Well said, sir. At the core of all this insane carnage is the belief that "my religion is the best and only legitimate religion."
The people fighting in the Middle East are cousins. They evolved from the same ancestors. The guilty parties are the religious leaders who claim their right to dominate and slaughter others in the name of their god. God does not exist. If I am wrong, then it is a vicious thing. No other explanation makes sense to me.
Bill, I don't comment much anymore, but I see you and read your comments to many of the authors I also subscribe to. I always learn something from your comments or replies to other subscribers, and I
just wanted to let you know I appreciate what you have to say--you have the words that I have somehow lost in all this chaos....
Thank you very much, Gus. It's good to know when my comments resonate. I have been struggling to write my own substack letters of late. I have been swallowed by the events of the day - the chaos, yes. And there is so much to read from authors like HCR, Hubble, Reich, Vance, Hartmann, Francis and the extremely creative and thoughtful Penfist.
I had been posting my own letter every couple of weeks. And I am working on a couple of ideas. But there is so much to digest right now. And I only allow myself so much screen time - reading or writing. Volunteer work, gardens to tend, books to read, family and dogs to enjoy - all beckon. I need the balance in this world gone mad.
Penfist, thank you for your thoughts on this tragedy. Fundamentalism is indeed evil. Once a dogma has been established, based on an interpretation of the holy texts of a particular religion, it becomes necessary to protect the purity of all that follows. For fundamentalists that means at all costs.
And yes, money is involved. Power and authority. Our god is better than yours, even if we have to kill you to protect "his'" almightyness....
(How dare we assign a gender to a Divine Being of any religion)?
Pen - you so aptly outline the countless times a widened perspective is exchanged for narrowly proscribed dictums. Toward the end you hit the nail on the head - " My heart is heavy, and I have no answers today. I do not have a solution to ridding the world of murderous zealots without becoming a murderous zealot myself. That is something I find myself unwilling to do.
. . . I see humanity failing to evolve. I weep. I weep for the victims of this and all the pointless violence around the world."
This was very good. Thanks for writing it!
Well said, sir. At the core of all this insane carnage is the belief that "my religion is the best and only legitimate religion."
The people fighting in the Middle East are cousins. They evolved from the same ancestors. The guilty parties are the religious leaders who claim their right to dominate and slaughter others in the name of their god. God does not exist. If I am wrong, then it is a vicious thing. No other explanation makes sense to me.
Bill, I don't comment much anymore, but I see you and read your comments to many of the authors I also subscribe to. I always learn something from your comments or replies to other subscribers, and I
just wanted to let you know I appreciate what you have to say--you have the words that I have somehow lost in all this chaos....
Thank you very much, Gus. It's good to know when my comments resonate. I have been struggling to write my own substack letters of late. I have been swallowed by the events of the day - the chaos, yes. And there is so much to read from authors like HCR, Hubble, Reich, Vance, Hartmann, Francis and the extremely creative and thoughtful Penfist.
I had been posting my own letter every couple of weeks. And I am working on a couple of ideas. But there is so much to digest right now. And I only allow myself so much screen time - reading or writing. Volunteer work, gardens to tend, books to read, family and dogs to enjoy - all beckon. I need the balance in this world gone mad.
Thank you for writing this! Thank you for the timeline!
Thank you.
This is truly the most informed, eloquent essay I've read during the past 3 days.
Penfist, thank you for your thoughts on this tragedy. Fundamentalism is indeed evil. Once a dogma has been established, based on an interpretation of the holy texts of a particular religion, it becomes necessary to protect the purity of all that follows. For fundamentalists that means at all costs.
And yes, money is involved. Power and authority. Our god is better than yours, even if we have to kill you to protect "his'" almightyness....
(How dare we assign a gender to a Divine Being of any religion)?
P.S. The timeline is extremely helpful!
You have expressed what I have been thinking but am not skilled enough to write. Thank you, Pen.
Pen - you so aptly outline the countless times a widened perspective is exchanged for narrowly proscribed dictums. Toward the end you hit the nail on the head - " My heart is heavy, and I have no answers today. I do not have a solution to ridding the world of murderous zealots without becoming a murderous zealot myself. That is something I find myself unwilling to do.
. . . I see humanity failing to evolve. I weep. I weep for the victims of this and all the pointless violence around the world."