The 900 year old al- Nuri mosque in
Mosul has been destroyed in the battle to dislodge the Islamic state.
The twin Buddha's from Afghanistan have been destroyed by the
Taliban. In Palmyra the Garcia Roman city has been wrecked and the
curator of its treasures sacrificed his life rather than reveal their
location. Nearly 1800 years ago the Christian church destroyed the
art works of ancient history preserved by the ancient Egyptians for
thousands of years. The Conquistadors of Spain destroyed ravaged and
melted down the treasures of the Inca and the Aztec
.The plague brought in the clothes
of the missionaries killed 90% of the native people. Some years
later the American government sold blankets laced with smallpox to
the native peoples of North America. The Nazis stole the treasures
of Europe and the bombers of the RAF destroyed the Dresden Cathedral
through carpet bombing and killed over 30,000 people many of whom
had a long history of resistance to the Nazis . When we become
convinced that there is only one way, one true belief, a right one
and a wrong one we decline We start the process by burning books, we
end by burning people .
The grey bearded male saviors with
one book or bible begin the process, . In many cases their words
were well meant but the problem was more to do with the monotheism
of their followers. Free me from saviors, give me multiple metaphors
and lens of meaning . Give us a savior from saviors and freedom from
a monotheism of politics, religion, spirituality and identity. Free
us from binaries and a priesthood of technology , learning , faith
and perception. Give us the tools to think critically, the education
to access knowledge and openness to give us a route to the source of
knowledge. And teach us to oppose the denial of scholarship but give
us the ability to be critical of those fanatics and fools who are
sure if themselves. Give us the capacity to know that all our views,
perceptions and problems comes from being too human....
There are many who want simple
solutions to complex problems. They fear a decline in absolute
values beings and institutional imperfections are perfect it is
through the damaged heat and thee crack in everything (paraphrasing
Oscar Wilde and Leonard Cohen) that is the path to salvation...all
else is projection and displacement of others....
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