For the Greater Good: Masada and the Wisdom of Chimpanzees

A friend of mine has been in a new relationship for a few months now. His girlfriend has moved north from the south of England and he, like me, is an outsider who has come to live in Cheshire. He is obviously spending time showing her the sights of Cheshire and Manchester. The other day they visited Chester Zoo, it sounds like they had a good time.

While we were chatting he told me about the different monkey enclosures, particularly a group of Chimpanzee’s. Now the name for a group of chimpanzee’s is a “congress”. My friend observed himself, the chimpanzee’s and the other people there that day and said it was like sitting in an AA meeting. He noticed a couple of elders who seemed to be getting on quite well. The zoo keeper spoke with him and said that the day before the two old timers were screaming at each other, but had made up today. She said that the reason that they do not carry their arguments into the next day is that they know that the congress needed them to put aside their differences for the greater good, that it could not function if they were at war with each other. So they put aside their personal wants and needs for the greater good.

Oh if only we humans could be that wise and see the wider view, give up our small little grievances and live for the greater good. Maybe that’s something to work towards this Lenten season. If we are going to make any personal sacrifice this year, maybe we should put aside our personal grievances and move towards building a human “congress” for the greater good of all.

We seem to be living in ever dividing and divided times, this is something that troubles me deeply. Violence also appears to be on the increase, both here and in other lands. I was deeply shocked by the death, by stabbing, of the young man in Hale Barns last Saturday. Apparently, it was due to a turf war. Knife crime is something that young people have to face increasingly. Not that violence, or the glorifying of it, is anything new, sadly it has always been with us. Thank god that we do not have a gun culture in this land and our young people do not have to face what the school children in the USA have to. Surely of all the freedoms we cherish, the one not to be killed trumps all others.

As I look back at my time in Israel – Palestine I think one of the saddest sights I saw was that of teenagers in army uniform with machine guns. Yes our young people have their troubles but compared to many in other lands it is not on the same scale.

I see no glory in violence and yet so many of our "heroes" have lived by it. During the last century society seems to particularly glorified gangster culture, from Al Capone, to “The Krays”, “The Godfather”, “Scarface” and or in recent times “Peaky-Blinders”. Is there really glory in violence towards others, just to get your own way or protect your “patch”.

I would much rather hold up those who promote none violence. What was it Jesus said on “The Sermon on the Mount” “Blessed are the Peace-makers, for they shall be called children of God”. Aren’t we all children of God? Aren’t we all from the one tribe of life? If only we could be as wise as that congress of Chimpanzees at Chester Zoo and put aside our personal squabbles for the greater good.

Glorifying violence is not a new thing by the way. I remember as a child I loved films like “The Alamo”, “Khartoum”, “55 Days in Peking” and the mini series “Masada”. Now I lacked the understanding of what these historical events were really about, instead I got caught up in the pomp and ceremony like most young boys. So I do get what these young people experience, although I was never violent myself as a boy and teenager. Committing violence has always felt deeply unnatural to me, I thank God for that.

“Masada” and the heroic defense and sacrifice that its mythos has portrayed is one story that has stayed with me over the years, which is why I so wanted to visit it during my recent trip to Israel - Palestine. We set off very early one morning and drove their and began the long walk as they day awakened. We had planned to get there for sunrise but didn’t quite make it. It was long walk to the summit, it really took it out on the calves. Something I noticed all week, I am too use to the flatlands of Cheshire. We reached the top and took in the ruins and attempted to empathise with those brave souls who had fought off the Roman legions for so long, until they chose to sacrifice themselves instead of being captured.

Masada is said to have fallen on 16th April 63CE. Its "mythos has risen to enormous symbolic importance in Jewish history, particularly since the Holocaust and the creation of the state of Israel. The story did not have the same importance in early Jewish history as it was considered controversial due to the nature of its mass suicide, forbidden in Jewish law. The story survived because of its recording by the historian Josepheus.

