I’m thinking out loud here.
I don’t know about you, but I find the world rather frightening at the moment.
Ferguson. I have strong feelings about what happened there. I’m not going to share those feelings with you because, no matter what I feel, I still don’t know the whole story. None of us do.
That being said, I am appalled at the level of vitriol about the tragedy that took place there that I see on social media. Once again, some people seem to think hate-filled public discourse is the only path to take. And that anyone who disagrees with them must be called names, labeled a traitor, and dealt with accordingly.
Will we never learn?
ISIS. I am heartsick at their slaughter of innocents, of anyone with different beliefs than theirs. I am horrified at what this group, a more dangerous entity than Al Quaeda, is carrying out in Syria and Iraq.
And now the latest, the horrific beheading of an American journalist. That act certainly brings this battle home, doesn’t it?
I am a pacifist. I am anti-war.
But I find myself saying, “Kill them. Kill them all.” That in itself is shocking to me. But maybe not so shocking, because that reaction is a visceral one, from my core. It’s some sort of primal thing. There can be no reasoning with this group. They are murderous zealots.
But am I then as bad as them?
Oh, I have so much more I could say. About innocent children being shipped back to countries where they will most certainly be in danger and may lose their lives. And, in fact, have. About the conflict in Israel and Gaza that never seems to end, where more innocent lives have been lost and where images of injured and dead children cannot be erased from my memory.
And on and on it goes.
Whatever one’s political leanings, I think we can agree that the loss of innocent lives is a tragedy that should never be labeled as something that is a regretful, but, unfortunately sometimes necessary, by-product of war. I’ve heard it described that way – very recently, in fact.
The wars and murders that have been perpetrated under the guise of ‘religion’ are legion. And it never seems to stop.
I have no answers but I do know this: We cannot lose our fundamental sense of humanity.
And I absolutely know that God, a Higher Power, Allah, Divine Intelligence, whatever name you prefer, is not the creator and/or cheerleader for any of this.
No, indeed.
Beautifully said.
eileen
Thank you, dear cousin.
It is so very scary, this world. When I was very young, it was Vietnam. I didn’t know anything about it, except that the boy across the road, who had just graduated high school, signed up for the Army and was shipped out. He was the first POW of my town. His parents looked for him until they were in their nineties. My grandfather, uncles and dad were all in the military. My dad was in Korea and would never talk about it. When I was married, my husband was in the Army. We were stationed in Berlin. I think I really never gave war a thought until there was a bombing at a disco that military soldiers were known to frequent. After that, things changed. For the first time, the evils of this world, of war, became everyday life. We could no longer go and come as we pleased. We were always searched every where we went. Our cars were searched for bombs, inside and out. Our children went to school with tanks surrounding them. Armed soldiers were everywhere. For a time it seemed as though both sides of the Berlin Wall were the same. We no longer had freedom.
When we first moved to Berlin, I would walk along the wall, wondering what the people were doing in their daily lives. There were look out towers on our side of the Wall, and when you climbed up them, you could see over it. All of the windows were boarded if they faced the Wall, as if just looking at freedom would put ideas in the minds of the people. At night, we could hear gun fire and see the search lights looking for the brave souls who attempted to cross the No Man’s Land between the walls.
When the Wall finally came down, I would go out during the day and wait for people to come walking out of their homes, walking down the streets that for so long were blocked with concrete and barbed wire. I would welcome them to freedom. Sometimes they would stop and talk, sometimes they just walked and walked, eyes glazed over. It was something I shall never forget.
I often say that if I had been older, I would have protested with Jane Fonda. I seriously think I would have. War never solves anything. It just makes things worse.
Sorry for rambling on. Sometimes it just needs to come out.
I hope you have a wonderful day.
Hugs,
Deb
Thank you for your thoughts, Deb. What an interesting perspective you have, having lived in Berlin during the time of the Berlin Wall and after it came down.
War does indeed never solve anything, but I suppose sometimes it’s necessary.
Thank you for this. So eloquent and thoughtful and thought provoking Claudia. So much to ponder. I feel such despair.
I wrote a post yesterday titled Heartsick but didn’t post it – I was anxious to be the only one out there speaking to this – I may borrow a bit of your courage and post it after all.
It’s interesting, isn’t it Sally, how many bloggers choose not to write about these things? That’s perfectly fine, of course, because many bloggers want their blogs to be a respite from the realities of the world. I feel the same way at times. But then, things come to a head for me, and I have to say something.
