#militarism — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #militarism, aggregated by home.social.
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DATE: September 18, 2026 at 10:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Dark personality traits predict support for violence by both Israel and Hamas
Recent psychology research indicates that while most people base their support for political violence on their personal ideological beliefs, individuals with high levels of psychopathy and sadism tend to endorse violence across the board. A new study examining attitudes toward the Israel-Hamas conflict suggests that these specific dark personality traits are linked to support for violent actions committed by both sides. The findings were published in Personality and Individual Differences.
In the study of political psychology, a common assumption is that people evaluate violence based on their group identity and political worldview. This means individuals usually justify violence when it is committed by a group they agree with, while firmly rejecting similar violent actions when committed by opposing groups. In highly polarized situations like the conflict between Israel and Hamas, this translates to an actor-specific view of violence. An individual might support the military actions of one side, but it is unusual for them to endorse violence from both sides simultaneously.
The author of the new study, Tobias Greitemeyer of the University of Innsbruck, wanted to explore whether certain personality characteristics override this partisan loyalty. He focused on the Dark Tetrad, a grouping of four socially aversive personality traits. These traits include narcissism, which involves grandiosity and entitlement; Machiavellianism, characterized by manipulative and cynical behavior; psychopathy, marked by callousness, low empathy, and impulsive thrill-seeking; and sadism, which involves deriving pleasure from the suffering of others.
Previous investigations have linked these traits to various forms of hostility. For instance, a 2024 study covered by PsyPost indicated that higher scores on dark personality traits were associated with higher levels of antisemitism, showing how these characteristics can shape views on Middle Eastern geopolitics. Other research, such as a 2015 study on consumer attitudes, has shown that dark personality traits are related to a concept called moral disengagement. Moral disengagement refers to the mental gymnastics people use to justify harmful behavior, allowing them to ignore their own moral standards without feeling guilty.
To test how these traits relate to attitudes toward the Israel-Hamas conflict, Greitemeyer conducted two separate online studies. The first study recruited 257 German-speaking participants, mostly from Austria and Germany. The participants completed a standardized questionnaire measuring their levels of the Dark Tetrad traits, as well as measures of their political orientation, their general attitudes toward war and peace, and their specific support for violent actions carried out by Israel and Hamas.
The results provided evidence for the traditional view that political violence is generally actor-specific. Support for violence by Israel and support for violence by Hamas were negatively correlated, indicating that participants who endorsed violence by one actor were less likely to endorse violence by the other. Older participants tended to show more support for Israeli actions and less support for Hamas actions. Men reported more support for Israeli military actions than women did, but there was no difference between men and women regarding support for Hamas.
When looking at personality, however, a different pattern emerged. Psychopathy and sadism were positively associated with support for violent actions by both Israel and Hamas. Individuals scoring higher in these two traits showed a generalized acceptance of violence, regardless of which side was responsible. This generalized support remained present even when the researcher accounted for the participants’ political ideologies. Narcissism and Machiavellianism, on the other hand, did not show this consistent, cross-actor support for violence.
A second study was conducted with 470 United Kingdom citizens to see if these findings would hold up in a larger sample and to explore potential psychological mechanisms. In addition to measuring the Dark Tetrad traits and support for violence by Israel and Hamas, participants completed assessments for two other variables. One was their interest in militarism, which captures a fascination with weapons, special forces, and martial arts. The other was their propensity for moral disengagement.
The second study mirrored the findings of the first. Once again, support for Israel and Hamas was negatively correlated overall, but psychopathy and sadism reliably predicted an endorsement of violence by both actors. Narcissism was only linked to support for Hamas, and Machiavellianism showed no reliable association with support for either side.
The data also indicated that interest in militarism and moral disengagement helped explain the connection between dark personality traits and support for violence, though only partially. Both militarism and moral disengagement acted as mediating factors for why psychopathy and sadism predicted support for Israeli violent actions. However, neither of these psychological mechanisms explained the link between the dark traits and support for Hamas’s violent actions, suggesting that different cognitive pathways might be at play depending on the specific actor involved.
“This confirms the work of earlier research and slightly extends it by explicitly showing that individuals scoring high on dark personality traits (especially on psychopathy and sadism) tend to exhibit support for political violence of multiple conflicted and even directly opposing groups,” said Tomislav Pavlović, a researcher working on the MOTIKA project, which focuses on understanding drivers and barriers to peaceful and violent collective action, who was not involved in the study.
“As earlier research demonstrated, individuals scoring high on dark personality traits also tend to exhibit more favorable attitudes toward violence in general,” Pavlović told PsyPost. “From this perspective, it is not surprising that individuals showing stronger support for violence as a general method of achieving goals also see it as a more acceptable method of achieving political goals.”
“The findings of this paper could be taken as an extension of existing research, indicating that endorsement of political violence is not related only to political beliefs and social identity (ideological partisanship), but also to individual differences in dark personality traits,” said Anja Wertag, a researcher at the Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences in Croatia who was also not involved in the work. She told PsyPost the study highlights “the importance of integrating personality and political psychology perspectives in investigating violence endorsement.”
The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in July 2024, which indicated that psychopathy strongly predicted support for military violence against civilians among Russian residents. The results also align with another 2024 study showing that higher psychopathy is associated with greater attitudinal support for politically motivated violence across multiple countries. Additionally, the conclusions echo a 2021 study that linked psychopathic traits to support for violent social change, regardless of whether that violence was endorsed by left-wing or right-wing groups.
