Dogma and Oil...
I found myself quite saddened by the news of 6 "soldiers"dying suddenly in Afganistan and then the news of 2 more being killed the next day...I was sad for their lost youth, for those who would suffer their losses, and saddened mostly for what I can only hold as the "senselessness" of it all.
And it was not about them being Canadian...but about their being human; because to grieve them without grieving for the many who die on the so called "other side" is to hold as true that some human beings are not equal or as valuable as others; that some deserve more of life than others...I don't believe that. In fact, I believe that holding such beliefs and attitudes contributes to the very thing I despise: War.
To me, war is still senseless. It is to me, a failure of men to recognize and respect each other's humanity, and every individual's autonomy. It is to compete at the level of our humanity, to declare to some authority that we are more worthy human beings than others...that we are right and that others are wrong...and usually ends up confirming the very thing that we started fighting the "others" about - their belief that they are "more worthy" than others in their country or there abouts . Talk about irony!
I am saddened by our seeming inability as 21st century human beings to find better ways, more intelligent ways, of "being" in the world....of living like 17th century barbarians, instead of claiming our personal identities, our autonomy, over "ourselves", rather than over others.
Dogma and Oil...of these two things, dogma, and the men who've perpetuated it have been the single largest culprits in history, at the epicentre of wars that have shaken the world. Its not so odd then that it is also the one thing that is at the cause of "de-humanizing" us; that it is the "thing" that has taught us that our bodies are impure and bad things with "desires" that we need to control and suppress...like a machine. There may have been a time, a context, in which doing so may have been a very useful thing to do...but ten I ask, Who for?
I really wonder whether that is still so today? Are we really that "unsafe"? Do we really need to go "outside" of our senses and sensitivities, and give our minds and hearts to external referencing, to "outsiders"??? Do we really live in a world (mindframe) that is so small as to not allow for the infinite posibilities and choices that are immediately available to us if we only allow ourselves to pay attention, and become aware, of what's going on deep inside?
I remain saddened....
creating at the rhythm of my breath,
RAY