There is much to love about a man whose desire is to offer his skills selflessly to those in need, and more so those in need where danger is just one bombing away. I was privileged to know such a man once, the kind of recognition that needs no explanation because it is mirrored within your own being. A desire to serve. He was there, in Palestine, and wrote much about the reality of living among these people and the devastation that they were surrounded by. Such was a time of intense learning and growth that we shared, the kind of gift you might be lucky to receive but once in a lifetime, be it direct or indirect. There is an intimacy that few know but grows on the premise of an innate awe in the understanding of life, what it means to truly live and have the opportunity to peacefully and healthfully pursue living, a passion to serve humanity in whatever way possible, it is a kind of love that lacks any meaningful description, therefore it best not described, yet sought after. To share such a part of life's journey with an intensely well meaninged individual is something I can't describe but in the context of discovery knowing what it is like to live without. When you meet these people, your life, as well as those they serve, will never be the same. It's a great joy that only comes from a deep desperate sadness knowing there is no solution for separateness. A desire for peace, joy and connection (union) is a significant part of what makes us human.
There are problems to being human, there are even greater problems being a human who follows a god. To follow a god means you must follow a system, and if your god's system does not unite with other systems, we are going to have significant and even, life threatening conflicts of interest. All we need to do is look at the various wars and violent attacks around the world to understand the root of all evils...which is religion itself.
Some time ago, I wrote a response to a man who indicated that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a "war over land" and I will share that reply and background information here:
"I will challenge you, to say that this is “really a war over land” leaves our exposure to your experience, and our potential for understanding the Israeli – Palestinian conflict slightly incomplete. One must ask, “who are these people and what do they believe” in order to grasp the larger picture of why two groups engage in actions intended to eliminate one another. That being said there are always those who are innocent, as you have mentioned, and simply desire to lead their lives peacefully as most humans would. I would not call this a “religious” war as much as I could call it a matter of large groups of human beings identifying with their religion or some aspect of their identities that ultimately leads back to their religion. To explain Zionism certainly helps, but to understand the Jew and his/her beliefs is of the utmost importance to understanding this fatal chaos. I will swing between casual and formal language to create concepts for the simplicity of understanding. I will also (for lack of time) focus only on describing matters from the Israeli/Jewish side.
As a young person, without a sound education in history, I related to even the word “Jew” with empathy for the horror they experienced when Nazi Germany exercised their idea of supremacy in an attempt to eradicate any DNA that would cloud the pool of humanity —-or what they viewed should be ideal race. It is hard to scrutinize any race or culture that has physically, mentally and emotionally suffered such a tragedy, but in this case it is important to do so. It would be easy to say “all the poor Jews are trying to do is to claim some small location (form a state – Israel), where they can exist with higher concentrations of people with their ethnicity, belief systems and ways of living. Why should this be such a bad thing? Well…..taking a closer look, it would be similar to Native Americans uprising in America today and sending all of us fleeing out of our homes, cities and states to protect our safety and why? Because they have a historical idea that they have the right to the land we dwell on versus living in the present day, looking in the eyes of the humans they desire to harm and realizing the past is the past, this person/group has not personally hurt him/her. I am human, they are human versus I am an Indian and this guy that I’m about to kill and chase out of his house is some mixture of cultures a.k.a. “American”. Can he identify with the present moment to see this? Or will he identify with the embedded ideas of the past “I am a Native American, I was here first, or similar to “I’m a Jew, I must return to my homeland so the messiah can come”. It’s hard to go against the thought that the Indian or the Jew is right, but remove OLD thoughts. This is now. We are human! Humans suffer greatly and the cause? The minds of men. History repeating itself. Hate breeding hate.
This is where religion enters in. Identity war. I would never expect “logic” to be a part of large groups of human thinking; we are not (generally) wired to surrender the idea of having to have an identity or agenda. If Jews (and quite frankly Muslims and all of us) were to surrender our attachment to identity, especially religious identity then perhaps peace could be had. At present, most Jews believe in this mission, especially those of reconstructionist Judaism – they desire to purify and bring Judaism back to the Orthodox way, clean up Jewish DNA (no more affairs with those who are not Jewish) and work toward taking control of the land in order to fulfill the prophecy to welcome their messiah. They were SO DESPERATE to know the mind of YHWH (the Jewish name for God), why has God forsaken us…..and to beckon a messiah that the Kabbalahists arose using illogical magic, and attaching numerical value to letters, mathematically seeking to interpret God in their literature…they were doing everything possible to come up with more man made ways to seek the favor and understanding of God’s (YHWH’s) will for them when they felt their God had departed. Now they will do anything to reclaim “holy lands” and places that are so rooted in their religious thinking as places that they are entitled to fight for to fulfill every iota of their scriptures and belief systems that they will senselessly kill in effort to acquire control and land. Why? So they can stand at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem studying the Torah or counting more numbers to seek “YHWH”? Um…..ok. Sounds like insanity. “I will kill, so I can kiss a wall”. Hmmmm. Identity issues. This is not logic.
Why do I mention all of the above? The lesson is lost unless one points out the value in being HUMAN, and using human sensory mechanisms to determine what is acceptable action, especially in the preservation and respect for life. IF, they (both sides) were to adopt humanistic thinking and drop their religious identity (hence making this truly a religious issue causing war over acquisition of land), they would stop causing harm to one another and simply live. But simplicity is not easy for man kind. It takes a lot of courage to drop old mind patterns and identities in order to live simply and simply live. I realize it’s going to be impossible to see this concept realized, however it is quite simple. Drop the religious identities and motives and all you have left is a human, and humans can find peace and live with one another in peace – they simply chose not to do so because they cling to their identities and belief systems. Existing is easy – eat, sleep, procreate, acquire resources that sustain the process —- repeat—die–done. It is the minds of men (humans) that have the need for anticipation of what is “next” in order to survive; this plays out in nature as a means to anticipate danger of what is around the corner. If we can’t see around the corner our brains are designed to anticipate and prepare. Since man has no way of predicting what is “around the corner” in his life, he creates a structure that appeases his brain, fills in the “gaps” with God, a religion, a heaven or hell (if he so desires to punish himself). Man can not accept what is “now”, in the moment, so he forms and NEEDS ideas for the future; the unknown…..all of this makes him comfortable….to know a heaven exists for his afterlife, or he will have the pleasure of indulging in multiple “virgins” for being a martyr. IMAGINE what conflicts would not exist between Israel and Palestine if these “religious identities” would all together cease?
Impossible. A majority of mankind cannot accept truth and simplicity even if it is right under his nose."
Written by Kristy Medo
