Deniers of “The Truth”: Why an Agnostic Approach to Warfare is Key
Deniers of “The Truth”: Why an Agnostic Approach to Warfare is Key by LTC Grant M. Martin, U.S. Army in Military Review
I will never forget the day I ate lunch with a retired chaplain and his son in Leavenworth, Kansas in 2008. At one point an acquaintance of the chaplain’s walked up to him in the restaurant and shared with him his opinion of the School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS).
“They are deniers of The Truth,” he proclaimed, and went on to describe the school’s sin: the instructors encouraged students to question their most fundamental beliefs. At the time I thought it curious that someone would apply a religious attitude to the study of the military arts. After my first few months at the school, however, I realized that as one questioned one’s assumptions about the nature of war it was only natural that one would also start to question other assumptions about life, God, and everything. Critical thinking was difficult to limit to just one subject.
Amazingly, there were even more officers uncomfortable with questioning their fundamental assumptions about warfare. Today I realize that SAMS could only do so much in introducing different ways to approach the subject…
