The Sign from God

The day started like any other day. People all over the planet awakened to the sun rise, sent their kids off to school, went to work, walked for their daily water, logged onto their computers, made love to their partners, prayed for strength to get through another day.

Nations too, in the form of their leaders, their policies, their laws, greeted the new day, some with proclamations against their global neighbors, some to detail a natural disaster, how many died, how many missing, some to condemn the actions of their own citizenry, and to name the names of those who needed to be purged.

For better or worse, it would be the last day that began in that fashion.

-------------------------

Millions of miles away, so far away that their existence was unknown to the inhabitants of that planet, a conference was about to end. The attendees had reviewed the troves of information that had been gathered about that planet, called Earth by its inhabitants, a name which came into use only 1500 or so years in the past, a mere blink of an eye in terms of the age of the species of the men who lived there, not to mention as compared to the age of the planet itself.

Earth, which derived from words used to convey dirt or soil which themselves indicated an understood difference between the solid ground below and the heavens above.

A primitive understanding for a primitive species, yet a species that had developed exponentially in terms of its technological advances, its ability to escape its atmosphere, and had begun a rudimentary exploration of the skies. 

As the attendees of this gathering were reminded, along with the spark of ingenuity that had been implanted there all those centuries ago, the true nature of life's purpose was also embedded through a similar spark as provided by a number of teachers whose lessons were used to create manuals from which guidelines were distilled into simple instructions, simple enough for even a species still in the early stages of their evolution.

Sadly, like many other species, far too many had institutionalized the lessons of the teachers by creating organizations that used those lessons to control rather than inspire, for material gain rather than spiritual advancement. 

So now, as had been done for millennia, a decision had to rendered. 

To intervene.

But more critically, how to intervene, or to be more precise, which of the approved interventions to utilize.

While fierce, the debate was civil, as the participants understood the gravity of their decision, and the responsibility that generations of their ancestors had placed into their hands.

And while the options were limited, the degree of each was varied so there needed to be consensus, not just on the overall action plan, but on the specific details of that choice.

In the end, compassion ruled the day, as it so often did with this conclave. But a compassion that included an alteration of the dynamics which drove the nations in their interactions with each other. A modification that would not be easy for those on Earth to accept, especially those who governed countries that had strayed the furthest from the main principle, the universal principle, that had been revealed via the most spiritually advanced of the Earthlings.

------------------

Sometime around mid afternoon on the continent they called Europe, the first effects of the intervention were felt. There had been an ongoing conflict on that continent between two neighboring countries whose populations had far more in common than not. It was at the various fronts of this conflict that the weapons stopped working, from the most powerful missiles to the smallest of hand guns. Suddenly, nothing that could be used to injure or kill another person could be fired. 

As news spread in all geographic directions, nations as disparate as those where the sun was most strongest thereby creating a darker version of the species, to the most powerful one which was currently engaged in destroying small boats as they left the shores of a far less powerful nation, suddenly faced the prospect that all the munitions they had accumulated were now useless.

That might makes right was no longer a viable philosophy.

As was the custom, time to process this new development was afforded. Those on Earth were unaware that this time was part and parcel to the ultimate decision, since how a species employed the time dictated the final step of the intervention. The fact that there were influential voices on Earth which interpreted the elimination of the power of weapons as the possibility that this was divine in nature, amused, but did not factor into the group's deliberations.

The polar opposite of so many of the depictions of the end times which so often included mass death and destruction brought on by man's folly, the prospect that this event, this rendering of weapons as useless, might be the divine intervention that was anticipated, even longed for by those so arrogant to believe that they were among those to be "saved", also amused the members of the conclave, but only so far as an indicator that this species was similar to so many in its interpretation of what was occurring. The final decision was already coming into focus.

At first, those in charge of the great nations who had most enjoyed the privilege of might makes right, experienced denial that the impotence of weapons was real. Some actually fired those in military positions as if it was their fault, and that somehow a new general or cabinet level department head might change reality. Many pointed fingers at their perceived global enemies, which, oddly, seemed to admit that those enemies were so much more powerful and militarily advanced despite the trillions of dollars that had been spent in the past few years to prevent just such an occurrence.

