Warriorship

The word “warrior” gets overused.  The task of a warrior is to wage war. This definition is in the word.  War, by definition, involves the use of real or threatened violence.  At its worst, it involves cutting of arms, legs, heads; stabbing, burning, crushing; often it is accompanied, historically, by rape and pillage, the world over, including, of course, by American Indians (some of whom included ritual torture as well).

There is nothing beautiful in war, except to the extent that waging it successfully prevents some other group from doing to your group what you wind up doing to them.  This is the actual, as opposed to the glorified, history.

Overcoming fear, hunger, privations of all sorts: this is of course useful.  But we need a different word.  In my view, rather than making such things heroic, we need–in some future form of our social order–to expect them.  To be a member of a social order is to have faced down such challenges.  As Dan Millman wrote, approximately, the goal is not to be superior in an ordinary world, but ordinary in a superior world.

One day, perhaps a “peaceful warrior” will simply be friend, brother, or neighbor. 

That’s the best I can do for now.  I’m still working on a preferred word.   Ascetic is in the neighborhood, but not quite right.