Muslim Brotherhood, Occan Islamic Combatant Group, Abu Sayyaf, Abu Nidal Organization, Aum Shinrikyo, Euskadi Ta, Askatasuna, al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya, Hamas, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Al-Qaeda, Islamic Jihad Union, al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, People’s Mujahedin of Iran, Army of Islam, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, Nusra Front —
These are just the more recognizable terrorist organizations in the Middle East listed on Wikipedia.
Of course they all have in common their Islamic roots and goals for world dominance. Can you imagine our president or any president trying to negotiate individually with all of these people and their various beliefs? Even I might have a tough time doing that.
I have read translations of the Koran as well as several books tracing the history of these beliefs. Trying to understand these thousand-year-old theories and fit them into the modern world is beyond our capabilities, yet we must deal with them on a day-to-day basis and risk many lives in the process.
The thing I find most difficult to absorb is the fact that they, as well as other religious groups have a firm belief in a “Supreme Being” who is generous, kind and loving, but in many cases seems ready to approve of the killing in the most brutal manner of any who do not believe in him and pray in a particular manner.
It just doesn’t make sense.
Perhaps I should start my own religion. I‘ll call it Sochinism. The only rules will be “do unto others,” etc. No killing, no mayhem, just being kind and helpful to others. (If you wish you may send money in cash c/o this newspaper to help support this ideal. Mark all envelopes “CASH ENCLOSED.”)
Much to my TV companion’s disgust, I spend many hours watching shows on TV like Through the Wormhole and How the Universe Works.
This is what I have learned so far. Our planet Earth is one tiny, tiny spot in a galaxy called the Milky Way. It is so small, that is virtually impossible to find when looking at the galaxy as a whole, because there are billions of other planets, stars, suns, and whatever all residing within our Milky Way.
Now get this: there are literally millions of galaxies as big and some even larger than our Milky Way, each one containing probably billions of planets just like ours, many with the possibility of sustaining life, not necessarily as we know it, but as some other form that may exist.
Can you imagine, this Supreme Being actually monitoring and watching all of these billions of planets at the same time and fulfilling the dreams of all those who pray to him or her. I am the vice mayor of almost 43,000 people and sometimes find this extremely taxing. Imagine me trying to run several hundred million planets. One thing is for sure — I would have many, many meetings to attend. Budget meetings might take eons to resolve.
So how did we all get here? My educated theory is that someone billions of years ago was messing around with an atom and not knowing what it was managed to smash it creating the “Big Bang” that eventually led to the formation of our universe. Of course it took many billions of years for this to happen, but here we are today.
You would think that after the millions of years that we have been on this planet we would realize how truly insignificant we are and try desperately hard to understand one another and find a way to get along. So far, we haven’t and things in the future do not look too bright. Haven’t we learned anything over these many years?
Contact the Exalted Leader of Sochinism at community@sochin.com or read his worldly thoughts at www.sochin.com.
