Why Struggle to Understand What Goes on Half a World Away?

The problem is that hatred begets more hatred and so becomes a self-sustaining cancer that decimates the entire body, not just one side or the other.

Children in Libya. Photo: The Gentle Awakening

(HARRISVILLE, N.H.) - I am trying to understand what is happening in the Middle East... the turmoil, the violence, and what appears to be the never-ending hatred. I am guessing that there are others who are struggling to understand this as well.

Hatred is not something a human being is born with... It is a cultivated crop. Until we stop those who sow the seeds of hatred and those who cultivate and nourish it as it grows, the violence, maiming, and killing will never end.

Whether love and brotherhood are strong enough crops to overpower hatred remains to be seen but as long as there are those who uproot the occasional and rare plantings of love and brotherhood, as if they were noxious weeds, it is doubtful that progress will be made.

It will take a very special individual or group indeed, to gain the trust of both sides (if that is possible at all) and put an end to the violence.

Some believe that the Bible and/or the Koran are to blame for the ongoing violence and hatred. They believe that these books preach intolerance of another’s beliefs. They believe that one or the other book issues directives that instigate violence.

It may be worth examining those beliefs and ask the question whether it is the books or the interpretation of those books that actually create problems.

I personally would not blame a book for the problems that exist. The Bible and the Koran both contain teachings and directives that can be construed as either positive or negative. We have to remember that men wrote both of these books. Where man is involved in the writing, we are exposed to opinion.

When other men read those stories and opinions, we are exposed to interpretations. Ten men can read the same excerpt and walk away with differing interpretations... none of which was really what the writer originally intended.

Think of this: A man has his parents, wife, and children killed by an enemy rocket or bomb. When that same man reads the Bible or Koran, which interpretation will take hold? For that man, I doubt that it will be the more positive interpretation.

During the Second World War, the British welcomed men from Poland, France, and other European countries into the British Commandos. They trained them well and turned them loose on key missions in their native lands. The belief was that a man whose entire family was killed by Nazi aggression made the best fighter. If you think about it, that is hard belief to argue with. A hatred that would burn so brightly that it would be impossible to quench would almost certainly be the result of such a loss.

If we can have this...

Then why on earth can't we have this?

I fear that this is exactly what Israel and Palestine are dealing with. Certainly, families from both sides of the Palestine/Israel issue are dealing with that exact situation.

You and I can both look at the issue and realize that until both the Israeli and the Palestinian recognize each other as being brothers, peace will not be achieved... but we are not the men from either side who have buried their families as a result of either a Palestinian rocket or an Israeli bomb.

The problem is that hatred begets more hatred and so becomes a self-sustaining cancer that decimates the entire body, not just one side or the other. Just as with cancer, the surgical excision of hatred is rarely (if ever) completely successful.

All too often, a single cell is missed during the excision and is left to grow elsewhere in the body to rear its head at a later date. If the body’s own immune system can be trained to recognize and destroy cancer cells, a cure could be achieved.

Just as the scientists of the world struggle with how to bring this about in the battle with cancer, the peace-makers and diplomats of the world struggle with getting warring factions to recognize hatred and bring their own immune systems into play, potentially replacing hatred with love, understanding, and brotherhood.

I fear that finding a cure for hatred is as difficult (if not more so) as finding a cure for cancer.

The battle against hatred will be a long and difficult battle and the effort required will be massive but the alternative is to see ever more children crying in pain and shaking with fear, mothers trying to comfort dying sons in the street, people hungry and thirsty, disease running rampant, and war and killing becoming a way of life.

Education can bring about understanding and understanding can bring about tolerance. Publications such as Salem-News.com can help with the education.

If the reader makes an effort to understand that which he reads, a higher level of tolerance can be attained.

So, is it worth the effort... is it worth the struggle? Without a doubt, YES, it is... but, that is just my opinion!

Writer Robert Collinsworth is an American who isn't hesitant to talk about the good side of his country, and that is a welcome thing in this day and age. Salem-News.com admittedly, is very critical of both American politics, as well as those of other nations that we perceive is being wrong in their motives and actions. At the same time, within these structures we criticize, are many outstanding people who make each day a better place for all those around them. They embody and personify the American spirit that is sometimes fleeting, but always present.

These are some of the things Robert takes into account when writing commentary that is designed reach people, to "get them thinking" in his words, and indeed it does. Salem-News.com's goal is for all people to be on the same page, we appreciate Bob's more conservative approach toward that same goal."

You can write to Bob Collingsworth at this email address: colli2@webryders.net