But as with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind regarding this study. The data rely on self-reported questionnaires, meaning participants might have altered their answers to appear more socially acceptable, especially on sensitive political topics. The samples were also non-representative groups of internet users from Europe, which limits how broadly the findings can be applied to the general public or to populations directly involved in the conflict.
“It is important to note that the Dark Tetrad traits explained only a modest amount of the variance in support for Israeli and Hamas violent actions – ranging from 5 to 8%,” Wertag noted. She added that because “all Dark Tetrad traits are multidimensional and the current study used only a brief measure to assess them, future research should include broader measures of dark traits to enable a clearer view of the relations between different aspects of the dark traits and violence endorsement.”
Pavlović pointed out another geographical limitation regarding the samples. “Finally, it is worth mentioning that none of the samples were from Israel or Gaza,” he said. “Therefore, (at least) the majority of participants perceive the conflict from the perspective of relatively neutral bystanders. We cannot tell whether these results would be replicated had the study been conducted on participants whose nations are involved in conflict.”
The cross-sectional design of the studies also means the research cannot determine cause and effect. It is possible that consuming media about political violence alters a person’s psychological state, rather than personality traits alone driving their political attitudes. Future research could investigate whether these patterns hold true in other geopolitical conflicts and explore other psychological mechanisms, such as a lack of empathic concern for victims, that might bridge the gap between dark personality traits and support for war.
“While dark personality traits and support for political violence are correlated, this relationship may reflect a third underlying variable (such as experience of violence),” Pavlović explained. “Furthermore, support for political violence should not be equated with actual participation in violent acts.”
Wertag agreed, warning against leaping to broad conclusions. “I am concerned about a possible overinterpretation of the results regarding the link between violence endorsement, regardless of the side, and psychopathy and sadism due to the above-mentioned methodological constraints,” she said. “The results also do not imply that personality traits are more important than political orientation; they simply highlight that both matter. Finally, the results say nothing about the actual tendency toward violent behavior.”
The study, “When darkness overrides partisanship: Psychopathy and sadism predict support for violence on both sides of the Israel–Hamas conflict,” was authored by Tobias Greitemeyer.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #DarkTriad #Psychopathy #Sadism #IsraelHamas #PoliticalViolence #MoralDisengagement #Militarism #PersonalityPsychology #ConflictResearch #ViolenceEndorsement
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DATE: September 18, 2026 at 10:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Dark personality traits predict support for violence by both Israel and Hamas
Recent psychology research indicates that while most people base their support for political violence on their personal ideological beliefs, individuals with high levels of psychopathy and sadism tend to endorse violence across the board. A new study examining attitudes toward the Israel-Hamas conflict suggests that these specific dark personality traits are linked to support for violent actions committed by both sides. The findings were published in Personality and Individual Differences.
In the study of political psychology, a common assumption is that people evaluate violence based on their group identity and political worldview. This means individuals usually justify violence when it is committed by a group they agree with, while firmly rejecting similar violent actions when committed by opposing groups. In highly polarized situations like the conflict between Israel and Hamas, this translates to an actor-specific view of violence. An individual might support the military actions of one side, but it is unusual for them to endorse violence from both sides simultaneously.
The author of the new study, Tobias Greitemeyer of the University of Innsbruck, wanted to explore whether certain personality characteristics override this partisan loyalty. He focused on the Dark Tetrad, a grouping of four socially aversive personality traits. These traits include narcissism, which involves grandiosity and entitlement; Machiavellianism, characterized by manipulative and cynical behavior; psychopathy, marked by callousness, low empathy, and impulsive thrill-seeking; and sadism, which involves deriving pleasure from the suffering of others.
Previous investigations have linked these traits to various forms of hostility. For instance, a 2024 study covered by PsyPost indicated that higher scores on dark personality traits were associated with higher levels of antisemitism, showing how these characteristics can shape views on Middle Eastern geopolitics. Other research, such as a 2015 study on consumer attitudes, has shown that dark personality traits are related to a concept called moral disengagement. Moral disengagement refers to the mental gymnastics people use to justify harmful behavior, allowing them to ignore their own moral standards without feeling guilty.
To test how these traits relate to attitudes toward the Israel-Hamas conflict, Greitemeyer conducted two separate online studies. The first study recruited 257 German-speaking participants, mostly from Austria and Germany. The participants completed a standardized questionnaire measuring their levels of the Dark Tetrad traits, as well as measures of their political orientation, their general attitudes toward war and peace, and their specific support for violent actions carried out by Israel and Hamas.
The results provided evidence for the traditional view that political violence is generally actor-specific. Support for violence by Israel and support for violence by Hamas were negatively correlated, indicating that participants who endorsed violence by one actor were less likely to endorse violence by the other. Older participants tended to show more support for Israeli actions and less support for Hamas actions. Men reported more support for Israeli military actions than women did, but there was no difference between men and women regarding support for Hamas.
When looking at personality, however, a different pattern emerged. Psychopathy and sadism were positively associated with support for violent actions by both Israel and Hamas. Individuals scoring higher in these two traits showed a generalized acceptance of violence, regardless of which side was responsible. This generalized support remained present even when the researcher accounted for the participants’ political ideologies. Narcissism and Machiavellianism, on the other hand, did not show this consistent, cross-actor support for violence.
A second study was conducted with 470 United Kingdom citizens to see if these findings would hold up in a larger sample and to explore potential psychological mechanisms. In addition to measuring the Dark Tetrad traits and support for violence by Israel and Hamas, participants completed assessments for two other variables. One was their interest in militarism, which captures a fascination with weapons, special forces, and martial arts. The other was their propensity for moral disengagement.
