It is natural to aspire to peace, and even more so to wish peace to the world at the threshold of a new year. Moreover, the angelic singing “Glory to God, Peace on Earth” has not yet ceased to resonate at least in the minds of liturgically-minded Christians, who celebrate today the “Octave of Christmas,” a feast day which includes the memory of the circumcision of Jesus and the glorification of the maternity of Mary. For Roman Catholics — and others who have adopted the usage — this is also World Peace Day.
Yet never in my adult life I have heard rumors of war and warmongering talks like today, here in Europe. Fear is all around, it is manipulated and it is even manufactured. The famous expression by Thomas Merton “the root of war is fear” has become again tragically appropriate. As Pope Leo acutely notices, today those who speak about peace are branded as naive and dangerous, making them powerless and unheard.
For centuries, the Catholic Church elaborated “just war” theories which at first were intended to curb the passion for war, even though they were exploited by misguided people to justify war itself. In the 11th century, Bernard of Clairvaux famously enjoyed the crusades and made up the word “evil-cide” to mean the justified killing of one’s enemies.
I find it very interesting that in the course of the 20th century the Catholic Church progressively abandoned its teachings about “just war” and adopted instead a radical stance, embodied today by Pope Leo, which unveils the reality of war as a mechanism of utter greed and contempt for human life.
It is even more interesting, however, that the just war theory has migrated into secular thinking. I first heard it used by Tony Blair in the 1990s, and then again in the early 2000s to justify the unjustifiable and tragic destabilization and destruction of Iraq. Interesting, but not strange, because just as the Catholic Church presented itself as a force for good, and thus could not simply approve all wars indistinctly, so modern democracies purportedly exist for the flourishing of all societies — not just one’s own — and so they can’t wage war simply for the lust of it.
But, in the end, just war theories are just a smokescreen for what is actually happening. Unfortunately, the war propaganda is very subtle and one might get caught in it inadvertently. Some help for verifying one’s complicity may come from this list, which is intended for all armed conflicts:
- Verify the factuality of the claims: most news outlets are partisan as they have never been in the history of the modern world, but this does not mean that there are simply two sides (a usual mistake for Americans);
- Study the history of the conflict in question: knowing something about the last major event means knowing nothing of the situation, and studying the past events should not be intended to find the culprit but understanding the reasons of all the sides involved;
- Probe the rationality of the claims: the appearance that war is the only rational solution always dissolves when the complexity of the power games at stake is revealed; war might benefit some people, but will destroy countless others; war has never created better living conditions or democracy anywhere (I am open to discuss “revolution” instead);
- Take idealism out of the equation: the idea of “destroying evil” is still rooted in our brains but following it mindlessly is the worst possible course of action; when we think about politics from a spiritual perspective, we try to be rational and effective, as we want to be guided, not blinded, by our understanding of good and bad.
Let me elaborate, as a conclusion, on the last point. It is shocking to me, and very dangerous in my view, that blunt assessments of the moral quality of leaders have taken the place of political judgments. For example, assessing that a head of government is particularly prone to violence is relevant information in the context of many other pieces of evidence, not a reason to believe that such a propensity will soon erupt out of control.
There are in fact many concrete factors checking the power of even the worst tyrant. And if violence erupts, let us asks ourselves what are the social, political, ideological, and economic conditions that made such eruption possible, and let us ask ourselves what is our personal involvement in those conditions.
We need to be aware in this incoming 2026 that fear is a powerful motivator for bad decisions. We might be afraid also for real reasons, but in such a case we need to confront the situation with a calm and rational mind. A habit of denial of responsibility, tossing all of it on the “bad guy” of the day, is also something we may consider to leave behind. There is never just one guy responsible for a war.
Banner Image: “Ukraine 600 days – War Silent Witnesses.” Image by Karl Rudhyn on Flickr.
Queries for Contemplation
What do you think of Thomas Merton’s expression “the root of war is fear”? Would you modify it in some ways?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
A Way to God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey
The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times
Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ
Prayer: A Radical Response to Life
9 thoughts on “The Root of War is Fear (and Denial)”
I think Thomas Merton was somewhat right but I would go further, or modify it. Fear, itself, is rooted in Ignorance: ignorance of ourselves, our evolutionary state of being and purpose; and ignorance in our understanding of “God”. Ignorance causes us to belittle ourselves, our lives, and life, itself. And on that cheery note, I wish all DM readers a very Happy New Year! 🙂
Yes, but Leo did not respond to the bombing of Nigeria on Christmas Day. It’s not that complicated.
I think that war is our primitive reptilian brain’s response to the inherent tensions associated with life and evolution. In ancient Greece, Polemos was the name given to such basic tensions and according to Heraclitus: “Polemos is the father of all things.” However, it is symptomatic that, although considered a divine figure, Polemos remained an abstract and impersonal entity. Polemos is sometimes paired with Hybris, the personification of pride and violence. [https://grokipedia.com/page/Polemos] I like to compare Polemos to the tension between the two terminals of an electrical outlet: properly used, it can be creative, misused it can be deadly. Thomas Merton’s opinion that “the root of war is fear” is consistent with the humbling recognition of the primitive stage of evolution humankind is at, still largely controlled by its reptilian brain, reacting impulsively to fear and currently subjected to a ludicrous but dangerous display of hubris and narcissism.
