Dissent from the Homeland

Dissent from the Homelandis a book about patriotism, justice, revenge, American history and symbology, art and terror, and pacifism. In this deliberately and urgently provocative collection, noted writers, philosophers, literary critics, and theologians speak out against the war on terrorism and the government of George W. Bush as a response to the events of September 11, 2001. Critiquing government policy, citizen apathy, and societal justifications following the attacks, these writers present a wide range of opinions on such issues as contemporary American foreign policy and displays of patriotism in the wake of the disaster.Whether illuminating the narratives that have been used to legitimate the war on terror, reflecting on the power of American consumer culture to transform the attack sites into patriotic tourist attractions, or insisting that to be a Christian is to be a pacifist, these essays refuse easy answers. They consider why the Middle East harbors a deep-seated hatred for the United States. They argue that the U.S. drive to win the cold war made the nation more like its enemies, leading the government to support ruthless anti-Communist tyrants such as Mobutu, Suharto, and Pinochet. They urge Americans away from the pitfall of national self-righteousness toward an active peaceableness-an alert, informed, practiced state of being-deeply contrary to both passivity and war. Above all, the essays assembled inDissent from the Homelandare a powerful entreaty for thought, analysis, and understanding. Originally published as a special issue of the journalSouth Atlantic Quarterly, Dissent from the Homelandhas been expanded to include new essays as well as a new introduction and postscript.fromDissent from the Homeland:"An economy based on waste is inherently and hopelessly violent, and war is its inevitable by-product. We need a peaceable economy."-Wendell Berry, conservationist, farmer, essayist, novelist, and poet"rs"God Bless Americars" is not a hymn any Christian can or should sing. At least it is not a hymn any Christian can or should sing unless it is understood that Godrs"s blessing incurs Godrs"s judgement."-Stanley Hauerwas"The hardest thing in the world is to know how to act so as to make the difference thatcanbe made; to know how and why that differs from the act that only releases or expresses the basic impotence of resentment."-Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury"[I]t is instructive to step away for a moment and to deny that it is natural and self-explanatory for masses of people to be devastated by catastrophe in which they have lost no one they know, in a place with which they have no particular connections. Is nationality really such a natural function of human or even social being? . . . [I]s pity or sympathy really so innate a feature of the human constitution?"-Fredric Jameson"America is threatened by the most powerful enemy in its history, the administration of George W. Bush."-Frank LentricchiaContributors.Srinivas Aravamudan, Michael J. Baxter, Jean Baudrillard, Robert N. Bellah, Daniel Berrigan, Wendell Berry, Vincent J. Cornell, David James Duncan, Stanley Hauerwas, Fredric Jameson, Frank Lentricchia, Catherine Lutz, Jody McAuliffe, John Milbank, Peter Ochs, Donald E. Pease, Anne R. Slifkin, Rowan Williams, Susan Willis, Slavoj Zizek