Why Believe

Believe in what. Why? Earl Plato
This is not my usual environmentally centred weekly nature article. It’s about human or inhuman nature. Yes, I am a ‘news junkie.’ CNN and Cable 14 repeatedly told me and showed me about the horrific spectacles of beheadings and car bombings in Iraq. Carl Wieland in an editorial entitled, The Power of Ideas, hit home with me. He said what you believe does matter. Those who perpetuated the atrocities were driven by certain ideas and beliefs. The Bible commands Christians to ‘do good to all’-Galatians 6:10. What do you believe? One acquaintance told me it doesn’t matter what you believe. He contended that belief in a supreme power is “just in your head.” Does it matter? Josef Stalin , dictator of Russia, was an avowed theist. No living God in his mind. History records that he killed millions of his people. What caused him to ruthlessly wipe out human life? Adolph Hitler murdered millions of Jews in ethnic cleansing as remembered at Auschwitz and other inhuman concentration camps. Down through the ages there have been unimaginable examples of “man’s inhumanity to man.” Many others too have carried out powerful ideas in recent years that resulted in the terrible losses of innocent lives. In their quest for power “The world belongs to the strongest” appears to be one of their beliefs. What they believed in made a tremendous difference. Again the question - What do you believe and in whom do you believe? It does make a difference. Do good and love your neighbours. Those are beliefs to live by in 2005. May those Iraqi people who believe in loving their fellow men and women be triumphant. We need more people in the world who know in what and whom they believe in 2005. Hopefully they will be constructive beliefs that build up human dignity. Beliefs that reveal a desire for a world of peace and concern for others is essential. Our Canadian responses to the “Tsunami” catastrophe shows mankind at its finest. That’s “man’s humanity to man. Believe in compassion and caring for our fellowman and yes, for our natural world too. This article was written last year and is a repeat.