If warfare and other forms of collective violence were viewed solely as a bad thing, achieving peace would not be difficult. But warfare often is conceived as a grand and noble enterprise. This colloquium will explore the relationship between violence and a group’s attachment to its sacred ideals.

There is no charge for this special event, but space is limited. To hold your place, please send an email ASAP to: PEC-Colloquium@ScholarlyCalls.com

Bin Laden and other Islamic radicals often proclaim, “We love death the way you Americans love life”--implying that the United States is decadent and corrupt--lacking in spiritual values. September 11 provided the occasion for Americans to recommit to their sacred ideals.

President George Bush declared after 9/11: “I see out of this evil will come good as youngsters all of a sudden understand the value of sacrifice.” He calls freedom the “mightiest force in history.” Waging war allows a nation to demonstrate the depth of its devotion to its sacred ideals.

Perhaps the following idea has sustained the Iraqi war: “Do not imagine that the United States lacks sacred values. We too possess ideals for which we are willing to kill and die: As young people in the Middle-East martyr themselves for Allah, so young Americans sacrifice their lives for freedom and democracy.”

Through lecture and intensive discussion, this colloquium seeks to move toward the possibility of peace--by exploring the sources of the human attachment to war.

Richard A. Koenigsberg holds a PhD in Social Psychology from the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research. He is the author of numerous books and papers including “Dying for One’s Country: The Logic of War and Genocide.” He lectures extensively on the sources of societal violence. In the fall he will embark on a college lecture tour on “Civilization and Self-Destruction.” Please see: http://www.programsthatmatter.com/program.php?program_id=3