First & foremost we humans are herd animals, my Friends, and as such we are pre-programmed to constantly be on the lookout for enemies and attack the same once we find them … Of course, it is just as true that, as highly evolved herd animals, we are pre-programmed to instinctively sacrifice with acts of generosity and kindness for those we have accepted into our own herd.

These are two primal psychological Truths that underlie every single sociological human interaction … They are at play when you encounter a stranger on the street, they are at play when you see a long-lost friend, and they are at play when nations go to war.

The problem is that for the last ten thousand years+ we humans have been employing the former dynamic with aggressive zeal and ignoring the latter Truth with entrenched ignorance. And unless we have the courage to very soon choose to engage & employ & enliven the latter instead of the former, we are truly and surely doomed.

The solution to ISIS is a very simple one, my Friends — Be the Bigger Nation. When they attack with bombs & bullets, we should respond with flowers and food. When they attack with vitriol & vileness, we should answer with Caring & Compassion … Yes, the more radical extremists among them would probably not be swayed by such acts of empathic enlightenment, this is true. AND YET every other person who witnessed these deeds of Kindness WOULD be swayed — every neighbor and every friend and every family member of every terrorist would have no choice but to admire & embrace such amazingly humble & moral gestures — and every one of them would be radically reminded that we are not two different, competing “herds”, but rather one single, potentially Loving Family …

And we would continue to drop sustenance & solace on these people — no matter how many times the few among them would answer with violence, the food & flowers & the forgiveness would continue to rain down upon them and their loved ones. And inevitably, they too would stop “biting the hand that feeds”; they too would realize that in killing us, they are killing themselves … and Peace would reign on Earth.

Now, the problem with this scenario is that it isn’t profitable to the “Gods of War” who are currently running the show. Obama & his wicked cronies (both those in Congress, as well as those in other western governments) know damn well that bombing the Middle East actually creates far more terrorists than it eliminates … And as far as they concerned this is all well and good — primarily because they don’t want peace in the Middle East. Peace isn’t profitable … They want war, because war is where the money is — and war means re-election … and so war they will have, come Hell or high water.

That means, of course, that PEACE IS UP TO US … WE have to be the ones who demand it, WE have to be the ones who protest for it, and WE have the be the ones who actively create it in our own communities. We have to be the ones to stand up to our “leaders” and demand that the drone-attacks stop, and we have to be the ones who reach out to the Muslims in our communities (and the fundamentalist Christians as well, whose open & bigoted condemnation of Islam is also a significant part of the problem) who are the key to making Islam the far more mellow faith that it one day could very well become.

Peace will not come from above, my Friends … WE must be the ones who shine forth the change we so desperately need to see … And we simply must start doing so TODAY.

Amen … Let it be so.

Filed under: The War on WAR by Scaughdt