Anger also rose to the surface, anger that the rules of the past where the strong always ruled, were suddenly undercut. Again, a response not unexpected, not outside the range of responses that had been provoked in the past with other nascent species.

Soon, but not as soon as had been witnessed with other species, acceptance of this new reality was faced. While the various religious institutions debated the meaning of what was certainly divine intervention, there was grudging acceptance that a more powerful force was at work. 

Proof of God.

There were some, especially those who had used religion for profit and power, who attempted to twist this new reality to their advantage, but in general, Earth's inhabitants slowly began to come together, to begin thinking with a global perspective rather than with a national or ethnic, or racial viewpoint. 

There was a peace, if you will, although some of the world's leaders, especially those who led the countries which had been the most powerful, had spent the most resources on war (although they called it "defense"), who shook the hands of their counterparts and smiled for the cameras, some of those leaders convened behind closed doors to discuss plans which would guarantee that their vision of this new reality would win the day. Even in this position of weakness, they plotted to hold all the cards.

Is a peace born of mutual dread of an external threat as valid as one which emanates from a spiritual awakening? 

Can a plan which merges disparate cultures, values, priorities to reduce, perhaps even eliminate violence as the overriding tool to tout one's superiority, be judged the same as one which espouses an elimination of violence through mutual respect, even if its success masks the real intention of those concocting it? 

Of course, the members of the conclave, present and past, had vast experience with the myriad of reactions that such interventions provoked, could tell which were steeped in honesty and integrity, and which hid secret plans within plans. But still, they waited, gave h]the Earthlings time to adapt to their new reality.

And then, as pre-determined by the conclave, the weapons came alive as suddenly as they had ceased to function. 

The head secretary of the sub committee formed after the initial conclave, noted the day and time, then closed the book on Earth. There would be one more entry, sometime in the future, depending on how the inhabitants of Earth responded to regaining the power of their weapons. 

That entry would note the beginning of a new reality for Earth's people, the start of a journey where they would be recognized as a community within the universe's alliance of species which had disavowed violence, which had finally learned the lessons bestowed on them by their own advanced spiritual masters, themselves inspired by the Force which provided that spark of spirituality for all species.

Or, and this was at best a 50-50 possibility, the last entry would mark the destruction of this iteration of the inhabitants of Earth. Not because there would be a purging of humanity through an edict of the conclave, but because that was the inevitable fate for an species that did not learn the lesson, did not heed the warning that the use of weapons, and the philosophy of might makes right, always ends in self destruction.     

----

As a rule, I don't believe that humans are all that perceptive when it comes to recognizing divine intervention. Frankly, I don't believe in it, but were I to put any credence to whether there is an Almighty presence in the universe that intervenes in the events of the planet, let alone one person out of eight billion, I would bet that humanity would not recognize what were actual intercessions. 

And, if there was a consensus that an action was divine in nature, as many believed in the above story, I doubt it would be interpreted properly.

A case in point is climate change. All the data is there. All the signs from nature or God are screaming at us, the once in a lifetime weather disasters that seem to occur every year, the record heat, the dramatic swings in temperature, the ever increasing instances of wild fires, droughts, massive storms. 

Perhaps all of those events are indications that God is warning us to do better, yet are ignored by so many, whether that ignorance is tied to protecting the status quo which has benefited a minority at the expense of the majority, avarice above all, or whether it belies the fact that many Earthlings talk a good talk about believing in a god but don't believe in a judgement that goes beyond earthly possessions, as if your seat in heaven is determined by how many toys you have, not by one's humanity.

If so questioned, I might even conjecture that COVID was an intervention by God. Certainly there is a wide-spread belief in the story of Noah, and how God washed the Earth clean of those who did not believe, saving Noah, his family and a pair of each animal species. While I am fine with the Noah story as a lesson in faith, I don't believe it is real history. 

Which makes the idea that the COVID pandemic which killed over 8 million people across the globe, could have been sent our way by God as a warning. Or perhaps as an opportunity for everyone on Earth to unite, to act as one to reduce the spread, reduce the death. 

As it turned out, we couldn't even do that in America, let alone across the globe. 

Were there some who considered COVID a divine intervention, perhaps a punishment for turning our backs on the Almighty? Yes.

Sadly, many of them used the disease as a way to separate us, to blame COVID on certain people for their behavior, or skin color, or even their version of religion. 