The second study mirrored the findings of the first. Once again, support for Israel and Hamas was negatively correlated overall, but psychopathy and sadism reliably predicted an endorsement of violence by both actors. Narcissism was only linked to support for Hamas, and Machiavellianism showed no reliable association with support for either side.
The data also indicated that interest in militarism and moral disengagement helped explain the connection between dark personality traits and support for violence, though only partially. Both militarism and moral disengagement acted as mediating factors for why psychopathy and sadism predicted support for Israeli violent actions. However, neither of these psychological mechanisms explained the link between the dark traits and support for Hamas’s violent actions, suggesting that different cognitive pathways might be at play depending on the specific actor involved.
“This confirms the work of earlier research and slightly extends it by explicitly showing that individuals scoring high on dark personality traits (especially on psychopathy and sadism) tend to exhibit support for political violence of multiple conflicted and even directly opposing groups,” said Tomislav Pavlović, a researcher working on the MOTIKA project, which focuses on understanding drivers and barriers to peaceful and violent collective action, who was not involved in the study.
“As earlier research demonstrated, individuals scoring high on dark personality traits also tend to exhibit more favorable attitudes toward violence in general,” Pavlović told PsyPost. “From this perspective, it is not surprising that individuals showing stronger support for violence as a general method of achieving goals also see it as a more acceptable method of achieving political goals.”
“The findings of this paper could be taken as an extension of existing research, indicating that endorsement of political violence is not related only to political beliefs and social identity (ideological partisanship), but also to individual differences in dark personality traits,” said Anja Wertag, a researcher at the Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences in Croatia who was also not involved in the work. She told PsyPost the study highlights “the importance of integrating personality and political psychology perspectives in investigating violence endorsement.”
The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in July 2024, which indicated that psychopathy strongly predicted support for military violence against civilians among Russian residents. The results also align with another 2024 study showing that higher psychopathy is associated with greater attitudinal support for politically motivated violence across multiple countries. Additionally, the conclusions echo a 2021 study that linked psychopathic traits to support for violent social change, regardless of whether that violence was endorsed by left-wing or right-wing groups.
But as with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind regarding this study. The data rely on self-reported questionnaires, meaning participants might have altered their answers to appear more socially acceptable, especially on sensitive political topics. The samples were also non-representative groups of internet users from Europe, which limits how broadly the findings can be applied to the general public or to populations directly involved in the conflict.
“It is important to note that the Dark Tetrad traits explained only a modest amount of the variance in support for Israeli and Hamas violent actions – ranging from 5 to 8%,” Wertag noted. She added that because “all Dark Tetrad traits are multidimensional and the current study used only a brief measure to assess them, future research should include broader measures of dark traits to enable a clearer view of the relations between different aspects of the dark traits and violence endorsement.”
Pavlović pointed out another geographical limitation regarding the samples. “Finally, it is worth mentioning that none of the samples were from Israel or Gaza,” he said. “Therefore, (at least) the majority of participants perceive the conflict from the perspective of relatively neutral bystanders. We cannot tell whether these results would be replicated had the study been conducted on participants whose nations are involved in conflict.”
The cross-sectional design of the studies also means the research cannot determine cause and effect. It is possible that consuming media about political violence alters a person’s psychological state, rather than personality traits alone driving their political attitudes. Future research could investigate whether these patterns hold true in other geopolitical conflicts and explore other psychological mechanisms, such as a lack of empathic concern for victims, that might bridge the gap between dark personality traits and support for war.
“While dark personality traits and support for political violence are correlated, this relationship may reflect a third underlying variable (such as experience of violence),” Pavlović explained. “Furthermore, support for political violence should not be equated with actual participation in violent acts.”
Wertag agreed, warning against leaping to broad conclusions. “I am concerned about a possible overinterpretation of the results regarding the link between violence endorsement, regardless of the side, and psychopathy and sadism due to the above-mentioned methodological constraints,” she said. “The results also do not imply that personality traits are more important than political orientation; they simply highlight that both matter. Finally, the results say nothing about the actual tendency toward violent behavior.”
The study, “When darkness overrides partisanship: Psychopathy and sadism predict support for violence on both sides of the Israel–Hamas conflict,” was authored by Tobias Greitemeyer.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #DarkTriad #Psychopathy #Sadism #IsraelHamas #PoliticalViolence #MoralDisengagement #Militarism #PersonalityPsychology #ConflictResearch #ViolenceEndorsement
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DATE: September 18, 2026 at 10:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Dark personality traits predict support for violence by both Israel and Hamas
Recent psychology research indicates that while most people base their support for political violence on their personal ideological beliefs, individuals with high levels of psychopathy and sadism tend to endorse violence across the board. A new study examining attitudes toward the Israel-Hamas conflict suggests that these specific dark personality traits are linked to support for violent actions committed by both sides. The findings were published in Personality and Individual Differences.
In the study of political psychology, a common assumption is that people evaluate violence based on their group identity and political worldview. This means individuals usually justify violence when it is committed by a group they agree with, while firmly rejecting similar violent actions when committed by opposing groups. In highly polarized situations like the conflict between Israel and Hamas, this translates to an actor-specific view of violence. An individual might support the military actions of one side, but it is unusual for them to endorse violence from both sides simultaneously.
The author of the new study, Tobias Greitemeyer of the University of Innsbruck, wanted to explore whether certain personality characteristics override this partisan loyalty. He focused on the Dark Tetrad, a grouping of four socially aversive personality traits. These traits include narcissism, which involves grandiosity and entitlement; Machiavellianism, characterized by manipulative and cynical behavior; psychopathy, marked by callousness, low empathy, and impulsive thrill-seeking; and sadism, which involves deriving pleasure from the suffering of others.
