In “A History of God” Karen Armstrong advocates that Almighty God revered by Abraham asked that Abraham sacrifice his son. God then switched Isaac for a Ram at the last moment to confirm that human sacrifices were not required. Pagans that deified many gods held that their Gods impregnated earth women and then deteriorated. To rejuvenate pagan gods required human sacrifice. By switching Isaac with a Ram, God verified that he was Almighty and did not want or need human sacrifice. Thus genuine Judaism, Christianity and Islam do not easily advocate war which is in truth human sacrifice.
Once again the drums of war are being beaten across the Middle East as the Iranians and Arab Royal families square-off in a familiar dance. The smell of war, the taste of death and the eerie echoes of terror fills the air. Already the abused bodies of innocent civilians lay amid the rubble of ruined homes.
Once again, behind the scenes, as before in Africa, South East Asia and like in South America the United States of America and the Russians are encouraging the impending doom and chaos which will tragically unravel. This time the Russians back the Iranians and Syrians while the USA support the Arab Royalty and others in Syria. In the mix are remnants of Al Qaeda rebranded as Islamic State.
The world has forgotten the familiar game that played out across Africa in places like Mozambique and Angola etc where the USA and Russia sponsored opposite sides while ordinary Africans died in their millions. Remember Renamo and Frelimo in Mozambique and UNITA and the MPLA in Angola.
Across South America, in Nicaragua the FSLN and Contras, in Bolivia, the ELN under Che Guevara, the USA and Russia fought proxy wars where millions of innocent ordinary people suffered and died.
Movies like “Rambo” and “Full Metal Jacket” etc. celebrated the horror of the Vietnam and Korean wars where the “yellow bastards” as the Asians were labelled by US marines, died by the millions.
While the theatre of war has endured in the Middle East for nearly a century, for continuity, old enmities are reignited so that the “sand niggers” as US marines label Arabs can kill one another. The Iran-Iraq, Afghan war and the war in Yemen is not enough; the complete region must be in-flames.
For a false sense of freedom, democracy, capitalism, socialism, anti-terrorism, globalism, civilization or any fabricated ism, the drums of war are being beaten.
Ironically the only people who will benefit from this or any other war are the oligarchs that control the “so-called” free world where democracy has been reduced to a vote every five years and little more. The oligarchs in Russia and the West will, if required, send their surplus poor and ignorant multitudes to war. This solves several problems, the oligarchs reduce their quantity of poor and semi-literate people; they make huge profit via testing and selling weapons which kill Arabs, Africans and others.
Questions that remain are; why are Africans, Asians and Arabs unable to resolve conflict without violence? Why do our leaders so easily choose violence and why can we not to learn from history?
In the words of the wise, since Almighty God honoured by Abraham Isaac and Ismail do not want human sacrifice, what is the underlining purpose of war and the need for humans to kill each other?
Cllr Yagyah Adams
Cape Muslim Congress