The first time I saw this bumper sticker I laughed and reflected on the effect such a blatant, in your face, challenge might evoke. This has one of almost everyone’s particular hang up facing a serious affront. Can you take it, or are you offended? This “poke in your eye” phrase is a test of tolerance. Just what do we tolerate, and reflecting on that, what does it say about us? I write hard and direct. I have taken a page out of my wife’s playbook. “If you don’t like my gate . . . don’t swing on it!” I am not asking you to delete this site from your browser I am attempting to share a reality. Everyone has his or her own reality.

We are raised by families that provide each of us with our basic understanding of life. The first things we tend to learn are to fear other ethnic groups. We are not born with this fear we are taught it. Up until relatively recently, different ethnic communities generally kept to themselves, understanding was not encouraged. Many of our elders are still stuck in this mindset. Many frequently use derogatory terms to describe any group that is not like them.

If our families haven’t started us (as children) down this intolerant path properly, then our schools get the next kick at you. Our schools are getting much, much, better however we start the competitive games off with a bang by; a school song, school colours, a slogan, a mascot and maybe even (most likely) a flag. Here we teach each other how to take sides. There is a good attempt at sportsmanship, like shaking each other’s hands at the end of the game, and some of our children get through this and maintain their perspective. The majority however ends up like those world cup soccer fans and wants to pummel the competition. “Death First!” The end result of this training is to rally around a flag. Nationalism. It’s us against them. And then of course there is religion. Most of us don’t choose our faith; we are inducted into it as an infant (look out Merv, dangerous territory here). Yes, before I go there let me digress a bit.

Our world is based on resource extraction. The very first signs of gold mining go back to legends 200,000 years ago. The Spaniards discovered that the Mayans were also mining gold. Everything our human race does is centered on the exchange of funds for the resources we extract. We fight over control of these resources. Just look at virtually every conflict and who controls the resources at the end of the war. Yes many of us have absolutely nothing to do with mining but a Country that has no resources is poverty-stricken. If they can produce a product to feed or supply a region that is extracting resources then they can do all right but the real wealth is in the resources. Here is a phrase to remember. “Those that get monetarily compensated the very most care the least for the environment, people and society (I draw your attention to executives of Oil companies here for the best example i.e. Shell in Nigeria), Those that care the very most and clean up the environment, take in the homeless and promote social responsibility are, for the most part, volunteers. Okay that’s enough digression, back to religion.

It is so easy for people to claim that religion causes war, “More wars are fought over Religion than anything else”, is the standard refrain. And it is such a lie. Faith and religion does not cause wars. Control of resources does. Religion is what is primarily used to get us to fight each other but that is not the whole story.

If you want to control a bunch of people, and politicians know this all too well, you get them fighting amongst themselves. And that is what is happening today all over the planet. It is a game I relate to the wonderful childhood game “Rock Paper Scissors”. If you don’t know it, I must describe it briefly. Rock, Paper, Scissors is for making a decision between two people. They tap their closed fists together three times, “One, Two Three!” and then on the last tap they immediately, no hesitation is allowed, take one of three firm hand positions. One position is a firm closed fist. This is the “Rock”. The next is an open flat hand. This is the “Paper” and the third is your index and middle finger spread wide. This is “Scissors”. Scissors cuts paper (scissors wins) but rock smashes scissors (rock wins) and the paper covers the rock (paper wins). The contestants have no idea, which will win. A tie (the same hand position) demands a replay.

We have been trained at a very early age to respond with intolerance and fear on three platforms as well and this applies to every region of the planet and to all people. It is the international resource control game of “Rock Paper Scissors”. Welcome to the adult version “Nationality Ethnicity Religion“. The one who wins is the one that is pulling the strings to get us to fight each other and it certainly is not God.

Wars have been started between Nations and we have observed different ethnic and religious groups fighting side by side against another Nation having similarly varied faith and races. Wars are also started between ethnic groups and we can observe two different ethnicities fighting within a nation belonging to the same faith, the French and English are the easiest example of that. And finally we can observe two religious doctrines massacring each other with great fervor within the same nation and being of the same ethnicity (how about another easy example, the Irish). And we sometimes get to see a whole mish mash like in Bosnia, Hertzegovina, in the former Yugoslavia. The reason we heard these names so much during that war is because these regions are where the mines are located. Virtually all wars are over control of resources. Has always been that way and it always will be. All the other news about the events before and after the war is to distract us from the truth.

It is not religion that causes or starts wars. It is our training to blindly follow what we are told; “Blind Faith” is that typical refrain. The best way to provide this blindness is to promote intolerance. So if, as I have been told, I have offended some by my bluntness, it is not intended as an affront. I want to promote understanding and tolerance. Compassion is what Jesus wanted us to learn. My greatest fear is that we continue to blindly play “Follow the Leader” as we were taught in grade school. So many lives have been sacrificed by following misguided leaders. It is teaching our children well, that will change the world. Most of us are already corrupted. Trust in your kids, the future.

Lately our media is promoting a gender conflict, how intolerant will we allow ourselves to stoop. Most all of us just want to provide food warmth and shelter for our children. I wonder what tolerance the media was “reporting” before the war started in Yugoslavia.