So again, a chance for unity was destroyed by those who only wish to use god as a way to control, to accumulate power, to tell us who to hate.   

To be brutally honest, I am certain that if Jesus came back today, were there stories of a virgin birth emanating from the middle East, and a man who claimed to be the Son of God, stories of his sermons, possible miracles, his goodness, his compassion for the less fortunate, he would be treated even worse than he was 2000 years ago. And could you imagine if God decided to send his daughter this time?

No, signs from God, even if they exist, would have no chance at being interpreted today as the real deal. 

That being said, this is not the first story I have written where Earth experiences an external intervention, or is united through the belief that an extraterrestrial force requires all countries to band together. 

Over 15 years ago, I wrote a story called The Archives which described a society that had achieved a level of global peace through a lie. A story in which the powers to be understood that without an external, planet wide threat, Earth would never be united. And so they created one. Here is a link to that story.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2010/06/archives.html 

Then, about seven and a half years ago, I wrote a story in which there is a perceived divine intervention. A switch in which a percentage of Earthlings suddenly wake up to find they are a different gender and/or race than when they went to sleep. 

Here is a link to that story, The Switch Back 

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-switch-back.html 

Perhaps, in the end, it doesn't matter if our species ever evolves past the use of violence as a conflict remediation tool. Only that individuals do so. Which may mean the "the meek shall inherit the earth" is more about the next life than the present one. 

Righteous Terror

I have mentioned a number of times that I have been upgrading all my posts to a larger font. I am happy to announce that I have finished this task. 

While altering my efforts from May 2011, I encountered two consecutive posts that seem relevant considering our current war against Iran. (Yes, as I write this, a ceasefire is in effect, but the points are still valid).

In the first one, link below, I discuss the relief and dare I say happiness that permeated the nation after then President Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden. I mentioned that, despite the time lapse as almost ten years had passed since 9/11, there was a catharsis expressed by many Americans, especially those who had lost a loved one on that horrible day. Obama described it as justice finally achieved.

Beyond that, I broached the subject of the cost of the special forces excursion which ultimately captured bin Laden, and the fact that, at the time, America was spending 700 billion dollars a year on the defense budget. (As a side note, bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan, an interesting tidbit of info considering that it is Pakistan that has helped broker the United States/Iran ceasefire.)

In that post, I also questioned whether America should still be in the world police business and why we had so many soldiers stationed overseas in so many countries, as opposed to spending more money on domestic issues such as improving our aging infrastructure, improving our (inner city) school systems, and providing more people with affordable health care, a goal which was attempted to be addressed through the Affordable Care Act.

Sadly, it seems that so many of the problems we faced 10, 12, 15 years ago have not only not been addressed, they seem to have become worse. America continues to get a poor return on our health care dollar, our students continue to rank below far too many or their cohorts from other countries in Math and Reading, and the latest budget proposal from the White House is asking for a 1.5 trillion dollar defense budget (over 40% more than for fiscal year 2025) while slashing 10% across the board on other domestic spending. 

Makes one wonder which country Marc Rubio was referring to when he chastised the leaders of Iran that perhaps they should have spent more money on their people and less on their military.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2011/05/osama-bin-laden.html 

The other post was a story I wrote called the Energy Conundrum. In a nutshell it depicts the leaders of America visiting the Saudi Arabian king for access to his country's energy reserves. As it turns out, the energy source we were seeking was being generated by vast arrays of solar panels. You see, the Saudis had taken all those petro dollars and invested in solar energy, which turned out to be prescient given that fossil fuels has run its course as the dominant source of global energy.

Here is that link.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2011/05/energy-conundrum.html  

I think fondly of this story when I read that we continue to spend untold billions of dollars to keep oil flowing in the Middle East. To me, the Iran war is mostly about oil, and a bit about Israel, proof being that North Korea has nuclear weapons but no oil and strangely, we don't seem to care about their nukes.

In the meantime, the DOD is asking for another $200 billion on top of their already outrageous budget after only a month of hostilities. Clearly, the cycle of our addiction to oil which became starkly apparent in the 1970's, has not abated, and that not only have we not learned why it is foolhardy to continue to focus on fossil fuels, this administration is idiotically squelching green energy projects, and bragging about doing so.

