JIHAD by David Arthur Walters at Amazon

David Arthur Walters presents an intellectually ambitious collection of essays, philosophical dialogues, and poetry that scrutinizes the intersections of statecraft, religious ethics, and modern warfare. Grounding contemporary geopolitics in historical and philosophical precedent, the work offers a rigorous critique of political hypocrisy and Western foreign policy while honoring the intellectual legacies of classical and medieval philosophy.

Key Themes & Analysis

• The Ethics of Duty and Conflict: The text contrasts classical ethical frameworks—such as Arjuna’s moral crisis in the Bhagavad Gita regarding duty and divine obligation—against modern military intervention. Verses depicting civilian suffering during the bombing campaign in Afghanistan bring immediate human gravity to abstract strategic doctrines.
• Geopolitical Satire and Critique: Through sharp commentary in essays like "Gurus of Terrorism," Walters dissects post-9/11 political rhetoric and crusade-era mentalities. The writings interrogate state-sanctioned violence, examining the gap between democratic rhetoric and geopolitical reality.
• Dialectical Discourse: Socratic-style exchanges, notably within "The Doomah Discourses," pit contrasting personas—an Iranian educator and an American veteran—against one another to debate the Israel-Palestine conflict, Western intervention, and monotheism without collapsing the discussion into simple binaries.
• Historical Reclamation: A central pillar of the work is its defense of medieval Islamic philosophy. Walters traces how polymaths such as al-Kindi, Avicenna, and Averroes preserved Classical Greek thought and developed empirical methods, laying the groundwork for European scholasticism and the Renaissance.

Literary Style & Assessment

Walters synthesizes classical erudition with acute political commentary. The prose is dense, demanding, and uncompromisingly analytical, appealing directly to readers of political philosophy, international history, and classical ethics. While the swift transitions between academic analysis, satirical polemics, and dramatic dialogue require close engagement, the overarching thematic commitment to intellectual honesty and humanistic critique binds the collection together effectively. The result is a sharp, multifaceted examination of institutional power and a timeless plea for historical awareness, 

EXCERPT

'Fighting For The Sake Of Fighting'

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the most valuable literary jewels of all time. It is a sanitized version of a lengthy archaic romance that presented heroes as rather unsavory characters. It should be considered in the context of the caste system as it stood at the time as well as the perennial human predicament. It may be denounced as immoral because its heroic warrior is provided with the ethic of a loaded gun. When there is an occasion to wage war, it must be waged, for the occasion is willed by the Lord. And do not worry about death, because only the body dies, not the immortal soul. A religious ground is presented for killing relatives; the homicides are justified by the Brahmins in the name of the Lord. Yet that need not be of concern to the warrior, who must in all events abide by the divine directives; that is, he must do his duty as illuminated by the priestly caste, and that is the moral of the great story. In other words, the warrior cast is created to wage war, and that is what warriors do; it is their duty to fight. That duty is a religious duty because as Swami Prabhupada explains, “Lord Krishna now directly says that Arjuna should fight for the sake of fighting because HE desires the battle.” 

ARJUNA: “Sin will overcome us if we slay such aggressors. Therefore it is not proper for us to kill the sons of Dhrtarastra and our friends. What should we gain, O Krsna, husband of the goddess of fortune, and how could we be happy by killing our own kinsmen? O Krishna, although these men, their hearts overtaken by greed, see no fault in killing one’s family or quarrelling with friends, why should we, who can see the crime of destroying a family, engage in these acts of sin? …. Alas, how strange it is that we are preparing to commit greatly sinful acts. Driven by desire to enjoy royal happiness, we are intent on killing our own kinsmen. Better for me if the sons of Dhrtarastra, weapons in hand, were to kill be unarmed and unresisting on the battlefield. Arjuna, have thus spoken on the battlefield, cast aside his bow and arrows and sat down on the chariot, his mind overwhelmed by grief. 

KRISHNA: The material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity is sure to come to an end; therefore fight, O descendant of Bharata…. One who has taken his birth is sure to die, and after death one is sure to take birth again. Therefore in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament…. O descendant of Bharata, he who dwells in the body can never be slain. Therefore you need not grieve for any living being. Considering your specific duty as a warrior, you should know that there is no better engagement for you than fighting on religious principles; and so there is no need for hesitation. O Partha, happy are the warriors to whom such fighting opportunities come unsought, opening for them the doors of the heavenly planets. If, however, you do not perform your religious duty of fighting, then you will certainly incur sins for neglecting your duties and thus lose your reputation as a fighter. People will always speak of your infamy, and for a respectable person, dishonor is worse than death…. Do thou fight for the sake of fighting, without considering happiness or distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat, and by doing so you shall never incur sin.” 

Quoted: Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (1989), translated and commented on by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada