It seems that there is one region of the world, or at least one region of the world exposed by our media, in which horrors never seem to cease. People will blame politicians, history, geographic boundaries and these are indeed all factors to be considered. Yet in this blog one of the primary aims is get right, deep down at the very core reasons as to why man treats man so inhumanely there. I intend to use all my intelligence (what there is of it) and aptitude for discerning truth to discover this. For we need something more than blame and rumours- we need truth. Peace- lasting peace- requires truth. So it must be the absence of truth that is making this region bleed tears of sorrow.
Now for some, the reason for the problems there can be explained quite simply- the very existence of Israel, a foreign implant in the Arab territorial sphere, that pushed aside native people in order to establish herself. Yet, considering that so little of the killing going on there is actually done by Israel, this claim necessitates wild conspiracy theories of terrorism solely being the work of Zionist agent-provocateurs. This is a real possibility- but at the same time an outrageous one and not much different from the historical penchant for 'blaming the Jews' whenever something goes wrong. The plain fact is that not only does Israel have a large Arab population- far larger than any Jewish population in any Arab country at present, but that they are too busy trying to survive and have a normal country to be responsible for absolutely everything that goes wrong there. Much less the atrocities being committed by 'militants' in the region. Something deeper is going on.
We have to see what is going on in the hearts of the people to see how they can act this way. There are an array of terrible emotions- fear, hatred, feeling of betrayal, false hopes in the success of violence. Yet, all of this is taking place in the 'Holy Lands', if one believes in such a thing. The cradle of the three 'great' monotheistic religions. Who could spoil all this work to make a paradisaical Earth for us all?
The answer, simply, is Satan. He, ultimately, is responsible for putting the evil thoughts in mens minds to do atrocious things. He is quite clearly corrupting the minds of the people there whose fear lets him in, so as to block as well as he can the dreams they have of a better life there. Of course, this all has a childish simplicity to it. But, it is the most basic truth of them all and the reason so much anger and confusion arises around this topic.
You can blame Israel or America. You can blame Britain's colonial legacy. You can blame the extremists and opportunists in Iran or Syria, or the displaced Palestinian refugees that have been treated so coldly by Arab and Jew alike. But it will do no good, it will only add fuel to the fire and another partisan voice to the cacophony.
Satan wants to wreck God's plans. Right there, in the middle of the Earth, the middle that we still instinctively place this way on our maps, was not just the cradle of the great religions, but also the cradle of civilisation. The first humans evolved there and were bred with by the 'gods'- advanced, angelic extra-terrestrials, who infused them with advanced DNA and taught them the basics of civilised life.
A little remains- the aforesaid religions, the Bible, things like the Pyramids and Karnak temple complex in Egypt. But this was once the area of Eden, the Arcadian beginning of it all. Part of a a kingdom that Satan would rather corrupt than serve under. So corrupt it he and his kingdom does- and no people would he more dearly love to turn from their maker than the Jews, the people who the living God chose to show and spread his messages. How could he bear to let them live in peace and prosperity so that God's plans be fulfilled?
Yet, at every turn, there is the constant stream of love, the stream of the spirit, around us. always, everywhere and every time. If we listen to it's voice, we too can be saved. The reason Jesus came, right back to this region, was to show quite clearly the appropriate way to live and know God. This isn't to say that Christians are necessarily closer to these teachings than other people- they could just be hypocrites or culturally respectful of them, but, as the Western nations, they are custodians of the way forward, whether they know it or not. This also isn't to detract from secular efforts- religion, especially wrong-headed religion can do the worst damage of all and to live Jesus' teachings is not to be religious in the conventional sense of that term- hence his constant refutation of the legalistic Pharasies who put the law and their traditions before love.
We have the way forward, we have the holy spirit- yet we also have a region of the world where not only are Christ's teachings as recorded in the gospels actually illegal to distribute in many countries- a sad fact and one no apologetics will do away with- but they are quite simply not being followed. The fact that certain aggressive westerners have given a bad image of these teachings here and elsewhere doesn't help- but the people deserve the chance to see them for themselves. In fact, ironic though it may be, the last place for these teachings to spread and be commonplace is the area from which they arose.
Hence we have the continual terrible events of the middle-East, a sandstorm of chaos hiding God's promises from view. But one day it will clear. One day the promises will come true. Which is why the peace of the middle-east, the mutual survival of her peoples and the preservation of their multicultural heritage is something worth fighting for. Something that will always be worth fighting for, at least until it fully arrives and the peacemakers' blessed mission is complete.
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