Sunday musings in July

Well, it's been a mighty interesting couple of weeks. I've vacillated between anger and depression so many times that I feared a self-inflicted case of whiplash.

Not long after I posted my blogs about idealism and the World Peace Forum, the relative calm in the Middle East literally exploded. The irony wasn't lost on me.

I started a number of posts to address the current middle east situation, all of which ended up in my discard/reconsider folder because they made me sound like a ranting lunatic. In effect, they were the equivalent of a hair-ripping, teeth-gnashing, primal scream.

Something along the lines of, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!!"

Just an excerpt from one of the non-published posts:

"I'm sick of the political rhetoric. I'm sick of the ineffective UN. I'm sick of apologists for all sides. I'm sick of any ideology, political system, country, or religion that uses violence and killing of innocent civilians as a means to achieve their goals. I'm mad as hell!"

You get my drift.

As far as the depression; I was ready to retreat to a cabin on a mountaintop somewhere – anywhere – to live out my life in peaceful solitude while the powers-that-be blow up the world. Obviously, I decided against this tactic -– though it is tempting. The optimistic part of me won out and I'm going to 'stay the course' (she says sarcastically). Surely, saner minds will prevail and end this mess.

I won't go into detail about my political leanings, but anyone who knows me, even moderately well, knows that I'm a peace-loving, anti-war, small "l" liberal going back to the '60s. Back in those days, I'd have been what some people called a pinko, left-wing, hippie, peacenik. I didn't care then and I don't care now if that's how I'm perceived because my attitude towards war and violence is as strong, if not stronger, now, than in my youth.

When I'm older, I'll probably be one of those "grannies against war" that you see demonstrating on the news every so often – usually as a "cute" addendum to regular news coverage. It's time people took them seriously. Who else has seen more in terms of the devastation and human suffering caused by wars?

I believe in the saying, "Violence begets more violence". It becomes a never-ending cycle of getting the other guy before he strikes first; paying back the other guy for striking first; teaching the other side a lesson; the other side responding with another "lesson"; and on and on it goes. There must be another way.

I think I'll just end this blog with some Bob Dylan song lyrics:

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky
How many years must one man have
Before he can hear people cry
How many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind.

(For you, StillILearn)