Primal Stuff ...

Two primal emotional forces --  love and fear -- are experienced in personal relationships, of course, but also on a grand scale in terms of national and international relations.  I spent some time this afternoon trying to understand how fear (certainly not love) could be an operative in the current abhorrent mass killings in Iraq.  Some of the internet comments following the news article cite age-old cultural and religious hatreds as the cause. While I know this is true, to me the causative vibe is that of a seething, virulent offshoot of fear, perhaps one that can pass from generation to generation.  It was terrible to see all those young unarmed men being marched to their deaths where they were shot repeatedly by hooded executioners -- who are probably also young men.

I'm thinking, too, of the situation in our own country involving Sgt. Bergdahl, the recently returned American POW. Whatever the circumstances of his capture turn out to be, the overwhelming majority of news item comments lost no time in hurling judgement, condemnation, and hatred on this young man and his family.  I believe that this is a wrong thing to be doing.