Religion and war, revisited
In response to my previous post, having read Sloth's, I have come to two conclusions. 1) War is wrong. 2) Sometimes war can be neccessary.
I think that war is and has always been wrong, and Sloth agrees with me. But sometimes it can be neccessary. Though I think that there could be better alternatives. For example, assassination. [Sloth: We charge by the hour.] Hire trained professionals to go out and kill the leaders of these corrupt dictatorships, destroy the men on top. Hitler for example. I believe that total world war could have been avoided, had we taken the time to just assassinate the leaders and remove the leading force behind the resistance. I don't consider this war, I consider this taking out a deranged threat. I still believe that we could do without the slaughter of innocent people. Sometimes it takes a large mass of people to take out a threat, and thus wars erupt. But still, this is wrong. I wish so much that there were a better alternative. [Sloth: Problem - People don't like seeing their leaders assassinated unless they got it done themselves..]
When a person is charismatic, they attract people. They have power over those people, to an extent. And, if they know how, they can use that minimal power in a sort of priveledge-escalation attack on their mind, giving them even more power. [Sloth: The term is "successive approximations" - You get away with a little and you keep pushing] Persuasion and manipulation, coupled against weak minds, can lead to cults and religious fanaticism of the worst kinds. Add a maniacal leader (such as Hitler) and put him in the spotlight, and more people follow. You amass a large following. Those people seem to believe that they are right, that what has been told to them is good and true. If what they've been told to be good and true is that they should kill people who aren't like them, then naturally they'll do so.
I don't claim to know truly how everything works, it just does. And then you get religious extremism like that of Osama and Adolf, hordes of followers, a jihad of sorts against another race, creed, or country, and war insues. Someone throws a punch, you punch back. That seems to be the way humans do things. I just think that if you focused on finding and eradicating the leaders of said groups, the war would end much sooner.
I am a pacifist. I always have been, and I believe I always will be. I find no need for violence in my life. I believe that things can be settled better with words, not fists. And I believe in living passively in most ways, being kind and respectful instead of confrontational. I've never really had to fight for anything, and so far my life has been alright. I don't think that if I had fought for anything my life would be any better. [Sloth: If I don't have the energy to punch someone in the face.. I solemnly doubt you do. You're more lazy than I am.]
I'm also a revolutionary, or at least I'd like to think so. I think that the world is very much in a bad place right now, and it needs to change. The world needs to evolve. We need to let go of our selfish human nature and learn to live peacefully with each other. We need to learn that family and love and peace are more valuable and important than war or money or power. [Sloth: God, you're so mushy.] Faith is generally a good thing. We should be accepting of one another's beliefs. We shouldn't have wars with each other because we believe different things, we should discuss with each other what we think, with open minds, and grow stronger in the process. Faith should be something that brings us together as humans, not something that drives us apart. Pretty much every religion I've seen (save for a few) teach peace, love, understanding, and acceptance. Jesus said that we should love our enemies, love our neighbors. Buddhism teaches peace and the personal path to enlightenment. I don't know exactly what other religions teach, but I'm willing to bet it's not bloodshed and violence. (The only religion I've seen that taught the eye-for-an-eye standpoint was Satanism, but I don't consider that a realistic religion. My apologies to all the satanists out there.) [Sloth: Double apologies, I gotta stick with him.. you guys don't have a leg to stand on. I mean.. come on.. your religion is based on self indulgence? Too easy guys.] The point at which religion is taken too far is when people decide it a reasonable and logical thing to go out and kill thousands of people, for the sole reason that they don't believe the same thing you believe. [Sloth: I yojne gnipyt sgniht sdrawkcab..] This does nothing good for either side, as the people who are killing people are generally going against the religion their fanatical faith has been based on, meanwhile making it impossible for those people to join the religion. And for the non-believers that have been killed, they lose out on experiencing the rest of a normal life. They're dead. "There's no coming back, man. There's no coming back." (Subtle props to The Crow)
Religions should be about peace and faith, love and understanding, unification of the human race into one great people, one big happy family. Humans have been separated into races, religions, looks, sexes, languages, and nations. We all came from one place, though. We all evolved from one race. And on the inside, we're all the same. What's different is entirely what you make of it. Seriously. The differences are all in your head. We're all human, we're all animals. We all have the same basic drives, desires, and needs. We all believe something of the same idea. We all (for the most part) understand that killing is wrong, and that we should get along with each other and share. I mean, seriously, they taught us that in first grade. "Let's play the sharing game, kids." [Sloth: I always hated that game.] But for some reason, as we grow older, the rules of first grade no longer apply. Why is this? Why is it that a first-grader can share and play well with others and be nice to kids no matter what race or religion they are, while a forty-year-old in a suit must save all his belongings, spare none for anybody, crush those he considers his opponents with a shiny polished shoe, and hate other people just for how they look or what they believe? Why is this? [Sloth: Because people sometimes enjoy being crushed with polished shoes?] This is because that's what society has led him to do. [Sloth: Oh.] Society says that you aren't cool if you don't have this shirt, that you are a loser if you aren't a millionare. [Sloth: Consider me a laser. Oh.. you said loser. Well shit.] Society says that other races and creeds are out to get you, so you should hate them and hunt them down before they do the same to you.
