Editor,

Common advice is not to discuss politics or religion. But the Orlando massacre and President Obama’s response points out that we have religious conflict not only here in America, but worldwide.

So what’s new? What is there about religions that creates such ardent anguish? Don’t they try to bring peace, order and understanding to the world?

Wondering is natural. We’re all mortals seeking immortality. Religions begin innocently as speculative efforts to understand the cosmos we inadvertently find ourselves in. They are cumulative efforts to understand nature’s bewilderment.

Who can deny their importance?

So religions become the summations of intense study, the experiences of the ages and the wisdom of elders. In the normal order of things, parents and community leaders teach their thoughts and opinions to others. The theology grows. Rules of ethics, social conduct and interpersonal relationships get woven into theological fabric. Religions become regional cultures endemic to the survival of every individual in that culture.

One could call it a “caliphate.”

So much sincerely intense effort goes into theological development that each feels they have discovered ultimate and final truths.

But have they?

What really happens is that religious conclusions become entwined with our natural fear of death and stubborn determination to live.

It’s in our DNA. It sounds off with every newborn’s cry when spanked by the delivering doctor. Survival instinct is so strong that it overwhelms objective reasoning. Hey, we’re on the road to immortality!  Ego won’t allow admitting error.

Why consent to our own demise?

Differing opinions become threats. Is it hard to believe that different regions would develop different concepts of “eternity?”

Then add nature’s competitiveness. Every living thing lives at the expense of another form of life. Scientists call it the “food chain.”

We compete for life’s wants. Even our social and communal bonds are for the purpose of increasing competitive advantage.

Conflict now imbeds itself into the fabric of theology. Now all we need is modern weaponry.

The big question is whether this is a solvable dilemma. Can humanity become more cooperative and less competitive? Or are we doomed to the extinction that ultimate competition implies?

One thing we do know is that admitting what we don’t know is the first step to learning. It’s also the hardest thing to do.

Shouldn’t we talk about it?

Al Williams

Oak Harbor