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Following Jesus in nonviolent struggle for justice and peace, we love our neighbors and enemies as God loves us all, becoming a peace church to share in Gods work to save the world.

THE END OF VICTORY CULTURE

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       I am reading THE END OF VICTORY CULTURE: COLD WAR AMERICA AND THE DISILLUSIONING OF A GENERATION by Tom Englehardt (University of Mass, 1995 & 2007). It is like a window on the soul of America. My purpose here is to recommend the book so that you can have a look into this window.
     The lost war in Vietnam put the capstone on the wall that had begun separating Americans from victory culture 30 years earlier with the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Englehardt says, "It is hardly surprising that, after 1975, the basic impulse of America's political and military leaders (as well as of many other Americans) was not to forge a new relationship to the world but to reconstruct a lost identity of triumph" (p. 15).
     Think about that. Another 30+ years have passed, and it has not worked to pump up the victory culture again. But we see that same reactionary and retrograde impulse still marshaling its forces against change, and fantasizing about victory. One thinks of George Bush's pitiful declaration of victory in Iraq, dressed up like a soldier on a battleship.
     So, we won't have an answer that communicates to Americans if we don't understand their soul. Have a look at the end of victory culture to begin to understand the frustration, anger and hopelessness of the American mind today.

John K. Stoner   jstoner@ecapc.org

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