Yes, I agree with Thomas Merton that fear is one of the main roots of war in human history. Some prominent depth psychologists like Otto Rank and spiritual teachers like Thomas Keating analyze that these unconscious fears of the ‘other’ in life begin with the trauma of birth when the child is separated from the security and oneness of the womb. This ‘original wound’ and insecurities/fears become unconscious and manifest in many different forms as the child grows, develops, and socialized by others, life experiences, and society who also carry these unconscious wounds (even ancestral ones) with many defensive, spiritually unbalanced/disconnections, and dysfunctional behaviors conditioned as egocentricity, duality, and formation/acceptance unconsciously and consciously of destructive patriarchal values which consequently lead to many personal and societally destructive/aggresive behaviors such as war, all types of racism, greed, cruelty, social injustices, and ecocide of our Sacred Mother/Her living creatures/and the source of our nourishment and life. This is why our spiritual ancestors/spiritual guides/teachers have continued to want to help heal humanity’s unconscious wounds on our personal/communal spiritual journeys with one another on our human evolution through the DIVINE SPIRIT of LOVE~WISDOM~HEALING ~PEACE~JUSTICE~TRANSFORMATION~COMPASSION… PRESENT within and among Us in LOVING DIVERSE ONENESS in the Sacred Spirit/Flow of the ETERNAL PRESENT MOMENT….
You mention “destructive patriarchal values.” Is that the universal underlying problem? Who is exploring the history of war to try to assess the impact of patriarchy? Stephen Spielberg’s movie SAVING PRIVATE RYAN seems to have been an exploration of patriarchy. I recall the soldiers whose mission was to find the remaining sons of some mother back home. The recruits found themselves in a bombed out church furious with their commander and describing their situation as FUBAR….f_cked up beyond all recognition. The closing scene was a massive phallic tank coming in to finish them off. The hero dies without going home to his wife who is waiting for him in their garden (of Eden?)
I am glad that Pax Christi is being smart about encouraging groups of young people to join conversations, to talk about ideas to help solve problems war will not solve, and to care about nonviolence as deeply Christian. Last night I went to the Interfaith Prayer Vigil in my town, Santa Cruz, and it was wonderful– people actually sharing respectfully as we prayed together for peace, with representatives of 5 faith traditions. This event was sponsored by Sangha Shantivanam, which was started 22 years ago here, by Fr. Cyprian Consiglio, OSB, who is now in Rome as the head of the monastic interfaith conference. He is following Fr. Bede Griffiths, and can sing the Upanishads, as well as writing, singing and playing his own Christian music, and it is a wonderful thing that this group of interfaith people exists, and has deepened the friendship and respect in our community for over two decades. I have deep hope. It is exactly true, that fear is the fount of war. We must learn to build community, be honest and caring to others, have compassion and patience. And we must get this cancer of MAGA surgically excised from the body politic! THANK YOU! Happy New Year!
Yes, let us discuss revolution, the revolution that Yeshua of Nazareth proposed and that we have yet to accomplish. It must be a non-violent revolution that we much wage, a revolution of the heart fired by a fierce love of the Earth and the life she bears, of each other, of justice, of peace. It is the revolution of the Theology of Liberation, of Martin Luther King Jr., of St. Óscar Romero, of the Beloved Community. Let us commit ourselves to it and wage love with all the will and courage that it demands.
I am glad that you have recovered and are back with us asking deep questions. I think that fear plays a big part in starting wars, but the fear of what? I think it is the fear of losing something, usually land or natural resources or some other material power, and it is undergirded with greed. The question to ask is cui bono? Since World War II, and before, the U.S. has engaged in wars to gain some sort of power, and not for the benefit of anyone in the attacked countries, although that is used as an excuse. The military industrial complex, as President Eisenhower warned, is the machine that runs the world, sadly. It is all about power, in my opinion. Anything in the middle east is about the power of oil, etc. The U.S. has consistently backed coups to install dictators who would be compliant with U.S. goals, often related to material resources. I believe that power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and that the love of money is the root of all evil. I believe that people of faith need to have clear eyes to see the truth of the systemic evils we all are a part of, like it or not, and to remember that real power lies in loving action — doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God–although we may not see the fruits in our lifetimes.
The wisdom our fellow readers and writes digest here is uplifting. Still, as it is generally recognized that crime must be stopped before more crimes are committed, so many people are glad that military efforts that attack the defenseless who do not offend anyone can be resisted and possibly stopped by military forces that stand for honest societies and largely virtuous governments. The example of Russia unjustly invading Ukraine is current. When a destructive and homicidal enemy military cannot be dissuaded by reasonable popes, governmental leaders and other spokespeople for peace, it seems logical that the nation being attacked lethally may fairly defend itself, even with lethal force. Wiser people may plead for non-violent resistance, which they hope would mean no further destructive or cruel aggression or predation. The consequent atrocities–including confiscation, rape, torture, kidnapping and maiming–by an invading force are reasonably considered unbearably evil, and armed defense is accepted as a necessary evil for a limited time.