(U-WIRE) -There are ideas and ideologies at war across the globe -from the conflicts in the Middle East to the election year conflicts in American homes. While these wars are vastly different from situation to situation, one constant can be seen in them all -it is futile to use force to oppose an idea.
Ideology is stronger than any army -it is deeply rooted in the psyche of those who adhere to it, and no amount of military action, oppression or legislation can remove it from a people.
A clear example of the clashes of ideologies and armies is the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Both claim the same land and believe that their right to it is absolute -the same ideology, based in religion, but held by different groups. The Israeli region has been locked in conflict since the modern nation of Israel was founded in 1948, with both sides uselessly throwing soldiers and civilians into the fray, each unable to shatter the beliefs of the other.
There are other conflicts of ideology, less well-known but held with equal passion, being fought with equal or greater force and brutality around the world. There are, however, other ideological wars, some within the United States itself. These wars usually do not involve loss of life, or even direct confrontations, but they still are passionately and futilely fought.
One such war is raging about the right of gay couples to marry. Many people believe that the United States guarantees certain rights to all of its people, and that the right to marriage -or equal representation under the law -is one of these rights. The opposition argues that marriage should be defined as being between a man and a woman, for various practical and religious reasons. These two strong ideologies each have support within the government, but the legislation that has been proposed is the same futile resistance against ideas with force -in this case, the force of law.
These, and countless other conflicts -violent, legal, or otherwise -worldwide cannot be resolved; ideological warfare can have no winners. Even if one side is forced to abandon its fight, not even the horrors of genocide can eliminate a thought, a belief, an ideology from the face of the earth -it will live on in writing, in tradition or in history -and it will resurface.
Victor Hugo, in his History of a Crime
wrote, An invasion of armies can be resisted but not an idea whose time has come. His words reinforce this point: no army is stronger than a strongly held idea. Ideological change can only result from a mutual desire to discuss rather than preach, and compromise rather than kill.
Only once the warring factions realize this and commit themselves to finding a solution will any progress be made.
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