On CNN tonight, they are covering the Israeli/Hamas conflict which seems to be getting worse by the hour. This issue is all the news is covering right now. Diplomacy will be very difficult under these circumstances. Where are the peacemakers when all of this violence is flailing out of control? How will the U.S. step into this? An initial statement by the White House says any chance of Hamas being taken seriously as an organization is decreasing quickly as bombs are continuing to come towards Israel. What will be Barack Obama's statement on this? How cautious will the statement be?
Do the people making war ever stop and think about how this will affect the children? It's a question worth answering. War is more emotional. It has little to do with reason and intellect.
That is why when the fires of war start it is nearly impossible to stop the chaos with reason, because it is deeply integrated into our primitive genetics. Love and peace are more difficult and probably further from the limbic system. (The limbic system is embryologically older than other parts of the brain. It developed to manage 'fight' or 'flight' chemicals and is an evolutionary necessity for reptiles as well as humans. Recent studies of the limbic system of tetrapods have challenged some long-held tenets of forebrain evolution. The common ancestors of reptiles and mammals had a well-developed limbic system in which the basic subdivisions and connections of the amygdalar nuclei were established.)
Hamas engages in magical thinking as evidenced by this statement in Wikipedia:
The slogan of Hamas is "God is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Qur'an its constitution: Jihad is its path and death for the sake of God is the loftiest of its wishes." Hamas states that its objective is to support the oppressed and wronged and "to bring about justice and defeat injustice, in word and deed." Hamas believes that "the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf (trust) consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day," and as such, the land cannot be negotiated away by any political leader. Hamas' covenant states that "so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences" are "in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement", stating "there is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad".
Israel and Hamas cannot reason together largely because of religion. That is truly sad. Saying there is no solution except for Jihad is sad. That leaves little room for the peacemakers. War must become extinct, but unfortunately not in my lifetime. Why does there have to be so much suffering in the world?
Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding.
Mahatma Gandhi
Other notes:
I've been thinking a lot lately about what it takes to have genuinely positive attitude. How about this quote from Mother Theresa?
Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.
This world can change, but it will take a lot of brave and good people to turn things around.
Do the people making war ever stop and think about how this will affect the children? It's a question worth answering. War is more emotional. It has little to do with reason and intellect.
That is why when the fires of war start it is nearly impossible to stop the chaos with reason, because it is deeply integrated into our primitive genetics. Love and peace are more difficult and probably further from the limbic system. (The limbic system is embryologically older than other parts of the brain. It developed to manage 'fight' or 'flight' chemicals and is an evolutionary necessity for reptiles as well as humans. Recent studies of the limbic system of tetrapods have challenged some long-held tenets of forebrain evolution. The common ancestors of reptiles and mammals had a well-developed limbic system in which the basic subdivisions and connections of the amygdalar nuclei were established.)
Hamas engages in magical thinking as evidenced by this statement in Wikipedia:
The slogan of Hamas is "God is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Qur'an its constitution: Jihad is its path and death for the sake of God is the loftiest of its wishes." Hamas states that its objective is to support the oppressed and wronged and "to bring about justice and defeat injustice, in word and deed." Hamas believes that "the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf (trust) consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day," and as such, the land cannot be negotiated away by any political leader. Hamas' covenant states that "so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences" are "in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement", stating "there is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad".
Israel and Hamas cannot reason together largely because of religion. That is truly sad. Saying there is no solution except for Jihad is sad. That leaves little room for the peacemakers. War must become extinct, but unfortunately not in my lifetime. Why does there have to be so much suffering in the world?
Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding.
Mahatma Gandhi
Other notes:
I've been thinking a lot lately about what it takes to have genuinely positive attitude. How about this quote from Mother Theresa?
Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.
This world can change, but it will take a lot of brave and good people to turn things around.
No comments:
Post a Comment