Previous investigations have linked these traits to various forms of hostility. For instance, a 2024 study covered by PsyPost indicated that higher scores on dark personality traits were associated with higher levels of antisemitism, showing how these characteristics can shape views on Middle Eastern geopolitics. Other research, such as a 2015 study on consumer attitudes, has shown that dark personality traits are related to a concept called moral disengagement. Moral disengagement refers to the mental gymnastics people use to justify harmful behavior, allowing them to ignore their own moral standards without feeling guilty.
To test how these traits relate to attitudes toward the Israel-Hamas conflict, Greitemeyer conducted two separate online studies. The first study recruited 257 German-speaking participants, mostly from Austria and Germany. The participants completed a standardized questionnaire measuring their levels of the Dark Tetrad traits, as well as measures of their political orientation, their general attitudes toward war and peace, and their specific support for violent actions carried out by Israel and Hamas.
The results provided evidence for the traditional view that political violence is generally actor-specific. Support for violence by Israel and support for violence by Hamas were negatively correlated, indicating that participants who endorsed violence by one actor were less likely to endorse violence by the other. Older participants tended to show more support for Israeli actions and less support for Hamas actions. Men reported more support for Israeli military actions than women did, but there was no difference between men and women regarding support for Hamas.
When looking at personality, however, a different pattern emerged. Psychopathy and sadism were positively associated with support for violent actions by both Israel and Hamas. Individuals scoring higher in these two traits showed a generalized acceptance of violence, regardless of which side was responsible. This generalized support remained present even when the researcher accounted for the participants’ political ideologies. Narcissism and Machiavellianism, on the other hand, did not show this consistent, cross-actor support for violence.
A second study was conducted with 470 United Kingdom citizens to see if these findings would hold up in a larger sample and to explore potential psychological mechanisms. In addition to measuring the Dark Tetrad traits and support for violence by Israel and Hamas, participants completed assessments for two other variables. One was their interest in militarism, which captures a fascination with weapons, special forces, and martial arts. The other was their propensity for moral disengagement.
The second study mirrored the findings of the first. Once again, support for Israel and Hamas was negatively correlated overall, but psychopathy and sadism reliably predicted an endorsement of violence by both actors. Narcissism was only linked to support for Hamas, and Machiavellianism showed no reliable association with support for either side.
The data also indicated that interest in militarism and moral disengagement helped explain the connection between dark personality traits and support for violence, though only partially. Both militarism and moral disengagement acted as mediating factors for why psychopathy and sadism predicted support for Israeli violent actions. However, neither of these psychological mechanisms explained the link between the dark traits and support for Hamas’s violent actions, suggesting that different cognitive pathways might be at play depending on the specific actor involved.
“This confirms the work of earlier research and slightly extends it by explicitly showing that individuals scoring high on dark personality traits (especially on psychopathy and sadism) tend to exhibit support for political violence of multiple conflicted and even directly opposing groups,” said Tomislav Pavlović, a researcher working on the MOTIKA project, which focuses on understanding drivers and barriers to peaceful and violent collective action, who was not involved in the study.
“As earlier research demonstrated, individuals scoring high on dark personality traits also tend to exhibit more favorable attitudes toward violence in general,” Pavlović told PsyPost. “From this perspective, it is not surprising that individuals showing stronger support for violence as a general method of achieving goals also see it as a more acceptable method of achieving political goals.”
“The findings of this paper could be taken as an extension of existing research, indicating that endorsement of political violence is not related only to political beliefs and social identity (ideological partisanship), but also to individual differences in dark personality traits,” said Anja Wertag, a researcher at the Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences in Croatia who was also not involved in the work. She told PsyPost the study highlights “the importance of integrating personality and political psychology perspectives in investigating violence endorsement.”
The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in July 2024, which indicated that psychopathy strongly predicted support for military violence against civilians among Russian residents. The results also align with another 2024 study showing that higher psychopathy is associated with greater attitudinal support for politically motivated violence across multiple countries. Additionally, the conclusions echo a 2021 study that linked psychopathic traits to support for violent social change, regardless of whether that violence was endorsed by left-wing or right-wing groups.
But as with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind regarding this study. The data rely on self-reported questionnaires, meaning participants might have altered their answers to appear more socially acceptable, especially on sensitive political topics. The samples were also non-representative groups of internet users from Europe, which limits how broadly the findings can be applied to the general public or to populations directly involved in the conflict.
“It is important to note that the Dark Tetrad traits explained only a modest amount of the variance in support for Israeli and Hamas violent actions – ranging from 5 to 8%,” Wertag noted. She added that because “all Dark Tetrad traits are multidimensional and the current study used only a brief measure to assess them, future research should include broader measures of dark traits to enable a clearer view of the relations between different aspects of the dark traits and violence endorsement.”
Pavlović pointed out another geographical limitation regarding the samples. “Finally, it is worth mentioning that none of the samples were from Israel or Gaza,” he said. “Therefore, (at least) the majority of participants perceive the conflict from the perspective of relatively neutral bystanders. We cannot tell whether these results would be replicated had the study been conducted on participants whose nations are involved in conflict.”
The cross-sectional design of the studies also means the research cannot determine cause and effect. It is possible that consuming media about political violence alters a person’s psychological state, rather than personality traits alone driving their political attitudes. Future research could investigate whether these patterns hold true in other geopolitical conflicts and explore other psychological mechanisms, such as a lack of empathic concern for victims, that might bridge the gap between dark personality traits and support for war.
