War in Iraq--frustration signal or not?

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Recently, I received some feedback from a fellow Choice Theorist regarding a past listing at this site. This individual ended our communication asking my perception about the war in Iraq. Rather than offer my limited view point, I thought I'd toss the question to the masses.

What is your perception of the war in Iraq from a Choice Theory viewpoint?

-- Ted Donato (tdonato@toppenish.wednet.edu), March 18, 2003

Answers

Everything we do in RT/CT is an attempt to help people sort out conflicts. We strive to replace the External Control Psychology of the world's "common sense" with Choice Theory. We believe in the importance of relationships and are extremely careful with anything that might put these in jeopardy. We believe that criticizing, threatening, hurting are all opposite to Choice Theory. Does any of this sound like war?

"Since there will be no one left to talk peace after the next war, it makes good sense to break with tradition and hold the peace conference first." -- Glasser 1984

I remember reading somewhere a long time ago that "violence is the last resort of the incompetent" apparently penned by Issac Asimov. I take "incompetent" here to indicate that the one who resorts to violence did not know of any other options or was not allowed to use any other options. Certainly in therapy when we encounter someone who is considering violence we tend to do everything in our power to help them find more effective options. If you yourself have been attacked viciously it may be more difficult to keep thinking in this way. For me the clearest summary of the problems of choosing violence comes from a man who somehow kept his head in spite of the aggression he saw around him.

"Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. The chain reaction of evil – hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars – must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation." Martin Luther King (Strength to Love-Fontana 1969)

B Lennon

-- B Lennon (blennon@indigo.ie), March 19, 2003.


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