Humanity

The amount of planets discovered in the past decade is mind boggling. Breakthroughs in medicine, technology, archeology, and anthropology etc. are being produced at increasing volumes yet the masses are seemingly oblivious to the knowledge being produced that could change mankind. Considering that even the Catholic Church has now admitted the extraterrestrial life may exist despite decades of vehement denials you would assume that at the very least 6 million supposed devoted worshipers of the Church and its various sects would at least discuss astronomy and the impact living in a universe a billion times larger than previously thought. The possibility that life exists somewhere else in the universe is all but certain but discussions concerning extra-terrestrial life in the media is confined to Hollywood blockbusters. Most people throughout the world would agree that Man has truly advanced over his ancient ancestors but I would argue that the majority of people on this planet today have much more in common with their forbearers than they would be willing to admit. In the last 2000 years, wars have been waged on nearly every continent on the globe. Millions and millions have died, struggled, and suffered beneath the hands of their own kind, other men. When a human being takes the life of another I make no distinction of race, religion or creed. For the sake of this argument I view Man as the highest ranking species on this planet and our differences are grains of sand in the vast ocean of our similarities. Yet despite our arrogance concerning our advances we still fail to apply logic to the most divisive conflicts man has allowed to permeate life.  These conflicts generally center on religion, race, politics, class systems and social systems i.e. communism, socialism, democracy etc. and despite the most pervasive arguments these clashes generally boil down to differences in opinion which somehow results in blood shed. Without delving into the differences within religion it is safe to assume that nearly every world religion has a set of belief systems and doctrine adhered to by supposed followers. Nearly all of these religions from Buddhism, to Hinduism, Christianity, and Judaism require strict adherence to the teachings and belief systems generally promoting peace and life yet the disagreement between the entities result in violence, oppression and massacre. Nearly every major revolution or system of oppression and violence has been steeped in religious philosophy (or the rejection of) yet human survival is dependent on us as humans to stop killing and oppressing each other. A utopia is a fool’s vision, but a world where logic and reason dominate and religious doctrine, political ideology and socio-cultural differences serves only to motivate is essential to the success of humanity.

Nina Davis