[lit-ideas] Re: [Fwd: Re: The Soldier as Sacrificial Victim]
- From: John McCreery <mccreery@xxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 11:56:37 +0900
On 2005/08/11, at 21:45, Andy Amago wrote:
What you're basically saying is that society runs according to
myth; Joseph
Campbell's hero. In reality, soldiers rape and pillage and kill
innocents.
They are also only recently held in lower esteem.
An extraordinarily parochial view. In imperial China, military
officials were regarded as inferior to civilian officials for several
centuries. An ancient Chinese proverb says, “To make nails do not
waste good iron. To make soldiers do not waste good men.”
Also, in classic Hindu philosophy,
"In Purusha-Sukta of the Rig-Veda, there is reference to the division
of Hindu society into four classes. It is described there that the
Brahmanas [priests] came out of the face of the Lord, the Creator,
Kshatriyas [soldiers] from His arms, Vaisyas [merchants] from His
thighs, and the Sudras [commoners] from His feet."
Quote is from http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Caste_System/id/
22785, but there are plenty more to be found by Googling "Hinduism
four castes."
Cheers,
John McCreery
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