Locked and Frozen as Wars Rage On

"In the nightmare of the dark
All the dogs of Europe bark,
And the living nations wait,
Each sequestered in its hate;

Intellectual disgrace
Stares from every human face,
And the seas of pity lie
Locked and frozen in each eye."

These lines, from Auden's poem "In Memory of W. B. Yeats", were written in 1939. Yet, as we look around at the world today, they seem to characterize the atmosphere of our time. We remain glib, as military might continues to terrorize innocent people. And we allow our dollars to be diverted towards war and barbarism.

Will no one stand up and speak the truth to those who carefully manipulate fear and hate -- to those who brutalize with violence? Or are we ourselves too afraid to cry out aloud, fearful of being pilloried, of losing friends, income, goodwill? Of being banished to some gulag?

It is of course important to confront evil everywhere. Fundamentalism, like patriotism and tribalism, is an evil ism that cloaks itself in all kinds of mythological trappings, appealing to those who are easily swayed by passion and romanticism. The jihadis need to be swept away, as well as the soldiers who hunt them, not with violence, but by compulsory education in the lessons of basic morality.