Fuck society. [Sloth: Gross.]
I say we look beyond the physical, material realm of idiocy and selfishness, and look at the world from the eyes of a child. Safe, secure, loving, and carefree. "Hey Billy, can I borrow your tonka truck?" "Sure, Susan, here you go!" It's so simple! Or so it would seem. Of course, knowledge shows us things. History shows us things, introduces ideas that weren't there before. I mean, who as a child really understands war? Who as a child thinks that it's okay to kill someone because they have something you want, or because they're different than you? The answer: nobody. The only way it would be different is if there were adults telling them otherwise.
I am rambling. I guess what I've been trying to say here is that, right now, the world is messed up. Almost beyond repair. But if we act now, if we spread the truth about these things, maybe there could be hope. We need a revolution, not of violence, but of knowledge and faith. We need an intellectual revolution. We need a peaceful revolution. And we need it now. [Sloth: Maybe.]
I think that war is and has always been wrong, and Sloth agrees with me. But sometimes it can be neccessary. Though I think that there could be better alternatives. For example, assassination. [Sloth: We charge by the hour.] Hire trained professionals to go out and kill the leaders of these corrupt dictatorships, destroy the men on top. Hitler for example. I believe that total world war could have been avoided, had we taken the time to just assassinate the leaders and remove the leading force behind the resistance. I don't consider this war, I consider this taking out a deranged threat. I still believe that we could do without the slaughter of innocent people. Sometimes it takes a large mass of people to take out a threat, and thus wars erupt. But still, this is wrong. I wish so much that there were a better alternative. [Sloth: Problem - People don't like seeing their leaders assassinated unless they got it done themselves..]
When a person is charismatic, they attract people. They have power over those people, to an extent. And, if they know how, they can use that minimal power in a sort of priveledge-escalation attack on their mind, giving them even more power. [Sloth: The term is "successive approximations" - You get away with a little and you keep pushing] Persuasion and manipulation, coupled against weak minds, can lead to cults and religious fanaticism of the worst kinds. Add a maniacal leader (such as Hitler) and put him in the spotlight, and more people follow. You amass a large following. Those people seem to believe that they are right, that what has been told to them is good and true. If what they've been told to be good and true is that they should kill people who aren't like them, then naturally they'll do so.
I don't claim to know truly how everything works, it just does. And then you get religious extremism like that of Osama and Adolf, hordes of followers, a jihad of sorts against another race, creed, or country, and war insues. Someone throws a punch, you punch back. That seems to be the way humans do things. I just think that if you focused on finding and eradicating the leaders of said groups, the war would end much sooner.
I am a pacifist. I always have been, and I believe I always will be. I find no need for violence in my life. I believe that things can be settled better with words, not fists. And I believe in living passively in most ways, being kind and respectful instead of confrontational. I've never really had to fight for anything, and so far my life has been alright. I don't think that if I had fought for anything my life would be any better. [Sloth: If I don't have the energy to punch someone in the face.. I solemnly doubt you do. You're more lazy than I am.]
