It wastes billions in corruption and mismanagement. But most of all, it constructs a technology whose goal is to intimidate and subdue people around the world and, if necessary, kill many of them so that their lands and labor can be better put at the disposal of rich owners and foreign investors. The manner of killing has been diluted by the technology-along with the sense of sin. When someone is killed on the street with a gun, it is called murder. Medals are awarded, flags are waved, and greater sums are voted for new weapons systems.
Aggressive war is called defense.
Imperialism is called maintaining our way of life. We need to expand our understanding of sin, and for that matter, virtue, moving from personal piety and interior experience to the realm of social evil and social virtue. They are fighting sin on a grand scale. Be it libraries, hospitals, schools, colleges, transit systems, or public retirement and disability plans, such services are living demonstration that important human needs can be met collectively in the public sector, without anyone making a profit from them. This is in direct conflict with capitalism itself, which is dedicated to organizing all human activities, all labor and all consumption, in such a way as to maximize the capital accumulation of the owning class.