“While dark personality traits and support for political violence are correlated, this relationship may reflect a third underlying variable (such as experience of violence),” Pavlović explained. “Furthermore, support for political violence should not be equated with actual participation in violent acts.”
Wertag agreed, warning against leaping to broad conclusions. “I am concerned about a possible overinterpretation of the results regarding the link between violence endorsement, regardless of the side, and psychopathy and sadism due to the above-mentioned methodological constraints,” she said. “The results also do not imply that personality traits are more important than political orientation; they simply highlight that both matter. Finally, the results say nothing about the actual tendency toward violent behavior.”
The study, “When darkness overrides partisanship: Psychopathy and sadism predict support for violence on both sides of the Israel–Hamas conflict,” was authored by Tobias Greitemeyer.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #DarkTriad #Psychopathy #Sadism #IsraelHamas #PoliticalViolence #MoralDisengagement #Militarism #PersonalityPsychology #ConflictResearch #ViolenceEndorsement
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Why Do You Boast, Great Warrior?
A Peace Reflection on Psalm 52
“Why do you boast about your crimes, great warrior?
Don’t you realize God’s justice continues forever?”
—Psalm 52:1There is something startlingly contemporary about that question.
Why do you boast, great warrior?
The psalm does not merely condemn violence. It confronts the strange human tendency to celebrate it.
We make monuments to conquerors.
We name weapons after predators.
We decorate generals.
We create highlight reels of explosions.
We speak of “dominance,” “strength,” “shock and awe,” “victory,” and “crushing the enemy.”And sometimes the destruction itself becomes evidence of greatness.
Look what we can do.
Look how powerful we are.
Look how afraid others are of us.
Psalm 52 interrupts that boasting with an uncomfortable question:
Why?
Why boast about something that destroys what God loves?
Why brag about the ability to kill?
Why measure greatness by the number of enemies defeated rather than the number of enemies reconciled?
Why are nations proud of weapons capable of destroying cities but embarrassed by diplomacy, compromise, mercy, and restraint?
The psalm was written in a world in which rulers demonstrated their greatness through military power. Kings conquered territory, displayed captives, erected monuments, and told stories about their victories.
In many ways, we have not changed very much.
Our monuments are sometimes digital now.
Missile footage.
Drone-camera images.
Maps showing territory captured.
Military parades.
Defense budgets.
Weapons demonstrations.
Politicians promising to be “tough.”
Commentators speaking casually about bombing places most of us will never visit and people we will never meet.
War becomes abstract.
The enemy becomes a category.
And human beings disappear behind words like targets, assets, combatants, collateral damage, and acceptable losses.
Psalm 52 insists that God sees through all of that language.
Behind every map is somebody’s home.
Behind every casualty figure is a name.
Behind every destroyed building was a room where someone ate breakfast, tucked a child into bed, argued with a spouse, celebrated a birthday, prayed, laughed, worried, and dreamed.
This is one of the essential tasks of peacemaking:
to restore the human face to those whom violence has reduced to categories.
Psalm 52 contrasts two different understandings of power.
One is the power of the “great warrior”—the power to threaten, manipulate, deceive, dominate, and destroy.
The other is far quieter:
the steadfast love of God.
The psalmist eventually says:
“But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God.
I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.”What an extraordinary alternative image.
Not a sword.
Not a fortress.
Not a chariot.
Not an army.
A tree.
A living thing.
Rooted.
Growing.
Providing shade.
Bearing fruit.
An olive tree, of all things—the source of the olive branch that would eventually become one of humanity’s great symbols of peace.
Perhaps there are two ways to imagine greatness.
One asks:
How much power can I accumulate?
The other asks:
How much life can I nurture?
One asks:
How many enemies can I defeat?
The other asks:
How many enemies can become neighbors?
One builds walls.
The other builds tables.
One produces fear.
The other produces trust.
One leaves ruins.
The other plants trees.
And Psalm 52 makes another important claim:
Violence does not get the final word.
“God’s justice continues forever.”
Empires rarely believe this.
Every empire imagines itself permanent.
Every dictator thinks the palace will remain standing.
Every warlord believes fear will preserve power.
Every weapons system promises security.
But history is littered with the ruins of people who once believed they were invincible.
The psalm reminds us that brute force is spectacular but temporary.
Love is quieter and much more stubborn.
A bomb can destroy a house in seconds.
It takes years to build a community.
A bullet can end a life instantly.
It can take generations to heal the hatred that produced it.
Violence is fast.
Peace is patient.
Which may be one reason humanity so often chooses violence.
Violence gives the illusion of immediate results.
Peace requires imagination.
Negotiation.
Listening.
Justice.
Reconciliation.
Repentance.
Forgiveness.
Courage.
And time.
Yet Jesus places himself squarely within this alternative understanding of power.
Blessed are the peacemakers.
Love your enemies.
Pray for those who persecute you.
Put away your sword.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
The first shall be last.
The greatest shall be servant of all.
Again and again, Jesus overturns our normal measurements of strength.
The cross itself becomes Christianity’s ultimate critique of domination.
Rome believed the cross demonstrated imperial power.
Jesus transformed it into a revelation of self-giving love.
The empire said:
This is what we can do to you.
God answered:
And still I will love you.
That is a very different kind of power.
For those of us committed to peace, Psalm 52 therefore asks more than whether we personally commit acts of violence.
It asks what we admire.
What do we cheer?
What language do we tolerate?
