On Fear and Current Events
A few weeks ago, I saw “Bridge of Spies” with Tom Hanks. It’s a story of James Donovan, an American lawyer, Navy officer, and political negotiator. Donovan defended Rudolf Abel, a Soviet spy, and later negotiated a prisoner exchange of Abel for two Americans. The film is a nice story that has some echoes of “To Kill a Mockingbird” with the usual Spielbergian sweetness. I left the film feeling somewhat proud to be a lawyer—an atypical feeling for me.
Beyond taking in the start of Oscar season with some trips to the theater, I have been listening to Dr. Thomas Madden’s course on the Middle Ages, “The Modern Scholar: The Medieval World I: Kingdoms, Empires, and War.” The course has been a wonderful opportunity to reflect on life after the fall of Rome. Madden discusses competing empires (Christian and Islamic), the rise of papal influence, the Crusades, and more. The subject is fascinating given my love of history, but it is particularly so given the conflict in Paris before and after the November 13 terrorist attacks.
These two forms of entertainment converged for me with a recent writing by Joseph Margulies, a Professor of Law and Government at Cornell University: https://verdict.justia.com/2015/11/16/even-after-paris. Margulies once assumed a role of public pariah similar to Donovan’s by defending Abu Zubaydah, currently held in Guantanamo under the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (115 U.S.C. § 224).
Margulies discusses the role of defending someone who everyone hates. He places it within the context of demonization and the tendency to create symbolic demons used to justify policy stances. Margulies explains:
“Demonization is always the same. It begins with a legitimate cause for national concern. There was, for instance, a crack epidemic in the 80s and 90s; there were Soviet spies embedded in American government during the McCarthy era; there are transnational terrorists, as Paris demonstrates so convincingly. Demons, in other words, are not created from whole cloth.”
He continues by arguing that hyperbole and fear create demons that become foundational for our policies, and the hunt for created demons often expands too broadly. His brief article is worth reading simply to juxtapose dignity, mercy, forgiveness, and punishment. If we consider these things with a greater historical perspective, there is a greater likelihood we will maintain a sense of humanity. This mean not only perceiving humanity in those we know and love most dearly, but also perceiving humanity in everyone else—even when it seems unjustified and fear-inducing.
In the wake of human-created tragedy, I easily slip on my once-worn prosecutor’s hat in my desire for justice. I never take off the hat of husband and father in my desire to protect and provide. I also wear my citizen’s hat, proud of the liberty afforded in this incredible country and admittedly grateful when horrendous conflict occurs across an ocean and not in my corner of suburbia. Most absolutely, I wear the hat of Christian, which shapes everything in my perspective and worldview.
When combining each of these realities and the lenses by which I view them, I am left with a concluding thought that must rule the rest. And I hope it is a thought that will spread in upcoming days: fear cannot rule. Margulies’s article noted that “No mast and rope has ever restrained us from that Siren [of fear].” But Christ concretely stressed there is no fear through him.
It’s worth reading all of Matthew 10, but look at this sampling: “So have no fear,” “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul,” and “Fear not…you are of more value than many sparrows.” I welcome a meaty discussion with anyone on security policies, refugee policies, immigration, and more. But I long for such discussions to take place without fear. “Without fear” does not mean without prudence, for Jesus also added, “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” But if fear rules the discussion, we risk replicating the worst of Dr. Madden’s course on the Middle Ages—conflict, destruction, and even more fear.
In response to the public discourse after the Paris bombings, I recently saw a link to an old story from The Onion entitled, “Historians Politely Remind Nation To Check What's Happened In Past Before Making Any Big Decisions.” In jest, the story quoted a 48-year-old woman who stated, “I get it. If we do something bad that happened before, then the same bad thing could happen again. We don't want history to happen again, unless the thing that happened was good.”
The article is bitingly funny, but it also pulls together all the sources I referenced in this writing. Religion-based conflict has existed in Paris and beyond for thousands of years. We subsequently have a wealth of information on which we can base our future policy decisions. Further, the United States has long had real and perceived demons, and we need champions—lawyers and non-lawyers—to help us cling to humanity and do so without fear. To proceed in any other manner ensures we will relive the worst of what was before and do so bound by the fear we desperately want to avoid.