Go ahead and post, my friend. I will happily read your words.
For better or for worse, not sure always which LOL, I feel compelled to say something. That’s my way to try and understand and make sense of things but I know we’re all different. I do wish that there were more life style/craft/food bloggers writing about issues – I long for more substance. Not every day but gosh, once in a while. I find I’m drifting away from them and reading other sorts of blogs or none at all. Hence my entrapment in the evil vortex of Pinterest. hahhahahhahaha
Well, I just posted my little bit – I wrote it quite soon after hearing the news yesterday. Not as eloquent or encompassing of as many topics as yours.
Thanks so much for always being so supportive, kind and encouraging. xo
I have become very tired of endless decorating posts, etc. I am also drifting away and have found some meatier blogs of late. I find myself visiting those sites instead. I’m off to read your post.
I don’t mean to be mean (just silly!!) but next it will be curated fingertip towels for guests or shoe boxes or something – and I just can’t do it anymore LOL. I think my brain will explode.
Glad I’m not alone in being desirous of wider topics.
Thanks so much for commenting on my post!
xo
This a subject that is being thought of by many of us. My dad was a British soldier in WWII. He was captured early in the war at the Battle of Dunkirk. He escaped twice from the Germans but was a POW for almost 5 years. He spoke of his experiences often. One thing that I remember him saying so clearly…….if America hadn’t gotten involved, Germany would have succeeded in winning and so many more would have been killed. It is terrible…. to stop the enemy from advancing we have to fight before they are on our door step. My husband served in the US Navy and one of my sons in the US Air Force. It is terribly hard to have your loved ones in conflict………but I am extremely proud and thankful they were willing to defend our freedom. Patty Mc
Thank you for your thoughts, Patty. I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for your father during the war. Being a POW must have been a devastating experience. What a brave man!
My father served in WWII and he has never glorified it. In fact, for years, he wouldn’t speak of it at all. It’s only in recent years that he has talked about it and he has nightmares about his time flying in bombers to this day, in fact more often since he reached his 90th birthday. War takes its toll on everyone, doesn’t it?
It is a scary world right now Claudia and the loss of so many innocent lives is reminiscent for me of 911. I will never understand how hate can thrive until it overtakes reason. How I wish that all children everywhere could live the kind of lives where hunger and fear are unknown to them. It’s all just so sad!
Beautifully put, Janie. “…how hate can thrive until it overtakes reason.” I don’t understand, either.
Well said, Claudia. I completely agree with you.The news of late has been extremely disturbing. I am not burying my head in the sand but I have found that it is healthier for me to take a step back from the internet coverage, TV and radio. I am spending more time meditating and focusing on peaceful thoughts and acts.
“Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me”
We should all be meditating on peace. All of us thinking and meditating on peace is a powerful force for good. Thank you for your thoughts, Carolyn Marie.
Thank you for this beautifully written post. I share your feelings, but have not been able to put them into words. It seems we are dealing with a new horror every few days and I don’t know how to respond except to pray for peace and for this madness to stop. I’ve been trying to be more mindful of how I react to the small, irritating things that we encounter everyday because I think that even small acts of patience & kindness are so important in the world today.
You are absolutely right. Small acts of kindness and tolerance and understanding and compassion cannot be discounted. They are so important.
Wow, you said it all! I remember Timothy McVey , who did the Oklahoma bombing, call all the babies who were killed in the nursery “collateral damage”. That still haunts me. I find myself turning off the news more and more. I sometimes feel if I start crying I will never be able to stop. One day I won’t know what is happening in the world at all.
Unbelievable that Timothy McVeigh said that. He lost his heart and soul, didn’t he? His moral compass.
I agree- sometimes I think if I let myself truly feel the grief and sadness, I will never stop crying.
Beautifully-stated, Claudia. Agree with everything you said. The only thing I can add is something I heard a few days after 9-11. We were gathered for a staff meeting, waiting for our director to arrive, and the smartest person on our staff [IMO] summed things up, at least for me. I’m paraphasing but here goes: “Nearly every conflict the world has ever seen has had its roots, directly or indirectly, in organized religion. You-must-believe-what-I believe. Sometimes it even goes as far as you-must-believe-what-I-believe-or-I’m-going-to-kill-you.’ Human beings need spirituality but should have nothing to do with Organized Religion. All that matters – ALL THAT MATTERS – is how we treat each other…”
All I can say, Janet, is AMEN. Thank you for sharing that. I consider myself a very spiritual person, but I have learned not to trust many organized religions.