What stories do we tell our children?
Who receives our monuments?
Whose courage do we celebrate?
Do we know the names of our generals better than the names of our peacemakers?
Perhaps part of building a culture of peace is learning to boast about different things.
Boast about the person who stopped a fight.
Boast about the diplomat who kept talking when everyone else wanted to walk away.
Boast about the conscientious objector who refused to kill.
Boast about the victim who chose restorative justice over revenge.
Boast about the community that welcomed refugees.
Boast about the activists who stood between opposing groups.
Boast about the teacher who taught children how to resolve conflict.
Boast about the soldier who refused an unlawful order.
Boast about the neighbor who crossed a political, racial, religious, or cultural boundary and made a friend.
Boast about the people planting olive trees in places where others would plant land mines.
Maybe that is one way we begin dismantling the myth of redemptive violence.
We change what we call heroic.
Psalm 52 asks:
“Why do you boast about your crimes, great warrior?”
Perhaps followers of Jesus should answer with another question:
What if greatness is not measured by our ability to destroy an enemy, but by our courage to make peace with one?
The warrior may have the louder story.
The missile may make the larger explosion.
The empire may dominate the headlines.
But somewhere beneath all that noise, God continues planting olive trees.
And God’s justice continues forever.
May we be found among those planting them.
#Anabaptism #biblicalReflection #BlessedAreThePeacemakers #ChristianEthics #ChristianPeacemaking #CultureOfPeace #Devotional #enemyLove #God #GodSJustice #gospelOfPeace #JesusAndPeace #Justice #LoveYourEnemies #mennonite #militarism #mythOfRedemptiveViolence #Nonviolence #OliveBranch #peace #peaceChurch #peaceTheology #PeaceGrooves #Peacemaking #Psalm52 #Psalms #Reconciliation #RestorativeJustice #scriptureReflection #SteadfastLove #Violence #WarAndPeace -
Trump & Rubio: Cuba, Mexico, Colombia Could Be Next
https://consortiumnews.com/2026/01/05/trump-rubio-cuba-mexico-colombia-could-be-next/
Jake Johnson reports on the Progressive International declaration: “The ‘Trump corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine is the single greatest threat to peace and prosperity that the Americas confront today.” By Jake Johnson Common Dreams U.S. President Donald Trump and top administration…
#Politics #AmericanEmpire #Colombia #Cuba #Fascism #ForeignPolicy #InternationalNewsAnalysis #Mexico #Militarism #CommunityOfLatinAmericaAndCaribbeanStates #DonroeDoctrine #JakeJohnson #MarcoRubio #MonroeDoctrine #PresidentClaudiaSheinbaum #PresidentGustavoPetro #PresidentNicolásMaduro #ProgressiveInternational #Trump #TrumpCorollary #Venezuela -
Trump & Rubio: Cuba, Mexico, Colombia Could Be Next
https://consortiumnews.com/2026/01/05/trump-rubio-cuba-mexico-colombia-could-be-next/
Jake Johnson reports on the Progressive International declaration: “The ‘Trump corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine is the single greatest threat to peace and prosperity that the Americas confront today.” By Jake Johnson Common Dreams U.S. President Donald Trump and top administration…
#Politics #AmericanEmpire #Colombia #Cuba #Fascism #ForeignPolicy #InternationalNewsAnalysis #Mexico #Militarism #CommunityOfLatinAmericaAndCaribbeanStates #DonroeDoctrine #JakeJohnson #MarcoRubio #MonroeDoctrine #PresidentClaudiaSheinbaum #PresidentGustavoPetro #PresidentNicolásMaduro #ProgressiveInternational #Trump #TrumpCorollary #Venezuela -
Trump & Rubio: Cuba, Mexico, Colombia Could Be Next
https://consortiumnews.com/2026/01/05/trump-rubio-cuba-mexico-colombia-could-be-next/
Jake Johnson reports on the Progressive International declaration: “The ‘Trump corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine is the single greatest threat to peace and prosperity that the Americas confront today.” By Jake Johnson Common Dreams U.S. President Donald Trump and top administration…
#Politics #AmericanEmpire #Colombia #Cuba #Fascism #ForeignPolicy #InternationalNewsAnalysis #Mexico #Militarism #CommunityOfLatinAmericaAndCaribbeanStates #DonroeDoctrine #JakeJohnson #MarcoRubio #MonroeDoctrine #PresidentClaudiaSheinbaum #PresidentGustavoPetro #PresidentNicolásMaduro #ProgressiveInternational #Trump #TrumpCorollary #Venezuela -
Trump & Rubio: Cuba, Mexico, Colombia Could Be Next
https://consortiumnews.com/2026/01/05/trump-rubio-cuba-mexico-colombia-could-be-next/
Jake Johnson reports on the Progressive International declaration: “The ‘Trump corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine is the single greatest threat to peace and prosperity that the Americas confront today.” By Jake Johnson Common Dreams U.S. President Donald Trump and top administration…
#Politics #AmericanEmpire #Colombia #Cuba #Fascism #ForeignPolicy #InternationalNewsAnalysis #Mexico #Militarism #CommunityOfLatinAmericaAndCaribbeanStates #DonroeDoctrine #JakeJohnson #MarcoRubio #MonroeDoctrine #PresidentClaudiaSheinbaum #PresidentGustavoPetro #PresidentNicolásMaduro #ProgressiveInternational #Trump #TrumpCorollary #Venezuela -
Trump & Rubio: Cuba, Mexico, Colombia Could Be Next
https://consortiumnews.com/2026/01/05/trump-rubio-cuba-mexico-colombia-could-be-next/
Jake Johnson reports on the Progressive International declaration: “The ‘Trump corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine is the single greatest threat to peace and prosperity that the Americas confront today.” By Jake Johnson Common Dreams U.S. President Donald Trump and top administration…
#Politics #AmericanEmpire #Colombia #Cuba #Fascism #ForeignPolicy #InternationalNewsAnalysis #Mexico #Militarism #CommunityOfLatinAmericaAndCaribbeanStates #DonroeDoctrine #JakeJohnson #MarcoRubio #MonroeDoctrine #PresidentClaudiaSheinbaum #PresidentGustavoPetro #PresidentNicolásMaduro #ProgressiveInternational #Trump #TrumpCorollary #Venezuela -
#ApacheStronghold at #MartinLutherKingJr's #MontgomeryAlabama Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
"We ask you to please keep us in your prayers as we move East to continue our prayer journey to the #SupremeCourt to stop the shattering of the human existence and to protect #MotherEarth. It’s time to wake up the people of this country to stop the desecration of all our spiritual connection to Mother Earth and #Usen (God)."
