Sunday, September 14, 2014

Syria, Iraq: Will the Killing Never End?


Yesterday, there was news of yet another beheading by ISIS.

Will the killing never end? I wonder.

A priest told me that these current events are nothing new, that these have been going on for centuries. There has always been evil, he said.  And we talked about what happened during World War II and the holocaust, and we remembered the days of slavery, and we referred to bible accounts of ferocious fighting.


The difference, he said, is the media. Now, news is immediate and graphic. Whereas in the past, people may have heard of atrocities, now we see these atrocities virtually played out in front of us.

The other notion this priest suggested is the level of development and education of people, and how a large percent of people lack these. Again I had to agree with him. (More on this, some other time.)

So, this Sunday morning, I ask myself what can I do? While these awful events are going on around me, what can I -- me, this human being occupying this space in this world do?

 I have to think about this question some more, but off the cuff, I'd say that: I pray, and I try to use my writing to inform people, to educate them even just a little bit and even as I try to entertain them.

But I will admit, dear Readers, that if pressed, I too can be ignoble. We react, we human beings. Even though we can reason, our emotions can dominate. We are so limited.

For now, like the woman in the statue in the Louvre, I weep inwardly for all the carnage.
~~
 The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.” 
 Albert Einstein

 The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” 
 Edmund Burke

Read also
Song to lift your spirit
Iraq, Syria War: Muslims Condemn ISIS

Tags: war, beheading, ISIS, Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, Africa, Israel, Gaza, Foley, Sotloff, Haines

This is all for now,
Cecilia


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