Very well said Claudia. I would have thought that by now, we, as a society, would have come a lot farther than we have. We should have more civilized ways of dealing with conflict, and we do. But there are certain peoples of the world that can only seem to solve conflict with war. These are very, very troubling times we currently live in…and I’m worried.
I, too, am very worried, Donnamae. There seems to be a dark cloud over the world right now. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
It is a frightening world today. For many it is their way of life ~ to be seriously frightened every single day because of where they happen to be born in this world. I remember protesting Vietnam when I was in college, and we felt it was our duty to question what was taking place. My dad and I (he was a WWII vet), did not, shall we say, see eye to eye on that topic. I, too, am a pacifist. However, this ISIS group truly scares the (blank) out of me. Then we look to our own “leaders” (??) and see the way they treat each other, and draw party lines and are not willing to compromise in any way, and that, too, scares the (blank) out of me. When religion enters the conversation, and it comes down to who does or does not believe in their way of thinking being completely wrong or right ~ all rational thinking is left behind. Also, the notion that anyone who protests today is anti-American and not a patriot is horrific to me. Isn’t it our duty as patriots to question everything and encourage a dialogue? I have always believed that those who have fought for our country did it so that we will never lose that right. It is what everyone says makes our country “different” from so many others. Trying to wrap my head around the horrors going on around us seems to be useless. I remember at home, in school, in Brownies and in Girl Scouts, we were always reminded of the Golden Rule … to do unto others as we would have others do unto us. I always thought it was to encourage us to think before we acted, to remember that every action has a reaction, and to remember kindness in all we did as we consider people’s feelings. Apparently many believe it simply means to “Get them first before they get us.” And many, in too many countries, wear their religion on their sleeve along with what they consider to be their patriotism, with disregard for anyone else who doesn’t believe as do they. So very very sad.
You touched on something I was going to mention, Chris, and something I wrote about a while back. Since when is it unpatriotic to criticize the actions of your country? That doesn’t mean you are not a patriot, in fact, I think it makes you more of a patriot, willing to fight for what you think this country should stand for. I also see it, unfortunately, with those who have dared to criticize the high death toll brought about by Israel’s bombing in Gaza. Suddenly, they are anti-Semitic. Why? You can support the people of Israel and support them and still criticize the actions taken by those leading the country. Just as when I criticize the actions of Hamas, it doesn’t mean that I don’t support Palestinians.
Intolerance is so hard for me to understand! Why can’t we live in peace and let others believe how they want too? I just don’t get the huge loss of life and especially of innocent children. I agree, God does not condone this at all. Well put Claudia.
hugs,
Linda
I don’t understand it, either. Everyone in the world does not have to believe the same things as I do. What they do need to do, however, is to respect the beliefs of others.
I don’t understand any of this either. I see more and more every single day of my life how people are so intolerant. They are okay in speaking with you on a topic as long as you agree with them but voice something other than how they feel there goes all the respect and you are the most horrible person on the planet for your beliefs. I wouldn’t dare expect everyone to agree with my thoughts and beliefs but I do expect everyone to respect me for them just as I give the same to them. But it doesn’t ever seem to go that way.
It just seems to me that the people of the world have changed so very much and not in a good way. We are truly as a world in a very bad state. And yes I think we all should be worried. And absolutely as said earlier, what matters is to treat everyone with respect and how we react to others. Isn’t that really the beginning to fixing all of the problems of the world? How far would we be on solutions if everyone would do that?
Have a blessed day and thank you for this post :)
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Belinda. If we truly practiced the Golden Rule and treated everyone with respect, we would go a long way toward healing this world.
Remembering easy carefree days playing , singing, smiling children we were , and not knowing anything about what happened in the world beyond…
Decades later I am consumed with fear and knowledge of how uncivilized people treat others. Sick at heart, and praying for the innocent people that want peace for their children…Thank you for sharing your thoughts Claudia, I so agree.
Everyone should be able to live their lives feeling secure and safe. I cannot begin to comprehend how horrific it must be to live in fear of being murdered or attacked every day.
