The following passage is a short essay I wrote the other day. It came out quite well, and I thought it would be a good conversation starter here. I think the message is one that historical figures such as Gandhi and Jesus tried to convey, but it is perhaps too often overlooked by intellectual types.
I hear a lot of people whining. Israel is bombing innocent civilians, the United States is bombing innocent civilians, welfare is bombing innocent civilians, gas prices, food prices, too many low-quality products, too many overpriced luxury products, too much apathy, too many protesters, no one thinking of the children, not enough cowbell. Humanity seems to be pulling itself in a million different directions.
Everyone has an agenda. Everyone wants to change the world; and the ends justify the means to most. The concept of a war to end all wars, despite what history tells us, is still very popular. There is always some kind of religious justification for it, too. Fundamentalist Christians are fulfilling the prophecies of the end times, and fundamentalist Muslims are standing in solidarity to eliminate the Great Satan. More frighteningly, moderates use religion to justify their agendas. The evils in the world must be stopped because it is our moral imperative to vanquish them, they say. The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Convinced of their righteousness, they march out to do battle for God.
Here is the dilemma of any noble warrior: Hitler killed six million Jews trying to make the world a better place. The United States invaded Iraq partially in defense of the same Iraqi people who, in the majority, felt more secure under their brutal dictator Saddam Hussein. The valiant crusaders and missionaries of history have been harbingers of death and disease.
The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, they say. The more we try to improve the world, it seems, the worse we make it. I wonder, what if we all spontaneously stopped? What if we suddenly no longer felt the moral imperative to invade India and save the poor heathens from themselves? Perhaps it would change the world for the better. No more wars. No more blindly groping at the toothpicks in the eyes of our neighbors; first, we take the logs out of our own.
Of course, it is the nature of humanity to miss the point. There will always be social friction, and people will always feel the need to forcibly eliminate it. Politicians will rise to power and inconvenience the people they represent because they think they know better for society. Armies will sanctimoniously cross borders in the name of the very innocent lives they are ending. At least I will offer what little help I can by staying out of it.
I hear a lot of people whining. Israel is bombing innocent civilians, the United States is bombing innocent civilians, welfare is bombing innocent civilians, gas prices, food prices, too many low-quality products, too many overpriced luxury products, too much apathy, too many protesters, no one thinking of the children, not enough cowbell. Humanity seems to be pulling itself in a million different directions.
Everyone has an agenda. Everyone wants to change the world; and the ends justify the means to most. The concept of a war to end all wars, despite what history tells us, is still very popular. There is always some kind of religious justification for it, too. Fundamentalist Christians are fulfilling the prophecies of the end times, and fundamentalist Muslims are standing in solidarity to eliminate the Great Satan. More frighteningly, moderates use religion to justify their agendas. The evils in the world must be stopped because it is our moral imperative to vanquish them, they say. The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Convinced of their righteousness, they march out to do battle for God.
Here is the dilemma of any noble warrior: Hitler killed six million Jews trying to make the world a better place. The United States invaded Iraq partially in defense of the same Iraqi people who, in the majority, felt more secure under their brutal dictator Saddam Hussein. The valiant crusaders and missionaries of history have been harbingers of death and disease.
The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, they say. The more we try to improve the world, it seems, the worse we make it. I wonder, what if we all spontaneously stopped? What if we suddenly no longer felt the moral imperative to invade India and save the poor heathens from themselves? Perhaps it would change the world for the better. No more wars. No more blindly groping at the toothpicks in the eyes of our neighbors; first, we take the logs out of our own.
Of course, it is the nature of humanity to miss the point. There will always be social friction, and people will always feel the need to forcibly eliminate it. Politicians will rise to power and inconvenience the people they represent because they think they know better for society. Armies will sanctimoniously cross borders in the name of the very innocent lives they are ending. At least I will offer what little help I can by staying out of it.