I have been moved to start this thread by the many other threads in this forum at the moment. Saddam Hussein, George Bush, terrorism, violence, world peace, punishment, justice, revenge, so many themes run through this wonderful forum and so many opinions are aired and there are so many heated debates. These are electric times that we live in, and extremism and anger and hate are running hot and free through the minds of many in the world.
Our lives are changing in a way that is inexorable and relentless. There is fear and distrust and destruction at every turn. Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, war, famine, illness of epidemic proportions, global warming, climate change, animal cruelty - there seems to be a never-ending story of destruction, misery and despair on a global scale.
Do we have any hope for our futures? Will we ever stop being such a fractured world and start to find peace and love again? I find myself becoming increasingly despondent about humanity and the world and the state we are in. I know there is goodness, and love, and strength, and beauty, and kindness in the world, but at the moment these things seem to be losing out against all that is dark and terrible.
It frightens me and yet at the same time it compels a resolve in me to try my hardest, at all times, to be better than the things I fear. To forgive what seems the most terrible of things, to be compassionate, to be kind, to be truthful, to become educated and informed and to strive for a higher consciousness.
But where do you draw the line? Particularly with the death of Saddam Hussein today, and the kind of joy it has brought, I only feel sad. Sad that a man, a human being, should die unmourned and unloved. It must be a terrible thing to die alone, hated, reviled and despised.
He committed terrible atrocities. He does not deserve mourning, or sympathy, or love, or anything other than what he has received. But still, a small part of me thinks, were I not to feel anything at all but unrelieved triumph and joy - does that not make me in some small part as bad as him?
What do you all think of this? Do you think that there is any time when we should try to be better than people like him, be better than we want to be, be forgiving, take some time to say a prayer that a man could become so misguided and greedy and evil that he turns into the monster he became? Surely he was not always so.
The immortal, the incredible, Mahatma Ghandi, a man far greater than I or possibly many who have lived, said, `I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.' He also said, `What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?'
Lastly, he said, `An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.'
I sometimes think that we can lose sight of simple goodness and kindness because we were lucky enough to be born in civilisations where things like freedom, democracy, justice, peace and equality are taken for granted. Where does the revenge end and the forgiveness begin?
Sorry if that's a bit maudlin, but I just feel terribly depressed about the world in general these days, and I crave some old-fashioned love and peace, not just in society, but in our private hearts.
If I may have one last quote, that I think sums up the sadness that compelled me to start this thread, `There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for'.
Our lives are changing in a way that is inexorable and relentless. There is fear and distrust and destruction at every turn. Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, war, famine, illness of epidemic proportions, global warming, climate change, animal cruelty - there seems to be a never-ending story of destruction, misery and despair on a global scale.
Do we have any hope for our futures? Will we ever stop being such a fractured world and start to find peace and love again? I find myself becoming increasingly despondent about humanity and the world and the state we are in. I know there is goodness, and love, and strength, and beauty, and kindness in the world, but at the moment these things seem to be losing out against all that is dark and terrible.
It frightens me and yet at the same time it compels a resolve in me to try my hardest, at all times, to be better than the things I fear. To forgive what seems the most terrible of things, to be compassionate, to be kind, to be truthful, to become educated and informed and to strive for a higher consciousness.
But where do you draw the line? Particularly with the death of Saddam Hussein today, and the kind of joy it has brought, I only feel sad. Sad that a man, a human being, should die unmourned and unloved. It must be a terrible thing to die alone, hated, reviled and despised.
He committed terrible atrocities. He does not deserve mourning, or sympathy, or love, or anything other than what he has received. But still, a small part of me thinks, were I not to feel anything at all but unrelieved triumph and joy - does that not make me in some small part as bad as him?
What do you all think of this? Do you think that there is any time when we should try to be better than people like him, be better than we want to be, be forgiving, take some time to say a prayer that a man could become so misguided and greedy and evil that he turns into the monster he became? Surely he was not always so.
The immortal, the incredible, Mahatma Ghandi, a man far greater than I or possibly many who have lived, said, `I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.' He also said, `What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?'
Lastly, he said, `An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.'
I sometimes think that we can lose sight of simple goodness and kindness because we were lucky enough to be born in civilisations where things like freedom, democracy, justice, peace and equality are taken for granted. Where does the revenge end and the forgiveness begin?
Sorry if that's a bit maudlin, but I just feel terribly depressed about the world in general these days, and I crave some old-fashioned love and peace, not just in society, but in our private hearts.
If I may have one last quote, that I think sums up the sadness that compelled me to start this thread, `There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for'.
I think we think alike. 
)
