The communal ritual requires the
individual to
step forward, swear allegiance, and state, “I am a …!”
In America, where there
is a volunteer army, the direct relationship between
an individual act and a communal ritual is strikingly clarified by
how well the relationship is masked. Consider: although
there exists a volunteer military—not universal
conscription as in many other countries—there is the bedrock communal
ritual act of registering for the military
draft.
In America, there is a “Peace
Time Draft.” Simply,
communal commitment to the Warrior’s Quest imagination and
its
ritual of endless warring is validated by the almost
silent and invisible act of registering for the
military draft.
Legally, every eighteen
year old male must register for the draft
under penalty of exile or imprisonment. More,
this registration is accomplished in most states while the individual
is signing his driver’s license application.
In brief, most Americans do not know about
the somewhat invisible driver’s license/draft registration
link, nor do many believe that a military draft system is currently
active.
While the Selective Service System is not operational
in terms of drafting individuals, it is absolutely active in
terms of obtaining registration cards from every eligible male. In
this way, the SSS ensures that every eighteen year
old male enacts the cultural ritual of
registration that makes present the Warrior’s Quest vision
and imagination. See Selective Service
System website.
Continue—Ritual Living
