I am feeling perplexed, angry, helpless, and sad. Mostly, I am acutely curious about why  people of the human race continually exhibit hatred toward other humans. Why does there seem to be such disregard for the sanctity of an individual’s life and rights? I realize this is not a new trend. It has obviously been going on since the beginning of recorded history. It probably isn’t much different today than it was in the past, but, with our modern media system, we certainly are more aware of the global impact.

Stories of wars, genocide, abuse, murder, aggression, slavery, executions, terrorism, etc. are found throughout history. Sometimes they are perpetrated in the name of a god. Other times the obsession with power and possessions is the driving force. Whatever the cause, evil happens.

So, you ask, what brought on this sudden concern? Actually, it isn’t all that sudden. I think about it a lot. However, I will admit that a spike in my feelings happened as I was reading  a book entitled The Flight of the Sparrow by Amy Belding Brown. In this book the author tells the story of an actual woman named Mary Rowlandson, who was the wife of a Puritan Minister in colonial New England.

Mary was captured by Indians, and came to realize that they weren’t as “savage” as the Puritans believed. The fact is that the Native Americans have only tried to defend what they thought was theirs. The Colonial English, the French, the Spanish, and certainly the Americans have systematically invaded and occupied their lands. It is believed by some that Native Americans have occupied this continent for more than 25,000 years. If this sort of invasion happened today, the USA would be quick to condemn the aggression, and might even join a military campaign against the perpetrators.

Very frequently we hear of mass murders by an individual with some sort of  problem and access to guns. We hear of suicide bombers. Genocide is occurring in many areas of the world. Prejudice is still rampant in our country, as well as other parts of the world.

I suppose by now you are waiting for my magical solution to this global situation. I have none. I do believe that humans are inherently good, and that fear, hatred, and prejudice are learned. If, somehow, we could guarantee that the children of the world remained innocent and caring, maybe this would be the magical solution. Unfortunately, we are not in charge of all the children, or what they are being taught.

In order to leave this post on a slightly more positive note, I will share a couple of quotes. The first one is from the character playing Leonardo da Vinci on the series Da Vinci’s Demons. He said, “Hell happens when the evil of the world exceeds our belief that we can conquer it.” Albert Einstein said, “The world is an evil place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”

I should feel better after getting this off my chest, but I don’t. Maybe this post is my small contribution to coping with the problem. I hope so.

Note: I usually add photos to my posts to illustrate certain elements, but I really did not want to show any evil in this post.