The following is a post received from a friend a couple of days ago, on a thread regarding violence in the Middle-East, and below it is my response. Post received from a friend: The entire middle east is in turmoil...its beyond tragic. I saw a several graphs that showed that so far, 102 MILLION people have been killed in war/political strife...and that about 96% were killed by Muslims. Muslim on Muslim violence, Muslim on other violence. The rest by other groups. The point is that YES, we need to rethink things...and also see that there is a gap between what we think is correct behavior and what predominantly Sunni Muslim views are. I know weve had our discussions on this and that my views are perhaps unpleasant...and I hope you also see that Ive the heart of a pacifist who has lived there and heard/seen things that shattered my views. I use shattered in quotes because no other word describes it. I am horrified by these deaths and have come to the conclusion that maybe, maybe violence is part of our nature. Maybe we cant love every wrong away. Does that make sense Mark McFly?...Sigh... 21 hrs · Like My response: I took my time to respond to this because I did not want to just give a ‘knee jerk’ response. I also want you to know that I have no doubt that you have the heart of a pacifist. Facts and statistics do not impress me anymore, because they can be collected, manipulated and abused to satisfy anyone’s needs. Depending on how they are collected, framed and analyzed, they can end up proving the most absurd points of view. For example: Studies have shown that 20% of fatal traffic accidents involved impaired (drunk) drivers. Natural conclusion, sober drivers are responsible for 80% of fatal accidents, therefore if more people drove while impaired there would be fewer deaths. I am not advocating ignoring the facts, but to look at them through a broader lens, and not let our culture, belief systems, affiliations, et cetera, affect our convenient selection. Yes, there are a lot of evil people out there, but there are far more who are not stuck in those negative grooves. Sadly, they are not the ones who get to be heard, so it is easy to believe that there is little or no hope of resolution. If you want to get into the ‘facts’, all of the major religions/belief systems have in their scriptures, stories that divinize themselves, demonize non-believers, and approve of slaughtering anyone who would get in the way of their own fulfillment. While Muslims may quote their holy book and speak of massacre, the Talmud has its fair share of directions that would not be acceptable to any decent Jew. Christianity has its own history of atrocities performed in compliance with Biblical direction, and under the guidance/direction of their leaders, all in the name of God, and for Jesus. We as human beings do not need holy books to prime our moral compasses. My humanity directs and channels my behavior towards my fellow human beings. I do not claim to have mastered the ability to comply in every situation, but that is my desire, and for the most part, I do succeed. No land, or sacred site is more sacred to me than the human beings, and other life forms that inhabit it. I have often been quoted as saying, “My sacred sites are walking around on two feet.” That is true, and again for the most part, I walk my talk. I believe that our spirit is intact. It always was, is now, and ever will be. I did not come here to work on my spirit, but to work on my humanity, or to become more fully human. I also recognize that we are multi-dimensional beings that sometimes forget the other dimensions and tend to identify more with our left-brain identities. We glorify the rational mind, and love it when things make ‘sense’, without questioning too deeply what that ‘sense’ is based on. So when you ask me, “Does that make sense?”, I could answer in either positive or negative, depending on how I chose to relate. So, for me, making sense is not enough. I have been a natural healer all of my life, and have witnessed umpteen miraculous and extraordinary events that to this day, do not make sense, and I have long ago let go of the need to make sense of, or understand. This allows me to enter another dimension of reality where there is unlimited potential, and for that potential to unfold, one has to let go of a limited perception of reality, especially the ones that are propped up with ‘great stories’ and evidence. Regarding violence being part of our nature; I can say yes to that, but add that we are not bound by that, nor obliged to let it drive us. As human beings we do have the luxury of free will and choice. When we can see the sacredness and divinity of human beings, including the human body/flesh, in spite of how they might show up, we can make a difference. When we can say “Yes” to each other, while still saying “Yes please” and “No thank you” to what is being offered or requested, we then can step out of our respective survival patterns. Ending the ‘justifiable’ resistance to each other reveals a whole new menu of options. Throwing love at everything is not the solution. Especially if it is a merely a cerebral exercise. The thought does count, but if it is not grounded in more dimensions of our being than the mind, it will evaporate as the next one rolls along. We do have the choice of moving in love, or fear. Moving in fear throws us back into primitive survival mode, causing us to function as lone identities, even if we form alliances with those who appear to be aligned with us, to justify our separation from the whole. The fear based collective can easily rationalize that it is wiser and safer to kill the ‘others’ than to evolve our thinking. Moving in love is more than just thinking the thought or saying the words. It is being ‘present’ with our multi-dimensionality, body, mind, spirit, emotions, et cetera. The more of our being that is present in any given moment, the more effective we are. So, as long as we are stuck in, and relate through our respective labels, there is very limited possibility for anything new to show up, and the evidence shows that history repeats itself. We also, with our rational minds, use that history to justify continuing the process. Not too distant history also demonstrates that in an apparent impossible situation between the Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, when the IRA were acknowledged as a political entity, representing a considerable number of citizens, the British Government gave them a voice, and engaged in conversations, peace came quicker than expected. As long as they were dismissed and hunted as terrorists, the hatred and violence continued. I can’t help believing that something similar is possible with Hamas. It is no secret that there are many in the Israeli government who simply want the Palestinians gone, and an Israel that is exclusively for the Jews. How is that any different from accusing others of wanting to push Israel into the sea? I pray and give my energy to the possibility that human dignity and peace in Israel/Palestine will manifest as a reality, and Jew and Arab can co-exist again, as they did for centuries before 1948. Please do not offend me by confusing my compassion and empathy with the innocent/uninvolved Palestinians as anti-Semitism. The Palestinians after all, are also Semites, but more than that, they are living human flesh, that sacred stuff that we are all made of. For the record, I also abhor the violence perpetrated against the Jews, Christians, Arabs, and others in Israel, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and all of the other places where violence is common place. I also abhor the violence that is happening in our own country, in our cities, villages and families. Peace be with you.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 00:33:42 +0000