I gotta stop reading news items during my lunch. In addition to the depressing news that at least five different religious groups are being slaughtered by their fellow theists in the Middle East (see video), there is the knowledge that the military-industrial complex of a liberal democracy is about to transfer a new warship over to Russia. The Russian crew are parading through the streets of the French port city where the ships has been built. They will sail the vessel back to Russia later this month. Note how the Russian crews are not allowed to communicate with the local population when they go ashore to stretch their legs.
The shipyard that is building this weapon for Putin is owned by a company in which a third of the shares belong to the French government. This fact illustrates the dangers is state ownership. The French government agreed to the imposition of sanctions on Russia that cost privately-owned firms some sales, but when it has a bit more skin in the game, it’s business as usual. Nice one.
Ok. Here is some info about one of the religious groups in the Middle East that is currently slated for extermination by Islamists. The sin of this group, which follows a religion that is a variant of Zoroastrianism, is that they worship some sort of peacock angle rather than Allah. At the same time, of course, we have seen the following examples of the positive role of religion in the life of the Middle East: Sunnis killing Shias; Shias killing Sunnis; Muslims killed Jews; Jews killing Muslims; Muslims killing Christians. I can see why the reflex of undergraduates is to say “religion is the root of all evil.”
The Past Speaks 