A cautionary lesson of the Civil War is the
spectacle of belief. Both sides in this
conflict were comprised in part of deeply religious, God-fearing souls. And both sides felt sure that God was on
their side. This arises from a need for certain
validation, for justification of the atrocities of war. Faith in God also provides sustenance and strength
undergirding the courage required and the deprivations encountered. It arises from the experience of mortality on
the battlefield, the knowledge that all are called to ultimate commitment offering
up their lives to become repulsive blackened corpses in an instant for the sake
of glorious eternal verities. Something as
momentous as war requires divine co-conspirators. As in the assassination of a beloved public
figure, we find it hard to believe that it is the work only of one deranged
individual. We know that it must arise
from a vast conspiracy. War is something
like this. We simply know a conspiracy
of heaven and hell must mirror mortal combat.
Our enemy becomes an opposition of evil, thus any atrocities against
them become easier and divinely justified bringing us shinning glory. Suffering to be endured must be redeemed by
divine purposes. Thus we find that God
validates not only our ends, but also all our means. The feeling that God is on our side becomes sorely
needed, devoutly believed, and well-nigh universal.
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