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THE MYTH OF REDEMPTIVE VIOLENCE BY WALTER WINK

Original: https://www2.goshen.edu/~joannab/women/wink99.pdf

Description:

  • Walter Wink's analysis of the pervasiveness of the belief that violence saves and brings peace in Western culture.
  • Discussion on how this belief is rooted in ancient mythology and perpetuated through modern media, particularly cartoons.

The Myth of Redemptive Violence:

  • Belief that violence saves and war brings peace
  • Enshrines the idea that might makes right
  • Oldest continuously repeated story in the world
  • Seems inevitable and necessary in conflicts
  • Functions as a god, demanding absolute obedience

The Religious Character of Violence:

  • Overlooked aspect of violence's dominance in society
  • Demands an absolute obedience-unto-death from its devotees

Observations on Children's Programming:

  • Cartoons perpetuate the mythic pattern of redemptive violence
  • Indestructible hero vs. irreformable villain
  • Hero suffers, appears doomed, then miraculously vanquishes villain
  • No insight or learning from encounters
  • Violence never solves underlying issues

Examples:

  • Popeye and Bluto: Bluto abducts Olive Oyl; Popeye is beaten but consumes spinach to gain power and defeat Bluto

Connection to Ancient Mythology:

  • Cartoon pattern mirrors the Babylonian creation story (Enuma Elish) from around 1250 BCE
  • Repeated battles between gods, no resolution or learning
  • Violence used to restore order but doesn't address underlying issues

FROLICKING GODS

Babylonian Myth: Creation through Violence

  • In the beginning, Apsu and Tiamat give birth to the gods.
    • Apsu: father god.
    • Tiamat: mother god.
  • Younger gods make noise, elder gods plan to kill them.
  • Younger gods discover plot, kill Apsu.
  • Tiamat vows revenge.
  • Gods seek salvation from Marduk, youngest member.

Marduk's Bargain and Triumph over Tiamat

  • Marduk demands chief power in exchange for defeating Tiamat.
  • Catches Tiamat in a net.
  • Drives an evil wind down her throat.
  • Shoots arrow bursting her belly and piercing her heart.
  • Splits her skull with a club.
  • Scatters her blood in out-of-the-way places.
  • Stretches out her corpse, creates cosmos from it.

Symbolism of Evil: Chaos Precedes Order

  • Paul Ricoeur's observation: order established through disorder.
  • Tiamat symbolizes chaos.
  • Marduk represents order and high god of Babylon.
  • Evil precedes good.
  • Gods are violent.

Biblical Myth: Creation without Violence

  • Genesis 1 developed in Babylon during Jewish captivity as a rebuttal to the Babylonian myth.
  • Good God creates good creation.
  • Chaos does not resist order.
  • Good is prior to evil.
  • Violence and evil enter later due to free decisions by creatures (first couple's sin, serpent's connivance).

Key Concepts:

  • Babylonian myth: creation through violence.
  • Paul Ricoeur: order established through disorder.
  • Biblical myth: good God creates good creation.
  • Violence emerges as a problem requiring solution.

SIMPLICITY

Myth of Simplicity and the Babylonian Myth of Creation:

  • The Babylonian myth presents a primordial fact of violence as a means to create cosmic order.
  • This myth spread widely, influencing cultures in Syria, Phoenicia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Germany, Ireland, India, and China.
  • A male war god defeats a female divine being (monster or dragon) to establish cosmic order.
  • The feminine element is suppressed, reflecting the social order of men ruling over women and people.

Cosmic Order and Human Origin:

  • After creating the world, gods complain about poor meal service.
  • Marduk and Ea execute a captive god, from whose blood they create human beings as servants to the gods.
  • Humans are created from the blood of a murdered god, implying our origin is violence and killing is in our genes.
  • Humanity is not the originator of evil but perpetuates it.
  • Our origins are divine, but we are the outcome of deicide.

Religion, Power, and Order:

  • The king, as Marduk's representative on earth, imposes order through violence against enemies.
  • Politics arises within the divine sphere itself.
  • Salvation is politics: masses identify with god of order against chaos, offering themselves for Holy War.
  • Religion legitimates power and privilege.
  • Life is combat; any form of order is preferable to chaos.

