Paradise lost

On the way home, I ran across a rally on the Soapbox Plaza.

People were waving flags, shouting, chanting.

They were calling for an end to the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Palestinian flags waved, banners denounced the murder of innocent children.

I agree with them. There is no reason I can see, ever, to take life away from a sentient human being.

But they were also calling for the death of the Israelis.

And that I cannot agree with.

I want peace. I wish there were a way to, somehow, make all nations of the world agree with each other, interact peacefully with each other. Ideally, there should be no nations at all.

Unfortunately, I know that it can't be so. Humans are social creatures, but they are also tribal. Even if only a single, unified state existed, factions would eventually form. Race, language, culture, location, people would find ways to identify with others, become "in" groups, shutting out the "out" groups. Soon, the groups would begin disagreeing with each other, claiming territories, establishing separate governments. And all would begin again. Cultures across the human race are too diverse, too different to be governed as one. Attempting to standardize them all would be a disaster and make everyone angry.

I want peace. But, let's face it, peace is impossible.

There is no way to end this conflict with the satisfaction of both sides. Israel had no right to take land away from Palestine and displace its inhabitants, but its citizens have no other country.

I disagree with the idea of Israel. Yes, Israel is the promised land. Jerusalem is the holy city. But Jerusalem belongs to no one. Three religions claim it. It belongs to all, it belongs to none.

We must consider the founding principles of the three religions to which it is sacred: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

All three are based on the love and understanding for one's neighbor, the need to treat even the meanest of beggars as an equal. Why, then, do religions which claim the cardinal rule of Do Unto Your Neighbor As You Would Have Done Unto Yourself kill and fight and slaughter and argue? Do these rules only apply to co-religionaries, or worse yet, only inside the temple? In the books?

To me, a religion is an ideal. A deeply held belief, a guiding principle to one's life. Religions exist because Man needs guidance, and looks to an omniscient and loving entity for this guidance. These principles should then be used to better oneself. Judaism proclaims peace, Christianity love, and Islam wisdom and tolerance.

But what do we see in the world? Israel claims land by force, killing people who have lived on it for centuries. Christian bigots proclaim their hatred of all things new and different. Islam refuses to peacefully work with others and spread science, wisdom, and equality to all.

To me, religion is private. Religion is what you believe, what you think will make the world a better place. As soon as some guy climbs up on a barrel to tell the populace to do this or that, read this Holy Word of God or another, it is not a religion anymore. It's a cult. A religion is private and intangible.

I don't know if there is a God, and, frankly, I couldn't care less. The Earth, and the puny beings we humans are, are so insignificant compared to the whole of the Universe that it is very unlikely that A Divine Entity would care about us at all.

But I believe in peace. In love. In trust. Everything works better if someone is beside you and willing to help you. And who better to help you solve human problems than another human? We all must work together. This is my religion. No rituals, no texts, no idols, no sacrifices.

Israel had no right to claim Palestine as its Promised Land. Perhaps Israel existed in the past, in the Bible, but not anymore. Neither does Prussia. Mesopotamia. The Roman Empire. We should leave the past alone, and work instead toward the future.

That doesn't mean that every man, woman, and child in Israel should die. Nor does it mean that every man, woman, and child in Palestine should die. Nor does it mean that they should continue living together.

We must distinguish between the spiritual and the physical. Yes, the people of Israel were told that they would, one day, find the Promised Land. But the people of Palestine had been living there. Unless God himself intervenes, as he used to in the Bible (haven't heard from him in a while, maybe he is tired, poor man, what with those plagues of locusts and splitting open the sea), there is no reason to take away the belongings of a fellow man.

Then again, I don't believe that the Earth belongs to us anyway, what with our measly thousands of years of existence compared to four and a half billion, so ownership of land is irrelevant in my opinion.

Point is, I think everyone is a hypocrite. The Jews, for deciding that, since they were entitled to the Promised Land, they might as well take it before God forgot about it or something, and displacing the people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time because the grass was greener on their side of the hill. The Muslims, for reacting so violently and intolerantly. And the Christians for not minding their own business.

Sometimes (if not all the time), I think the world would be much better off without humans. No wars, no pollution, no screwing around with living beings. Paradise.

This is for Amreen at Spin Me Around.