Sadly, I must report they are not good. I am astounded at the headlines everytime I turn on the PC. The violence between humans, against each other seems to be escalating. Perhaps it is as I have long suspected: the level and speed of reporting makes things seem worse. They in fact are not much different than history would show, save that no one wrote it down then- they were too busy trying not to die.
Sarcasm aside, I am personally pained by the number of strikes against other humans being made what seems to be daily now. Much of it is in the Middle and Near East, and it seems that religion is often an inciting force. It is a shame that something which should help us be better people is fast becoming the single largest cause of war. It was bad enough when we fought over resources and land. Now we fight over ideologies, differences of opinion that can change from person to person, much less country to country. Even those who call themselves members of the same religion take very little provocation before they strike out at one another. It is getting beyond scary. In my own city, rapes, house invasions, murders are becoming the standard on the news. If I do not hear of at least three deaths a day, it is unusually quiet. I once believed the “rats in a cage” theory held a lot of the answers to the upturn of violence, but it has started extending to all corners of the world. At what point do we start looking for a different, more complete answer to why we cannot, as a species, grow up and learn true peacefulness between ourselves?
I have been studying the re-write of the Bhadgvad Gita by Sri Sathya Sai Baba, and he speaks truths that are nearly ageless to humanity. Somehow or another they have merely failed to sink in with the general public. This is where we get the wars. That and the scientific fact that we are an ancestor of apes, which means we have the violence in our genes. They can deny it all the want, but the fundamentalists have given no reason other than their self-righteous book-thumping for all the human blood spilt in the name of “god.” (I absolutely refuse to attach the Creatour’s singular title to anything so vile and purely human.) I want to know what is going on, if anyone can possibly explain why we are what we are.
I may have one explanation: Nature taking back. If she cannot do us in with her wierd and unpredictable illnesses (Ebole, AIDS, West Nile virus, etc.) then the next best thing is to turn her children on themselves. They are out of control ( us, in other words) and only by forcably reducing the numbers alive can any sense of calm return to the planet surface.
I will have some more to say about Sai Baba soon. While I have not had the ability to bounce ideas off anyone else yet, I have gone through much in reading his words.. I am only having trouble with the sex segragation that is still used in India. Welcome to the 21st century, eh? It is the difference in cultures I know, but I still don’t like it. Equal in all ways but this? I am afraid I would start an arguement with someone......
prayer for peace in the meantime. It may not happen in our lifetimes, but for our own souls, we must try.