relying on contemplative traditions, the nascent findings of neuroscience, evolutionary understandings of individual consciousness and moral consciousness and an examination of the despiritualized consumerism and militarism of the United States, I articulate an ethical-contemplative response to the atomistic individual. My response and re-visioning takes the form of a non-systematic theology of in/between. This theology of in/between is born of an inner silence that uproots limiting and conditioned structures of consciousness. Beyond the limited and conditioned consciousness is the divine Spirit-God-event bringing to life the flowering of an undivided expression of being. When we perceive in unity with this vast and transparent divine presence, we see from the place of the Self with a capital “S.” Now, the divine becomes visible in all life.