The inhabitants of Masada, from the rebellious Zealot sect known as the Sicarli held out the Romans for months but in the end facing starvation and or capture into slavery they chose mass suicide. Lots were drawn and ten took the lives of the other 950 and one took the lives of the other nine, before taking his own life. It is said that when the Romans finally found them they were deeply disturbed by what they saw. It was a strange feeling walking round the ruins and soaking up the history and atmosphere.

As we travelled down from the summit of Masada, this time in the cable car, I thought of another example of self-sacrifice for the greater good that I had visited last summer with Sue. This was the village of Eyam in Derbyshire, just three miles from Great Hucklow. Another powerful story I remember from my childhood. Eyam is known as the “plague village”. It was the village that basically quarantined itself during the plague of the seventeenth century. It cut itself off from all the surrounding villages so as not the spread the plague that had arrived on cloth from London. Of the 350 village inhabitants only 83 survived. Incredibly one of the survivors was the grave digger. This is a powerful example of self sacrifice for the greater good. That said it is not one that is glorified in the same way as Masada and I did not buy a hat saying “Eyam” on it when I visited, as I did at Masada.

Sacrifice is heralded as one of the great human qualities and it is certainly the theme of Lent, that we have now entered. That said sacrifice can at times lead to all kinds of destruction and is not always for the greater good at all.

One story that has become central to the three monotheistic traditions is that of Abraham and Isaac. It is found at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis, when it is thought that God is working out his relationship with man. It is a story that makes little sense in any literal way for we who live in the 21st century. And yet there are universal themes if we pay close attention. It portrays moments of truth, something we all face and unavoidable decisions that must be made within these moments. There are lessons about paying attention and not being too focused on your perceived mission. There are lessons about the dangers of sacrificing others for your perceived view of what is right. Ultimately I discover a lesson about the sanctity of all human life, but maybe that is just my eyes.

It is a story about sacrifice in a religious sense, as it is about Abraham’s willingness to give up his son to prove his fealty to God. Sacrifice is generally seen as act of giving up something of great value for something considered to be of greater, perhaps of ultimate value. Sacrifice I suppose is about giving up something personal for a greater good. What is so horrific about the Abraham and Isaac story is that he is willing to give up his son to prove his obedience to God. Now of course in the end he does not, God intervenes and he passes the test. What a cruel test and yet it is a story and test that is central to all three of the great Abrahamic faiths “Judaism, Christianity and Islam.”

How many from all three traditions have being willing to sacrifice others for what they see as obedience to what they understand is God’s will? By the way such action is not limited to monotheism or even religion. How many people have been willing to sacrifice others for what they see as the greater good? The last century is littered with such examples.

This brings to mind a story I was recently told. “A warrior stands before three seated men, a king, a high priest and a rich man. The king says, “I command you to kill these other two men for the good of the realm.” The high priest says, “I command you to kill these other two men in the name of God.” The rich man with bags of gold at his feet says, “I command you to kill these other two men and I will give you all this gold if you do it.”

Which one did he choose?

Well it depends on the warrior. Could he walk away and obey none? Maybe instead he listened to the beat of his own heart and for once refused the command for violence. Abraham did not take his sons life. Instead he was awake enough to hear that voice that I believe never stops speaking if we could just listen to it. Sadly too often we are closed off to empathy for one another and somehow justify violence for one reason or another, or sometimes none at all.

I believe that at the heart of The Unitarian tradition is the principle that we do not follow anyone or anything blindly, to test what we are told and make wise decisions, not only for ourselves but also for the greater good. Our tradition teaches the importance of listening to the heart but also to discern what is the compassionate thing to do.

There is a form of sacrifice to which I believe we ought to be adhering, that is to live beyond our narrow selves and do only what enhances life and to think of creating a human congress, like those chimpanzees.

So let’s look for the great examples all around us and attempt to live our lives by them. Those from the past and those from the present. Let’s not glorify violence in any form, lets instead hold up as the great example those whose work was doing good, not merely for themselves, but for the good of all.