A Secular America's View of War
This clip of Michael Anton is made its way around Twitter recently. He explains that the last time we lost an aircraft carrier in battle was June 1942, in the Battle of Midway. The next one we lost was last year because it caught fire and the Navy failed to put out the fire.
This is all within the context of the Chinese acquiring the capability to destroy American aircraft carriers.
He goes on to make the point that 6,500 people serve on each carrier, more than 2x the number of lives lost on 9/11. His argument is that America is unprepared to combat a Chinese military takeover of Taiwan, both operationally and culturally; that Americans would not be able to stomach the human cost.
Maybe he’s right. 200x people have died from Covid in the US than 9/11 and we haven’t so much as sanctioned the Chinese. One key difference between the two, even of a possible invasion of Taiwan, is that it was the visceral imagery of those attacks that motivated the citizenry to go to war, not the body count.
I think there’s something else going on here though, something deeper. Why aren’t Americans willing to accept any loss of life? The surface level argument is the merit of the reward. The merit of defending Taiwan does not yield enough benefit to America to defend it militarily. Is that it?
The combination of America’s transformation into a secular nation and the miracle that is modern medicine has rendered us unwilling to accept any level of death in the pursuit or defense of any ends. Cartesian dualism has no place in a world in which there is no after life.
"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” — Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry’s famous quote from the Second Virginia Convention tells the whole story. There are some things worth dying for and life alone is not the only ends. If there were no afterlife, why would anyone choose death over life? Even in the most tyrannical, oppressive, unmerciful society, there would still be hope. For to die in a world with no afterlife would be akin to playing a single hand game of poker — you have no choice but to play.
There is only one other reason one would make the ultimate sacrifice. The sole reason one would fold their hand is because their exit may aid others at the table. We fight wars to protect our loved ones. Rather, we fight wars so our loved ones may still enjoy a life of peace, prosperity, and freedom.
So the question becomes, is that what our military is currently defending?