I'm also a revolutionary, or at least I'd like to think so. I think that the world is very much in a bad place right now, and it needs to change. The world needs to evolve. We need to let go of our selfish human nature and learn to live peacefully with each other. We need to learn that family and love and peace are more valuable and important than war or money or power. [Sloth: God, you're so mushy.] Faith is generally a good thing. We should be accepting of one another's beliefs. We shouldn't have wars with each other because we believe different things, we should discuss with each other what we think, with open minds, and grow stronger in the process. Faith should be something that brings us together as humans, not something that drives us apart. Pretty much every religion I've seen (save for a few) teach peace, love, understanding, and acceptance. Jesus said that we should love our enemies, love our neighbors. Buddhism teaches peace and the personal path to enlightenment. I don't know exactly what other religions teach, but I'm willing to bet it's not bloodshed and violence. (The only religion I've seen that taught the eye-for-an-eye standpoint was Satanism, but I don't consider that a realistic religion. My apologies to all the satanists out there.) [Sloth: Double apologies, I gotta stick with him.. you guys don't have a leg to stand on. I mean.. come on.. your religion is based on self indulgence? Too easy guys.] The point at which religion is taken too far is when people decide it a reasonable and logical thing to go out and kill thousands of people, for the sole reason that they don't believe the same thing you believe. [Sloth: I yojne gnipyt sgniht sdrawkcab..] This does nothing good for either side, as the people who are killing people are generally going against the religion their fanatical faith has been based on, meanwhile making it impossible for those people to join the religion. And for the non-believers that have been killed, they lose out on experiencing the rest of a normal life. They're dead. "There's no coming back, man. There's no coming back." (Subtle props to The Crow)
Religions should be about peace and faith, love and understanding, unification of the human race into one great people, one big happy family. Humans have been separated into races, religions, looks, sexes, languages, and nations. We all came from one place, though. We all evolved from one race. And on the inside, we're all the same. What's different is entirely what you make of it. Seriously. The differences are all in your head. We're all human, we're all animals. We all have the same basic drives, desires, and needs. We all believe something of the same idea. We all (for the most part) understand that killing is wrong, and that we should get along with each other and share. I mean, seriously, they taught us that in first grade. "Let's play the sharing game, kids." [Sloth: I always hated that game.] But for some reason, as we grow older, the rules of first grade no longer apply. Why is this? Why is it that a first-grader can share and play well with others and be nice to kids no matter what race or religion they are, while a forty-year-old in a suit must save all his belongings, spare none for anybody, crush those he considers his opponents with a shiny polished shoe, and hate other people just for how they look or what they believe? Why is this? [Sloth: Because people sometimes enjoy being crushed with polished shoes?] This is because that's what society has led him to do. [Sloth: Oh.] Society says that you aren't cool if you don't have this shirt, that you are a loser if you aren't a millionare. [Sloth: Consider me a laser. Oh.. you said loser. Well shit.] Society says that other races and creeds are out to get you, so you should hate them and hunt them down before they do the same to you.
Fuck society. [Sloth: Gross.]
I say we look beyond the physical, material realm of idiocy and selfishness, and look at the world from the eyes of a child. Safe, secure, loving, and carefree. "Hey Billy, can I borrow your tonka truck?" "Sure, Susan, here you go!" It's so simple! Or so it would seem. Of course, knowledge shows us things. History shows us things, introduces ideas that weren't there before. I mean, who as a child really understands war? Who as a child thinks that it's okay to kill someone because they have something you want, or because they're different than you? The answer: nobody. The only way it would be different is if there were adults telling them otherwise.
I am rambling. I guess what I've been trying to say here is that, right now, the world is messed up. Almost beyond repair. But if we act now, if we spread the truth about these things, maybe there could be hope. We need a revolution, not of violence, but of knowledge and faith. We need an intellectual revolution. We need a peaceful revolution. And we need it now. [Sloth: Maybe.]