GOD has nothing to do with their killing
Agreed.
Claudia you are so right when you wrote that you know God is not the creator or cheerleader of all this hatred. I know God is crying for all of the loss. It is Satan behind it. Satan (I hate to even capitalize that name) is evil through and through.
I don’t remember who said this, but I know someone did, “War is hell.” It is.
War is hell. And it wreaks havoc on everyone involved.
Claudia, I am beginning to understand the true meaning of the word “heartsick”. When I read about all the terrible things that are happening right now, I truly feel a pain in my heart. It is frightening because it seems like violence and anger are happening in so many different places in the world all at the same time. There are no breaks, no small successes in curbing it; just event after event rolls on. It makes me feel helpless, sad and ashamed of how we treat each other. What can we do?
I don’t know. Truly. But I’m thinking about it and hoping some ray of light shines through strongly enough for me to find an answer.
My sweet and innocent grandchild was just the other day watching the news and turned to me and asked why the adults were harming the children….how do you explain something you do not understand yourself??? Earlier this week, I was so troubled by the disappearance of those precious little Amish girls. Thank heavens they were returned, but what did those monsters do to them that will forever haunt them? I heard the father of the Amish girls made a statement forgiving the abductors. He is a much better person than I. Even with all the ugliness in every corner of the globe, we all have to hold fast to the notion goodness will prevail. A smile and kind word to a stranger are such small gestures, but I am of the belief it certainly cannot hurt to pass out a few whenever in public.
The story about the Amish girls was heartbreaking . They will be forever changed by what those horrible people did to them.
I have become quite aware, That many, members of Christian Churches have taken to HATE in the name of the Lord! It appears they have confused the hate, and being mean,with being conservative! I feel some think anyone of different,race (Even and especially children),orientation,or belief in Deity,are considered Bad! (for lack of a better word)therefore should be, and are hated!! THIS IS NOT Christian! Thank-You, Judy A-
No, it is not. Such hypocrisy in those who call themselves Christian but judge and hate anyone who doesn’t believe the way they do.
Those are the Christians who give Jesus a bad name.
Many years ago, one of my instructors said, “The line between a sociopath and a religious fanatic is hair thin.” It seems we see it too often…
You’re not kidding, Terri. Your instructor was very wise.
Amen, Sister!
I read in a book a long time ago that a siren was a city’s cry of pain. I remember that every time I hear a siren.
Ferguson is just across the river. One thing that really shocked me is how fast that little community was filled up with people from all over. There are people there from other countries and from every where in the U.S. I don’t know where they all go to sleep. There are groups like “Black Panthers” and some bikers road in. There were some very famous people show up. And even a group waving a black flag declaring themselves State of Islam. All saying they came to help “keep the peace”.
You are right, it’s a frightening world at times.
This is something that has been in my mind lately. How much longer can the world survive!!! Between what we are doing to each other and the weird weather it really makes you think about the future.
One thing I just don’t get about the Furguson is how does anyone justify the looting, burning businesses, etc. ? How many people actually knew Micheal Brown? Is it just tempers, life, etc getting out of control? Guess I just don’t get it at all.
I am not good at wording this the way I want to. I am just so confused.
Yes Claudia – that one word ‘heartsick’ seems to cover it all, BUT also add heartache, heartbroken, disgust, unnerved, crushed, sorrowful, and definitely fear.
This world has become a fearful place and the future is not looking too hopeful these days. Now we have been informed of the growing numbers of these terrorist/militant groups, how fast they are able to gather, get armed, be funded, and move about the globe surreptitiously in such a short space of time. Governments, ours included, could be doing so much more to protect our children around the world…….meanwhile we hold our breath, turn away from the TV screen, throw the paper into the trash, hate the media, and cry secretly in the night.
This feeling of hopelessness is not a good way to live, especially when our children and grandchildren start to question and we have no answers to ensure them a future.
Mary –
No Claudia..as sad as it seems..I don’t think some people will ever learn..and then comes the children behind them that have been taught to hate all of their lives..I can’t imagine feeling better about myself by hating other people..we all need to hold on to each other tightly..Hugs
Yes, Claudia. All of these things on our minds and in our faces. But I so admire anyone who says “I have no answers” when everyone around seems to think they have a solution. Finding ways to make things better together will always be incredibly hard work. Always good to hear your thoughts.
that god has mercy on us all. xx.