By Apache Stronghold, #CensoredNews, September 1, 2024
MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- "The Apache Stronghold made a stop on their Journey of Prayer to the Supreme Court in the city of Montgomery, Alabama, the birthplace of the civil rights movement and home of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. first served as a full-time pastor.
"This church and Dr. King played a central role in uniting the local community in the struggle against what King called the evils of #materialism, #militarism, and #racism.
"The Stronghold was reminded that in 2013, Dr. #WendslerNosieSr., in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, received the Presidential Award from the National Progressive Baptist Convention, becoming the first #NativeAmerican to receive the award.
"Dr. Nosie remembered how humbling it was that people in the East thought of him in the West and that these struggles for civil and human rights are connected to what this whole journey to the supreme court is all about.
"The struggle for freedom continues as Dr. Nosie reflected, 'It’s time to use all our combined voices for civil and human rights to fight for Mother Earth, the greatest gift God has given us.' So far on this journey we are happy to see that the churches are bringing in the importance of protecting Mother Earth. We have to make the air, the water, the earth a priority because we will only be able to stop the shattering of human existence by protecting God’s greatest gift, our Mother Earth."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/09/apache-stronghold-welcomed-at-martin.html#WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #EarthIsLife #SCOTUS
#SaveOakFlat #SanCarlosApache
#Arizona #ProtectOakFlat
#DefendTheSacred
#IndigenousActivism
#WaterIsLife #SacredSites #RecycleCopper
#MiningWithoutConsent
#ProtectTheSacred #CulturalGenocide #Ecocide #NativeAmericanNews
#NoMiningWithoutConsent
#CorporateColonialism
#ChichilBiłdagoteel #RespectTheTreaties #HumanRights -
#ApacheStronghold at #MartinLutherKingJr's #MontgomeryAlabama Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
"We ask you to please keep us in your prayers as we move East to continue our prayer journey to the #SupremeCourt to stop the shattering of the human existence and to protect #MotherEarth. It’s time to wake up the people of this country to stop the desecration of all our spiritual connection to Mother Earth and #Usen (God)."
By Apache Stronghold, #CensoredNews, September 1, 2024
MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- "The Apache Stronghold made a stop on their Journey of Prayer to the Supreme Court in the city of Montgomery, Alabama, the birthplace of the civil rights movement and home of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. first served as a full-time pastor.
"This church and Dr. King played a central role in uniting the local community in the struggle against what King called the evils of #materialism, #militarism, and #racism.
"The Stronghold was reminded that in 2013, Dr. #WendslerNosieSr., in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, received the Presidential Award from the National Progressive Baptist Convention, becoming the first #NativeAmerican to receive the award.
"Dr. Nosie remembered how humbling it was that people in the East thought of him in the West and that these struggles for civil and human rights are connected to what this whole journey to the supreme court is all about.
"The struggle for freedom continues as Dr. Nosie reflected, 'It’s time to use all our combined voices for civil and human rights to fight for Mother Earth, the greatest gift God has given us.' So far on this journey we are happy to see that the churches are bringing in the importance of protecting Mother Earth. We have to make the air, the water, the earth a priority because we will only be able to stop the shattering of human existence by protecting God’s greatest gift, our Mother Earth."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/09/apache-stronghold-welcomed-at-martin.html#WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #EarthIsLife #SCOTUS
#SaveOakFlat #SanCarlosApache
#Arizona #ProtectOakFlat
#DefendTheSacred
#IndigenousActivism
#WaterIsLife #SacredSites #RecycleCopper
#MiningWithoutConsent
#ProtectTheSacred #CulturalGenocide #Ecocide #NativeAmericanNews
#NoMiningWithoutConsent
#CorporateColonialism
#ChichilBiłdagoteel #RespectTheTreaties #HumanRights -
#ApacheStronghold at #MartinLutherKingJr's #MontgomeryAlabama Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
"We ask you to please keep us in your prayers as we move East to continue our prayer journey to the #SupremeCourt to stop the shattering of the human existence and to protect #MotherEarth. It’s time to wake up the people of this country to stop the desecration of all our spiritual connection to Mother Earth and #Usen (God)."
By Apache Stronghold, #CensoredNews, September 1, 2024
MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- "The Apache Stronghold made a stop on their Journey of Prayer to the Supreme Court in the city of Montgomery, Alabama, the birthplace of the civil rights movement and home of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. first served as a full-time pastor.
