Convictions and Biases

From the Swietlistej Drogi Tarot, the Emperor; from Mirrors of the Heart, 'Night:'

          Looking at this Emperor's soldiers, I question whether he's more interested in protecting his people or in being 'Number One' among nations. While 75% of Americans consider themselves to be Christian, I wonder how many of them know the historical early stance on war taken by this faith?

St. Augustine (354–430), the most important theologian in the first thousand years of Christianity, developed “just war” theology—the conditions under which Christians may support war. The criteria fell into two categories: the justification for going to war and just conduct in war. For the former, the war had to be one of self-defense and last resort. Starting a war was prohibited. Just conduct in war meant acting as humanely as possible, including not deliberately harming noncombatants. (Convictions, Marcus Borg)

The Night card made me think of the wisdom often given to people struggling to make a decision: 'sleep on it.' Researchers are beginning to find that there is actual science behind this suggestion. As John M. Grohol explains, "The primary difference is that in unconscious thought, the usual biases that are a part of our conscious thinking are absent. In unconscious thought, we weigh the importance of the components that make up our decision more equally, leaving our preconceptions at the door of consciousness." Leaving out those biases is something that Emperor might want to work on.