Core Convictions:

  • Peace through war, security through strength.
  • Ours is not a perfect nor perfectible world; it's a theatre of perpetual conflict where the prize goes to the strong.
  • The gods favor those who conquer, and whoever conquers must have their favor.
  • The common people exist to perpetuate the advantage that the gods have conferred upon the king, aristocracy, and priesthood.

Myth of Redemptive Violence:

  • This myth is the story of the victory of order over chaos through violence.
  • It's the ideology of conquest and original religion of the status quo.

DOMINANT MYTH

Dominant Myth: The Babylonian Myth and Redemptive Violence in Contemporary America

The Babylonian myth, with its themes of redemptive violence, is a dominant myth in contemporary American culture. It enshrines the practice of violence at the heart of public life, and is present in various forms in children's cartoons, media, sports, nationalism, militarism, foreign policy, televangelism, religious right, and self-styled militia groups.

Structure of Children's Cartoons

  • Identification with the good guy: children identify with the hero to think of themselves as good
  • Projection of inner tendencies onto the villain: repressed anger, violence, rebelliousness, or lust
  • Vicarious enjoyment of evil: viewers enjoy their own evil by watching the villain prevail initially
  • Catharsis: villain's punishment provides relief and allows viewers to reassert control over their inner tendencies
  • Salvation through identification with the hero: viewers feel good about themselves after the hero wins

The Babylonian Myth: Marduk and Tiamat

  • Marduk subdues Tiamat through violence
  • Chaos continually reasserts itself, kept at bay by battles and festivals
  • Theologian Willis Elliott's observation: "Whoever controls the cosmogony controls the children"

Impact of Redemptive Violence Myth

  • Simplistic depiction of evil: oriented towards externalizing evil
  • Socialization into dominator society: children tend to scapegoat others for all that is wrong in the world
  • Dependence on group identification and social norms for a sense of well-being
  • Extensive and effective religious indoctrination: children spend more time with media than with religious institutions

Impact on Children

  • Average child logs 36,000 hours of television by age 18, viewing some 15,000 murders
  • Church or synagogue cannot keep pace with the myth of redemptive violence in hours spent teaching children or quality of presentation.

NO RIVAL

Myth of Redemptive Violence

  • The myth of redemptive violence is a religious system that has deeply influenced Western culture, particularly in its portrayal of violence as the ultimate solution to conflicts.
  • Children are exposed to this myth from an early age through various forms of media.
  • Exposure to the myth continues into adulthood through television and movies.
  • Not all media is violent, but the combat myth underlies much adult entertainment.
  • Adults turn to violent media as a means of escaping reality.

Impact on Children

  • Children are exposed to an excessive amount of violence from a young age.
  • The transition from adolescence to adulthood does not involve a rite of passage away from violent media.
  • Children are increasingly exposed to explicit and sexually sadistic violence through "video nasties" and other adult content.
  • Many children's first introduction to sex comes from watching violence in these videos.
  • Reality often imitates the fantasy violence portrayed in media.

Characteristics of Modern Violence

  • Redemptive violence gives way to violence as an end in itself.
  • The age-old confrontation of good versus evil is replaced by sadistic enjoyment of evil.
  • Violence becomes an addictive high and a substitute for relationships.

Conclusion

  • The myth of redemptive violence has deeply influenced Western culture, particularly in its portrayal of violence as the ultimate solution to conflicts.
  • Children are exposed to this myth from an early age and continue into adulthood.
  • Modern violence goes beyond redemption and becomes an end in itself, leading to desensitization and imitation in real life.

Walter Wink is Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City. Among his many publications are The Bible in Huma

Walter Wink

  • Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City
  • Published numerous works, including:
    • "The Bible in Human Transformation"
    • "Powers Trilogy"

Achievements and Recognition

  • Award-winning author

Publications

  • "The Bible in Human Transformation"
    • Unspecified details about this publication
  • "Powers Trilogy"
    • Three-part series, specific titles not mentioned

Institutions and Affiliations

  • Auburn Theological Seminary
    • Location: New York City
    • Position: Professor of Biblical Interpretation