I purposely haven't blogged anything about this Syria situation, because the lamestream media have latched onto it like it's infotainment crack cocaine and are bombarding us with it incessantly, from every angle. Pundits have felt for decades that the Middle East would be the launch pad for the start of World War III, and it's not hard to figure out why. The recent posturing by the self-nominated "Great Powers" is straight out of an elementary school playground scene. With maturity at that level it's hard to be optimistic. Meanwhile, most ironically, if we were all driving electric cars right now, that entire region would be back in the stone age, fighting their battles with slings and arrows - no one would give a damn. But that would make too much fucking sense for the hairless monkeys, so put that fantasy away. Aside from the petroleum-based backdrop, it's really just one more sectarian religious conflict for the history books. Two sects of the exact same religion having to kill each other because they have a slightly different interpretation of the exact same texts. That would be like two guys in church listening to the same sermon and then deciding to kill each other because they disagree on the meaning. So, I don't know if this conflict could start WWIII - I personally doubt it at the moment - however, if it does, it would only be the proximate cause - similar to how the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand started WWI. Both sides were looking for any excuse to go to war. I think the current geopolitical backdrop will have to simmer a while longer before we see that any-excuse-for-a-war mentality. Even at this late juncture, there is still a major dependency between China and the U.S. One builds, the other buys. One saves, the other spends. When that wholly unsustainable relationship gets flushed down the toilet of history, then that dependency will be broken and tensions will run mighty high, to put it mildly.
A Relatively Universal Moral Code, Universally Ignored
Getting back to the original topic, ironically most religions have very similar "core values", essentially the Ten Commandments with minor deviations here or there. So there is a great deal of overlap on those aspects of morality that matter the most. The inference therefore is that we are incapable of distilling a handful of universal values in our children without subjecting them to enormous amounts of brainwashing and otherwise teaching them that they are "different" (aka. better) than everyone else on the planet. Because beyond the common core values, each sect or religion has its own set of key "differentiators" that really just comprise a unique chapter out of the book of the impossible.
Belief In The Impossible: One God - For Us. None For You
Everyone thinks that their own belief in the impossible is god's written word, whereas everyone else's belief in the impossible, is totally ludicrous. It's all just highly entrenched egotism of course, brainwashed down from generation to generation. All of the holy books - save the recent cults - were written hundreds if not thousands of years ago and are littered with historical inaccuracies, logical fallacies, physical impossibilities and worst of all, hideous acts of human genocide all cast as divine miracles proving god's confirmation for the moral superiority of the victorious. By far the most contorted illogical fallacy is that all of these monotheistic religions by definition believe there is only one god, yet they somehow ignore the obvious fact that the one god must have created everything and everyone in the universe. But then again, who the hell needs irrefutable logic, when you have belief in the impossible?
The Cult of Superiority: A Necessary and Sufficient Excuse for Mass Genocide aka. "War"
And of course, it's this feeling of being "different" that leads each religion to have a false sense of being exalted and superior to their fellow man. Hence ironically, whereas all religions strictly forbid murder - "thou shalt not kill the congregation", when it comes to killing other religions, it's medals of honour all around. That totally unfounded "cult of superiority" has been the cause of more human death and misery than any other single cause.
Belief In The Impossible: One God - For Us. None For You
Everyone thinks that their own belief in the impossible is god's written word, whereas everyone else's belief in the impossible, is totally ludicrous. It's all just highly entrenched egotism of course, brainwashed down from generation to generation. All of the holy books - save the recent cults - were written hundreds if not thousands of years ago and are littered with historical inaccuracies, logical fallacies, physical impossibilities and worst of all, hideous acts of human genocide all cast as divine miracles proving god's confirmation for the moral superiority of the victorious. By far the most contorted illogical fallacy is that all of these monotheistic religions by definition believe there is only one god, yet they somehow ignore the obvious fact that the one god must have created everything and everyone in the universe. But then again, who the hell needs irrefutable logic, when you have belief in the impossible?
The Cult of Superiority: A Necessary and Sufficient Excuse for Mass Genocide aka. "War"
And of course, it's this feeling of being "different" that leads each religion to have a false sense of being exalted and superior to their fellow man. Hence ironically, whereas all religions strictly forbid murder - "thou shalt not kill the congregation", when it comes to killing other religions, it's medals of honour all around. That totally unfounded "cult of superiority" has been the cause of more human death and misery than any other single cause.
Religion Is Idolatry: On the 8th Day Man Created God In His Own Image
So unfortunately as we've figured out, mankind created god in his own image and then wrote several books to make sure that the newly invented god conveniently bequeathed the entire planet and all of its contents to mankind, at the expense of every other species. I'm no fucking genius, but I sense that there is a conflict of interest in there somewhere. Unfortunately, we are not god. God does not write books. And we do not own this planet. So if we do destroy the one inhabitable planet within several million lightyears, then it stands to reason that the real god i.e. the one who created the universe and everything in it, might be mighty pissed off. And I would file that scenario under careful what you wish for, because the religious types are going to find out that the end of the world isn't all it's cracked up to be. I have no doubt that the typical comfort-seeker espousing a "belief" in this or that religion, cloaked in their holier-than-thou sanctimonious gibberish, is going to have their faith put to the test when the rubber hits the road and everything starts going sideways.
God Doesn't Kill People, People Kill People
Regardless, it's abundantly clear, with several thousands of years of precedence, that religion is dragging the human race to the brink of annihilation. Now featuring the capability of destroying god's gift i.e. this planet - several hundred times over. What is not at all clear is whether or not the hairless monkeys have enough humanity (aka. compassion) to pull us back from the brink before we go over for the last time. Suffice to say, the one true god would not be too impressed by a bunch of ungrateful dumbfucks who blow up the blue planet and their children with it, all while proclaiming to their own respective cults, that it was "god's will". It's time to stop using "god" as a convenient excuse for our own fratricide. There is nothing "holy" about war, nor the people who propagate it.
Regardless, it's abundantly clear, with several thousands of years of precedence, that religion is dragging the human race to the brink of annihilation. Now featuring the capability of destroying god's gift i.e. this planet - several hundred times over. What is not at all clear is whether or not the hairless monkeys have enough humanity (aka. compassion) to pull us back from the brink before we go over for the last time. Suffice to say, the one true god would not be too impressed by a bunch of ungrateful dumbfucks who blow up the blue planet and their children with it, all while proclaiming to their own respective cults, that it was "god's will". It's time to stop using "god" as a convenient excuse for our own fratricide. There is nothing "holy" about war, nor the people who propagate it.
