Terrorism and religious fundamentalism

There is so much talk of terrorism and religious fundamentalism as if there is nothing else going on in the world.

Is the human race truly a species of violence with no escape or is all this talk and activity just a way of ensuring we remain a violent species until the last person on earth dies? At least the last may die peacefully. We talk of religious fundamentalism, of whatever religion, as if we are a free people but they are not with their religious rules. I ask whether any of us are free or are we just as conditioned as those terrorists that we condemn? Are we too blind to the hate in our own minds?

The western nations have done terrible acts in the name of national interest and all organized religions have carried out appalling campaigns at some time. We excuse our own and condemn the other on a regular basis.

Are we reduced to shouting and killing across national and religious divides until there is no one left or are we going to look at ourselves and understand the root of our aggression, hate, violence, envy and fear?

The religious, national and political warring is only the outward result of our inward chaos, conflict, insecurity and sorrow. Surely we need to start with ourselves not following the dictates of others; how can they know what is the truth for another.

If one is so insecure, afraid and have such a burning desire to belong to something external to help you through life, then should you not question whether you are actually alive and working it out as you go along or whether you are just pretending to be alive and only following what others have told you what to think. Are you just acting on conclusions that the mind, with all its contradictions and conditioning, has made up from the words that others have fed you for their own needs?

The beauty of life and the world we call earth cannot be measured by external political and religious dogma however appealing it may appear to those of us desperate for any solutions to ease our fears and insecurities concerning life and its meaning. Are we not in danger of destroying the whole of human life if we continue in this self centered way of my belief is right and yours is wrong.

Is it not time to be serious about our hate of one another and get to the bottom of it before it is too late. We can start with seeing what is in our daily life rather than just believing in someone else's ideology.

Can your planet sustain you?

Winter rain lashes the windows and in this part of the world the sun is low and the light poor. Nature has been sheltering with greens rotting to brown and most soils and trees are bare. This dormant and cool period lasts a short time until our endless planetary journey moves us into warmth and longer, stronger daylight once again and green returns to the landscape.

Without humans this story continues and the purity of it is unobstructed. The human species with its successful breading and colonisation seems not to know reflection and understanding of the wider issues and just thinks it can forever grow, reproduce, spread and somehow magically the planet will cope with our selfish and petty desires.

No nation or major organisation appears to want to deal with the possibility of ever increasing growth leading to the destruction of nature and therefore the human species. Perhaps some think the powerful and wealthy few, those who control the nations and large organisations, can survive whatever lies ahead.

One doesn't know what may happen as we continue to blindly develop, but to rely on technological fixes at the 11th hour is surely lacking in foresight.

One has to question our so-called intelligence and wonder why we cannot understand and deal with our own selfish desires and fears, that even if they do not turn the planet into a wasteland, still cause us so much grief and conflict in our daily lives.