Saturday, December 1, 2007

Doom and Futility



Mr. Hedges, in his article, Hands Off Iran, painted a bleak and hopeless a picture. He's right on on the bleak. Wrong on the hopeless. .







I do not share Mr. Hedges faith in futility, that any course tried by the United States must end in chaos and Hell. His images are too fabulous, and his faith in politics misplaced. Of course he will believe what he wrote; that is part of his politics, to believe all other politics are failures, misguided, devious, power mad etc. By default then, what's not done by one side, because of the inevitable disasters it will automatically unleash, automatically guarantees success for another side? History says...maybe so, and maybe not. But, to make a faith of politics, as I believe many on secular progressive left have done is, as he said, "doomed". "But", protests Mr. Hedges, "I said nothing about faith."




No, he did not. But he did say he said he "Hopes a Judge would..." And he said he would ask his friends in Tehran, and elsewhere, to "forgive him". He takes his faith, and hopes to the wrong judge. He's asking the right thing in the wrong place. Hope is one of the Christian virtues. Forgiveness goes with that other scary word, redemption. His politics cannot save him. He will not be absolved by despising the other side.



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