Dear Editor:
Re: Attacks raise questions, Letters, Burnaby NOW, Sept. 19.
Garth Evans wonders why those people in the Middle East hate our world so much they want to destroy it. For a guy who has much to say, he seems to know very little about human history. To a chauvinistic nationalist, the claim that "their" gang just hates "us" is all the explanation needed.
In order to explain the violence in the Middle East, we should start by recognizing that "they" are living on "our" oil, and "we" are trying to take it from them. That would provide a large part of the answer. Or would it? The Middle East has been drenched in blood since the beginning of recorded history. None of this is unusual.
Violent conflict exists all over the world. What rational reason is there for the current Sino-Japanese conflict? In India, we see genocidal conflicts between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. Africa is full of genocidal conflict. But maybe that's just the way the dark-skinned people do things?
Look at the history of England. There is no shortage of genocidal conflict England has engaged in. We find no moral superiority there. Are Christians any better? Study the Thirty Years' War or the Inquisition, and again you find so-called Christians have no claim on moral superiority. Closer to home, we find 500 years of genocide by European nations and their descendants against the First Nations of the Americas.
All of us share this history of violence, and all of us are latent killers. No group can claim moral superiority in this matter.
In order for our civilization to survive, we all need to start with the attitude that all of us are precious. Although it is not normally encouraged by any of our societies, this attitude is also latent in all of us.
Victor Finberg, Burnaby
