A member of the Khabour Guards (MNK) Assyrian Syrian militia, affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), walks in the ruins of the Assyrian Church of the Virgin Mary, which was previously destroyed by Islamic State (IS) group fighters, in the village of Tal Nasri south of the town of Tal Tamr in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on November 15, 2019. The few Assyrian Christians who escaped the Islamic State group invasion in 2015, and did not choose to emigrate, now anxiously watch the advance of Turkish forces toward their villages in southern Hassakeh province. Ankara is still trying to gain ground despite two ceasefire agreements reached last month to put an end to its offensive against the Kurdish-dominated region. Turkey had launched the offensive on October 9 to push back from its border the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and deemed a "terrorist" group by Ankara. Picture: AFP / Delil Souleiman
How long can humans go on fighting each other for nothing, rendering millions homeless?
Will the world ever reach a stage when religions unite in spirit through tolerance and totally discarding fanaticism?
Irony of ironies, love is the golden thread that all faiths have as their main tenet, but to which so few adhere.
With globalisation, is it not possible to create a single community – and why not a one-world government with a single global marketplace, financially regulated by one central bank using one global currency? One set of universal values and a universal legal system?
These are not my questions – I’m incapable of raising such deep stuff. They appear in Andy McNab’s book Whatever it Takes and it’s the hero embarking on a mission to get good people aboard to form a new world order. Food for thought for the thinkers, not doffies like me.
The present world order is a total mess. Governments are corrupt and, in many instances, led by despots. Poverty persists among the majority. Wars by religious factions continue unabated with millions of innocent civilians either being murdered, maimed and raped, or having to become refugees in countries where they’re unwelcome.
How is it that in a world that’s technologically advanced, these barbaric atrocities persist? Why can’t humans get it right?
We’re able to go to the moon (and probably to Mars soon), invent computers to do miracles like creating robots which almost function like humans. Surgeons are capable of overhauling parts of the body that before simply led to early deaths. Sports people keep breaking records with superhuman effort.
Yet we can’t love our neighbour. Despite all this brain power, we act like idiots. Despite churches, cathedrals, mosques and synagogues, the world is spiritually sick. Heartless.
McNab gives vent to personal frustration by creating a world governed by capable and caring people whose only mission is to serve through what he calls a universal welfare system, doing away with poverty and wretchedness.
Too good to be true? Doffie? Probably, but what an enticing thought.
Cliff Buchler.
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