There are millions of different species living on this planet, and each of those species has variations. They live in different places, they have different colours, they eat different things. The human species is made up of nearly 7.4 billion individuals and with the exception of identical siblings every single one of these has a totally unique DNA code. However the fact that all humans are genetically able to breed with all other humans (medical issues aside) proves that we are all still the same species regardless of what filters you use to separate people into groups.
Now here is the kicker, the human race is the only species out of the maybe even trillions of species on Earth that wage war on themselves. Yes a lion with fight another lion for dominance, but I have yet to hear of a lion sneaking into another pride with a coat full of explosives and setting it off purely because they believed their pride was better.
There is a lot of focus on the religious aspect of fighting, not just this week but almost every war ever fought has had some kind of religious disagreement at the base. "My god is better than your god" type stuff, or even more absurd "my way of believing in our god is better than your way of believing in our god". Now that last one seems to be the one causing the most amount of hatred at the moment, groups of people with a particular religion, interpreting the teachings of their faith in a violent and destructive way, then going out and publicly declaring their faith alongside an act of extreme violence. The upshot is that a lot of people get hurt, maybe even die, and an entire faith is put under scrutiny.
Here's the truth that transcends all acts of violence...
GODS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE.
You can argue the existence of a higher power all you like but this one truth will remain, it is humans that actually pull the triggers.
Now obviously this doesn't account for the large number of people who are killed in earthquakes, or lightning storms, so called acts of god. If you are going to subscribe to that one you will have to decide which god, if lightning kills someone was is Zeus or Thor, and did anyone actually see them throw the bolt or was it in fact a discharge of static electricity between highly charged atmospheric particles?
My final thought here is about my choice of title #RestInParis. Over the past 3 days thousands of people have lost their lives, thousands more have been injured, plus the families and friends of those who now have to deal with that loss and find a way to wade through the literal and metaphorical rubble left behind. Vicious attacks on normal people doing normal things. People in Libya, Paris, Germany, Beirut, Syria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq and probably a whole load more, have had their lives taken or ruined by people who believed that their beliefs where worth killing for. I chose Paris simply because it fits nicely with RIP, if RIB was a popular acronym I would have gone with Beirut. I have chosen not to offer prayers for Paris despite the high attention social media has on this, prayers can not heal the wounded or bring back the dead, it won't stop the fighting if the fighting is based on who can pray better. Instead I offer a message of peace and logical thought. It doesn't matter who you kill for, you can do it in the name of Voldemort for all it counts, the outcome is still the same. One person choosing to take the life of a fellow person.
#RestInParis