"This church and Dr. King played a central role in uniting the local community in the struggle against what King called the evils of #materialism, #militarism, and #racism.
"The Stronghold was reminded that in 2013, Dr. #WendslerNosieSr., in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, received the Presidential Award from the National Progressive Baptist Convention, becoming the first #NativeAmerican to receive the award.
"Dr. Nosie remembered how humbling it was that people in the East thought of him in the West and that these struggles for civil and human rights are connected to what this whole journey to the supreme court is all about.
"The struggle for freedom continues as Dr. Nosie reflected, 'It’s time to use all our combined voices for civil and human rights to fight for Mother Earth, the greatest gift God has given us.' So far on this journey we are happy to see that the churches are bringing in the importance of protecting Mother Earth. We have to make the air, the water, the earth a priority because we will only be able to stop the shattering of human existence by protecting God’s greatest gift, our Mother Earth."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/09/apache-stronghold-welcomed-at-martin.html#WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #EarthIsLife #SCOTUS
#SaveOakFlat #SanCarlosApache
#Arizona #ProtectOakFlat
#DefendTheSacred
#IndigenousActivism
#WaterIsLife #SacredSites #RecycleCopper
#MiningWithoutConsent
#ProtectTheSacred #CulturalGenocide #Ecocide #NativeAmericanNews
#NoMiningWithoutConsent
#CorporateColonialism
#ChichilBiłdagoteel #RespectTheTreaties #HumanRights -
#ApacheStronghold at #MartinLutherKingJr's #MontgomeryAlabama Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
"We ask you to please keep us in your prayers as we move East to continue our prayer journey to the #SupremeCourt to stop the shattering of the human existence and to protect #MotherEarth. It’s time to wake up the people of this country to stop the desecration of all our spiritual connection to Mother Earth and #Usen (God)."
By Apache Stronghold, #CensoredNews, September 1, 2024
MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- "The Apache Stronghold made a stop on their Journey of Prayer to the Supreme Court in the city of Montgomery, Alabama, the birthplace of the civil rights movement and home of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. first served as a full-time pastor.
"This church and Dr. King played a central role in uniting the local community in the struggle against what King called the evils of #materialism, #militarism, and #racism.
"The Stronghold was reminded that in 2013, Dr. #WendslerNosieSr., in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, received the Presidential Award from the National Progressive Baptist Convention, becoming the first #NativeAmerican to receive the award.
"Dr. Nosie remembered how humbling it was that people in the East thought of him in the West and that these struggles for civil and human rights are connected to what this whole journey to the supreme court is all about.
"The struggle for freedom continues as Dr. Nosie reflected, 'It’s time to use all our combined voices for civil and human rights to fight for Mother Earth, the greatest gift God has given us.' So far on this journey we are happy to see that the churches are bringing in the importance of protecting Mother Earth. We have to make the air, the water, the earth a priority because we will only be able to stop the shattering of human existence by protecting God’s greatest gift, our Mother Earth."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/09/apache-stronghold-welcomed-at-martin.html#WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #EarthIsLife #SCOTUS
#SaveOakFlat #SanCarlosApache
#Arizona #ProtectOakFlat
#DefendTheSacred
#IndigenousActivism
#WaterIsLife #SacredSites #RecycleCopper
#MiningWithoutConsent
#ProtectTheSacred #CulturalGenocide #Ecocide #NativeAmericanNews
#NoMiningWithoutConsent
#CorporateColonialism
#ChichilBiłdagoteel #RespectTheTreaties #HumanRights -
#ApacheStronghold at #MartinLutherKingJr's #MontgomeryAlabama Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
"We ask you to please keep us in your prayers as we move East to continue our prayer journey to the #SupremeCourt to stop the shattering of the human existence and to protect #MotherEarth. It’s time to wake up the people of this country to stop the desecration of all our spiritual connection to Mother Earth and #Usen (God)."
By Apache Stronghold, #CensoredNews, September 1, 2024
MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- "The Apache Stronghold made a stop on their Journey of Prayer to the Supreme Court in the city of Montgomery, Alabama, the birthplace of the civil rights movement and home of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. first served as a full-time pastor.
"This church and Dr. King played a central role in uniting the local community in the struggle against what King called the evils of #materialism, #militarism, and #racism.
"The Stronghold was reminded that in 2013, Dr. #WendslerNosieSr., in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, received the Presidential Award from the National Progressive Baptist Convention, becoming the first #NativeAmerican to receive the award.
"Dr. Nosie remembered how humbling it was that people in the East thought of him in the West and that these struggles for civil and human rights are connected to what this whole journey to the supreme court is all about.
"The struggle for freedom continues as Dr. Nosie reflected, 'It’s time to use all our combined voices for civil and human rights to fight for Mother Earth, the greatest gift God has given us.' So far on this journey we are happy to see that the churches are bringing in the importance of protecting Mother Earth. We have to make the air, the water, the earth a priority because we will only be able to stop the shattering of human existence by protecting God’s greatest gift, our Mother Earth."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/09/apache-stronghold-welcomed-at-martin.html#WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #EarthIsLife #SCOTUS
#SaveOakFlat #SanCarlosApache
#Arizona #ProtectOakFlat
#DefendTheSacred
#IndigenousActivism
#WaterIsLife #SacredSites #RecycleCopper
#MiningWithoutConsent
#ProtectTheSacred #CulturalGenocide #Ecocide #NativeAmericanNews
#NoMiningWithoutConsent
#CorporateColonialism
#ChichilBiłdagoteel #RespectTheTreaties #HumanRights