The Warpfish Chronicles

"28 years on the planet, and I still haven't figured out what's going on."

Around the World, Warpfish Style V -- March 15th, 2002

This usually raises some questions because I'm a Christian. People wonder how can I listen to a song that questions God's existence?

The answer is simple -- I listen to the song, because it asks questions that I've been asking all my life. It's these questions that ensured that it took me a long time to accept God -- simply because, there are very few Christians out there who are willing to listen to them. Instead of using Faith to reinforce, to help, to love, they use it as armour -- to listen to the things they want to listen to, and ignore the rest.

Instead of challenging their Faith, they become complacent with it, they stop growing it, they stop developing it. So it becomes stagnant, and, in the worst cases, it withers and dies. It becomes a hollow shell, it becomes empty words and gestures, it becomes ritual, with no passion behind it. And people are so scared, they ignore anything that might re-ignite the passion, for fear that they might have to consider what they've done, and, realize that it might not have been the best thing to do.

Faith is a very human thing, and as such, it gets wrapped in all the "humanness" we have -- all the good, and all the bad.

And, to me, Faith is something to be challenged and tested and enjoyed and laughed at, and laughed with, and sung to the world and talked about quietly. But, it also gets rammed down other people's throats, it's used to maim and kill, it's used to oppress and stagnate, it's used as an excuse.

Faith should be about laughing, loving and living, not crying and dying.

And as to my own answers to 'Dear God'? I've got some, still searching for others. One of these days I'll figure it out. Or, maybe I won't. But, at least, I'll have walked the journey.

I've talked in the past about how important resonsibility is; that being responsible for your actions and decisions is a key aspect of being an adult. There are many 'adults' who don't understand this responsibilty or, more sadly, delibrately ignore it. A lot of the time, you can avoid the conflict with these people; a lot of the time, you can live with it; A lot of time, you can negotiate.

I think though, it's very important to recognize that there comes a point where you have to say 'Enough!', draw the line, and fight hard -- otherwise, these people will walk right over you, and take over or destroy everything you hold dear.

Some would argue that, by fighting, you become as 'evil' as the people you're fighting against. It's important to note that what we fight for and how we fight and who we fight are critical in determining the nature of the fight. Fighting should be avoided, but it shouldn't be avoided at all costs. If you refuse to defend yourself, one day, somebody will take you for all you hold dear.

And this isn't meant to be about international relations. This meant to be about the person who walks into your office and never returns your office supplies -- this is about the person who can't keep their mouth shut and ruins your social group -- this is about the person who ignores your opinions and your well-being and threatens to drive them into the ground.

To quote from a favourite TV show of mine: "Sometimes peace is just another word for surrender."

Even the vaunted Saudi solution doesn't really solve anything; all it does is try and keep the combatants separated. I fear that this is one of those situations in history (and there are so many of them), where it will end only when one side or the other is completely and utterly defeated and broken.

The monkey is still close to the surface in all of us. We still haven't learned to share. We still haven't learned to forgive. There comes a time when you have to forget history and start over again. This is not a case where peace is the same as surrender, though, I'm sure the militant minority would say otherwise.

That's what actually sickens me the most. For as much as both sides say they're fighting for their people, most people just want to be left alone, to watch their children grow up. Why can't they realize this? Is hate all they have left? Northern Ireland, Middle East, Columbia; the list goes on. It's hard for people here in Canada to understand that much hate, more so if you don't read history. Most of us have never had to deal with it. We are so lucky here in Canada, and we take it for granted, and we threaten to let it slip away for really stupid reasons.

So, we just watch the Middle East, and pray that when the storm comes, it doesn't take the rest of the world with it. And pray for all those poor souls, on either side, who will be caught up in it, for the hate of a few.

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