Good People Unite

Interesting to see ‪#‎WhoIsMuhammad‬ trending on Twitter - a man who would smile if mocked (so presumably would have done so at the Charlie Hebdo cartoons), promoted respect for women and education and purportedly tolerated people of all races and creeds - to the extent that, when asked why he stood at the passing of a coffin for a Jew, he replied "Was he not a human being?". Regardless of where you think he stands in terms of salvation, these look like the marks of a good Teacher at the very least - why don't the extreme Islamists get this? Hoping these positive messages might lead to the unity between religions we've seen in France.

The mistake of the peaceful majority in the past was to remain silent - they're not doing so now and we should all promote peace - loudly!

Good / Grief

Last night's episode of Channel 4's 'Astronauts: Living in Space' reminded me of two of my earlier posts, One Earth - Why are we Squabbling over it? and A Look at Conflict: How Long can you hold a Grudge?

Our world is a complete miracle, but one of contrasts - Hot. Cold. High. Low. Dry. Wet. Beautiful. Dangerous.  And, at the building block level, Positive and Negative - the analogies we also use to describe our outlook.

I naturally incline towards the positive - I don't like to think that it's a freaky coincidence that the moon, although much smaller and closer, happens to fit exactly the size of our giant sun during an eclipse.  Or that it influences the Earth's tides so that our oceans and rivers cleanse themselves.  I marvel at the sheer distances in the Universe ... it blows my mind that we talk in terms of millions of light years, when I can barely get my head around the sun's rays taking only 8 minutes to cover the nearly 100 million miles to get to us.

Pondering stuff like this transcends the suffocating humdrum of daily life and puts a toe in the waters of spirituality - something beyond ourselves.  Call it what you will - Consciousness. Faith. Awareness. One-ness.  But I'd rather believe that there's a purpose to our existence than accept it as a happy accident.  And, for me, that's worth preserving.

So give me Love & Peace over Hate & War any day.  Easy and sensible choice, right?  Yet why is the world in political turmoil?  Surely everyone would prefer to live in Utopian harmony?

This is where the intangibles kick in - like emotion and sentiment.  Because it's not about who's Right or Wrong - principles are only as valuable as the best orator.  It's about whether the intent is Good or Evil.

If you believe nothing else, know that these forces are real and as viable as anything physical.  History points to the evidence.  We're not just organisms - we have the capacity to grasp this concept of positive and negative and, in my view, are an integral part of the cosmic machinations of working it through.  Science confirms that there's a constant dance going on between the two - for every action, a reaction.  A state of flux.  But if one were ever to prevail over the other, there would be a fundamental shift in the order of things.  Maybe then the Unknown will manifest itself ...

You better get on your knees and pray that the victor is Good, folks - it's gonna be a trippy ride.  In the meantime, play nice and delight in our beautiful planet.

A Look at Conflict: How Long can you Hold a Grudge?

History at school bored me - I'd rather have been told loads of interesting stories than to have to keep going over a select few on the curriculum, with the emphasis on our ability to commit dates and people to memory.  There were reference books for that if you needed them, although I appreciate you need a broad grasp of chronology to know where to look.  It was only later in life, after coming to Europe and seeing firsthand the wonderful landmarks I'd only ever heard about, that I realised there was something of historical importance on virtually every corner and my natural inquisitiveness took over - someone famous may once have passed there or over here is the site of a significant building or event.

I understand that our diverse cities and cultures wouldn't exist were it not for the blood, sweat and tears of previous generations - and it's important to historically preserve both our physical achievements and the memory of those who accomplished or protected them - but when it comes to continually reminding ourselves of the religious or political motivation behind CONFLICT, shadows remain cast over many generations and tracing back grudges becomes increasingly convoluted and unreliable.  You only have to look at the scholarly accounts of the Napoleonic wars to realise how events can be interpreted so differently in a relatively short period of time.

In my simplistic view, this becomes an obstacle to current (and hence future) world inhabitants being able to strive towards harmony - wherever they were born or whatever their domicile today.   It would be great just to be able to say "Let's just have a 'Day Zero', a point of mutual forgiveness, whereafter you should try to live peaceably with your neighbours from wherever you are right now".  But that wouldn't be fair to the living ancestors of those born in exile, longing to be reunited with their loved ones ... unless there was the further will to remove the very territorial borders that caused the squabbles in the first place.  We should all be free to tread broadly anywhere on this shared globe.

Or is it actually worth it, for the sake of future generations, for this one generation of misplaced tribes to just suck it up and endure the heartache of separation from kin or homeland to allow its offspring a real shot at a new beginning? - to start their lives without being indoctrinated into hating the enemies of their forefathers and rather to be taught to truly love their new neighbours?

A kid is a kid to a kid.  Is it right that past disagreements should continue to blight new lives to the extent that some have never known an existence without conflict?  It's worth noting that, by the end of the '100 Years War', the original protagonists were long dead. What would the world degenerate into if no-one knew better than kill or be killed? We may as well have never strayed from the caves.

If an aggressor seeks to breach the peace, they should face immediate prosecution for the very first crime committed in their name - why should anyone be above the laws to which the rest of us are expected to conform (including those for inciting violence)?  There shouldn't be degrees of looting and harm to another individual, depending on whether you're 'A. Citizen' or the leader of a country.

One thing I know for sure - we shouldn't dwell on past grievances, except to learn valuable lessons about how we can create a better, peaceful future.  People quip "Never forget where you buried the hatchet".  I disagree - I say "Melt it down - make a monument of it if you like - but burn the handle".

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” (Mandela)

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind" (Gandhi)