As the recent conflict in Gaza has escalated, I came across this video that tries to take a step back and look at a bigger picture of what has gone on over thousands of year on that land. Albeit, in a somewhat humorous and grotesque way, but it illustrates that the land has experienced a series of conquests in which all sides seem to believe that they are right, it is their land, and that it was given to them by God. I shared this video and comment on Facebook today to provide some of my thoughts on this and other conflicts going on today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-evIyrrjTTY
I don’t want to diminish the importance of self-defense and fighting for what’s right. But so many of the conflicts going on today have become so blurry that when you listen to either side, they BOTH are 100% convinced that they are “defending” their lands, their people, their way of life, etc. Yet it can’t possibly be true that both sides are defending something. Someone has to first aggress in order to have the opportunity to defend.
Maybe we should all be a little slower to lump people together into convenient groups at which we point fingers, accuse of such and such evil, in order to justify why we must use violence against them to right whatever wrong they have committed.
In the end, war is usually a means for politicians to get power, (central) bankers and mercenaries to get rich, and for the common man to pay for it all in blood and treasure. The beneficiaries of war go to great lengths to rile us commoners into getting excited to take part in it. They often wrap their persuasion up in “God’s will” and/or make calls for “patriotism”.
Perhaps patriotism is more like what Thomas Paine said, that it is our duty to protect the commoner from such scheming individuals. I believe we need more people who renounce war and proclaim peace. Who instead of accepting artificial labels given to groups of people who we are supposed to fight, look at the common humanity between all individuals and find opportunities to build bridges and lift one another up. Does this world really need another supporter of this war or that one? Maybe what this world needs is another supporter of peace. Just sayin’.
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