things are OK

Submitted by Mohammed Waza Khiddif id'Ullah (Australia), May 7, 2016 at 01:14

'..Over a century ago, during the Boxer Rebellion, that list would be more like:

1. The British Empire 2. the Greman Empire 3. the French Republic 4. the Japanese Empire 5. Austria-Hungary 6. Italy 7. the Netherlands 8. Belgium 9. Spain 10. Portugal.."

That is the list of colonial powers at that time - except you left out Russia. The Russian Navy was doing things at that time. Curiously, you left out the USA. It had been in existence for some time till then - didn't it have an overseas reach?

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"...fail to see the US and its allies as "wild" and "untamed". Someone living IN these countries, obviously, would not think of them in that way.."

Yes,complete fail. Of course the islamic societies see the West as being wild and untamed; Stumbling around as it does in Dar Al Harb, stupidly and recklessly bringing astonishing technological progress to its citizens, allowing for complete freedom of belief, political alliances, making enormous strides in medicine and every scientific field, sending probes to other planets, etc etc. Allah will curse it for its folly of heaping scorn on the sharia and the wonders of islamic science - and the mockery of islam's most vociferous proponents who have already positioned themselves inside the belly of the Beast.

Other countries that see the beast as wild and untamed would be China, Iran, Pakistan and North Korea. Israel doesn't. So it all depends on who is doing the looking. The more repressive and backward you are - the wilder the beast looks. I'm trying to see how I can squeeze that old adage ' there's nothing as scary as the truth, especially when it's not on your side' in, but it would take too many verbal gymnastics to do so.

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"... it is the King of the Universe that this "beast" refuses to submit to; hence, the name, θηρίον..."

This sort of ties in with a previous point - that we must have the freedom to make mistakes. Being in the West does not somehow offer us any immunity from cause and effect. While we have the freedom to make mistakes, it can and does get very messy from time to time. But the alternative is you could end up like the blinkered hordes of robota in North Korea that worship that arrogant, fat asswipe that pretends to govern their country.

But all are subject to immutable truths that exist on so many levels. Gravity, electromagnetism, biochemistry etc affect us all , no matter where or when or how we live.

There are other laws that govern human behaviour - if you punched your local store clerk in the face every time he saw you - he's not going to like you and will want to avoid your company. And other 'laws' if you like work as definitely and effectively on more subtler levels. So, in the West we've got great opportunities, great freedoms and responsibilities to use them effectively. If we don't we find out. Life itself teaches us how to live. It all depends on a person's openness to see and learn. And to appreciate basics - such as one's sole primary possession , that 'sine qua non' - consciousness itself.

Longfellow wrote: ".."Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all."

which can be paraphrased in the idiom as 'It'll all work out in the wash

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