A teacher of mine once raised the question of whether Rome really conquered Greece since Greece's ideas changed Rome so radically and may have been responsible for changing Romans from being pieces of a greater whole, to individuals concerned more with their personal advancement than the well being of their people as a whole.
This is not a simple question.
To quote a lyric from Sting "Men go crazy in congregations. They only get better one by one"
Is individualism necessarily selfish and nationalism necessarily selfless? I say no. Individuals stand up against oppression. And sometimes Nationalists will too. Nationalism also leads to an "Us vs Them" mentality. And the definition of "them" is surprisingly fluid. But even those who at first glance seem to be individuals acting in concert are just nationalists of a different stripe. They move as one in common purpose.
The fact that they are united behind an idea rather than a flag, that often demands alliegence beyond all reason, is certainly a point in their favor.
What seems to be missing from the current state of affairs is Reason. Reason holds beliefs to a standard that requires proof. I respect religious belief. I think it's a source of strength for alot of people when all else fails and it sometimes provides an avenue for making a leap of faith when that's the only path left that offers any hope at all.
But faith has a real fatal flaw built in. It demands that people believe in things absent any proof. Once a person has been accepted as speaking for/on behalf of God, people who believe in God are often predisposed to treat that person's words/ideas as beyond reproach. (See:The Pope)And there is nothing a politician likes better than a large group of people who will show up en masse to vote for ideas and policies that make no damn sense, based on nothing but the belief that the person selling them is a "Good Christian".
The ways this has corrupted Christianity in particular are beyond counting. The one that springs first to mind though is the prevalance of televangelists proclaiming in a loud voice that if you just believe, God will reward you with MONEY!
Seriously? From the same God who brought us classics like "The pursuit of money is the root of all evil"?
I mean, even as blind faith goes this is really REALLY bad. And the people who claim to be Christians while frothing at the mouth over those "damn politicians wanting to raise my taxes to pay for deadbeats who don't want to carry their own weight". Did they miss that whole "Give unto Caeser that which is Caeser's" thing? It was about money being an earthly concern and how "my father's kingdom is not of this world". But the modern carny folk of today's televangelists know their audience. People want money, promise it to them and they'll follow you anywhere.
Even if what you're preaching is counter to EVERYTHING they claim to believe.
But why do they want followers anyway? Remember what I said about people showing up to vote? The guy who can deliver people to the polls has power. Power those followers give him.
Remember I was talking before about Rome conquering Greece (or vice versa)? Alot of people look back on those ancient empires and think of how primitive they were. No cars, no computers, no technology at all as we know it.
But there was this guy named Ptolomey who was Alexander the Great's right hand man. And he did something truly remarkable, even by our modern standards.
He created a God.
See, after Alexander died and the inevitable fight was brewing about who would gain control of his empire, Ptolomey decided that he would focus his energies on holding onto Alexandria and making it clear that he was the rightful heir to Alexander.
One part of that process was creating stability between the three different groups inhabiting the city at that time. The Hebrews, the Egyptians and the Greeks. They had three different belief systems.
His solution? Serapis. A god that combined elements of all three belief systems. One god that all three groups could worship together.
He created a God to create Order.
Think about that.
No. I'm not trying to debunk anybody's Divine being. I've got one of my own. He's cool for the most part. Except when he goes MIA and I'm like "Dude WTF?".
I'm just sayin..."All that glitters... ain't God". Faith is a good thing but find it within. Seek your answers. Look for truth. Call out to God for it. Use every means at your disposal to reveal the nature of this here universe and take every chance you get to help every person you encounter who needs it. Not by shoving your own personal truth down their throat but by helping'em find their own. I grant you, its a complicated path sometimes. It lacks the comfort of battles fought alongside comfortable friends and obvious enemies.
It's a different kind of life. It'll be lonely at first but maybe not forever.
Or so I keep telling myself.
