As Al Nuri is destroyed...... free us from saviours

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....