The only real question is will Trump complete the cycle and name Lee Zeldin as the next Attorney General, thereby cementing his legacy of gutting the EPA, continuing to prop up the fossil fuel industry and creating DOJ investigations out of whole cloth towards retribution against his political enemies. A trifecta of atrocities that will set America back decades, and just possibly result in my story coming true in the 2030's.  

As for my title, Righteous Terror, that is all just icing on the cake for two men in particular, Trump and Hegseth, who pray to a god who celebrates death and destruction. Not the same god that the Iranians pray to when they wish harm on America, but the same perversion of a belief in the idea of a righteous terror that their god supports. At least the pope has called them out on this, not that they ever really believed in Christ.

The Rules of War

An interesting article in the March edition of The Atlantic about prisoner of war camps during the Civil War. Here is a link.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/03/civil-war-pow-camps-american-prison-system/685762/ 

Without going into too much detail about the article, the main point was that so many Americans died in prisons run by other Americans, some estimate up to 10% of the overall deaths, that rules were developed towards the end of this horrible conflict which were refined and then codified, not only into the laws of America, but through international agreements like the Geneva Conventions.

Of course, many consider "rules of war" to be an oxymoron, as many war campaigns focus as much on breaking the spirit of the citizens of the country being attacked as the capability of the enemy's military. As for housing, clothing, feeding, not torturing, providing medical care to those unfortunates taken prisoner, there is no lack of evidence to condemn any warring country, America included.

Additionally, it is not uncommon to hear people in the military complain that they were "held back" from attaining victory by civilians who were too focused on trying not to kill innocents, or by limiting the use of torture to gain intel, or by not using the most deadliest of weapons (nuclear) to gain the advantage and crush the enemy. 

One might even say that a majority of Americans are OK with collateral damage if it means killing the truly bad guys, especially once they have been told who those bad guys are, over and over and over again. 

Krauts, Japs, Russkies, Commies, Towel Heads, etc, it has been far too easy for the general population of all countries, not just America, to be convinced that the "enemy" of the day threatens our way of life, or our culture, and so must be contained, defeated, destroyed. Or perhaps bombed back to the stone age, which I find rather ironic considering that humanity itself emanated from the very areas of the world that we would now wipe out to protect "civilization".

Perhaps then we should eschew the illusion that there should be rules of war, and, like our current Department of Defense head we should "show no mercy" towards Iran, or whomever the enemy is determined to be. Of course, we are outraged that Iran is attacking our military installations in neighboring countries, or the tankers as they navigate the Straight of Hormuz, or the energy infrastructure of those same neighbors, but, hey, they are barbarians who deserve whatever the death toll might rise to, military or civilians alike, while we are just doing the work of the god that Hegseth and his ilk pray to for help in vanquishing their enemies.

Is Iran an enemy of America? I doubt you will find many Americans who would not say yes, undoubtedly, so from that standpoint, reducing Iran's ability to harm Americans, the war is popular. While I don't believe that Iran was weeks away from lobbing a nuclear weapon our way, I certainly admit that they have been a threat, although much more so to Israel than America. 

But if that is our criteria, North Korea has nuclear weapons which many believe could reach North America, yet they are not in Trump's crosshairs. Cuba, yes, North Korea, no.

And let's not forget that as of this very moment, there are nuclear missiles pointing at every major European and American city with made-in Russia labels. Yet Putin seems to be one of Trump's best friends, although I believe Putin only sees Trump as a useful idiot, at best.

The rules of war are certainly nebulous, not applied equally in all circumstances, although it certainly seems that under this administration, excursions, law enforcement operations, regime change, the blockade of goods, or whatever name is applied from one day to the next to describe our forays into Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, it seems that we only apply them to countries we can easily defeat. 

Not to mention our previous failed interventions in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq.

Some might say we have acted the bully consistently since WW2, although covertly as much as militarily. I counter that America was instrumental in saving the world, then extended a hand to the Axis countries, Germany and Japan, rather than kicking them when they were down. We told them we would protect them through treaties and organizations like NATO, and while we certainly meddled in the affairs of many nations, especially those with oil, we did more good than bad. 

I don't feel that way now. Instead we actively support the bully who runs Israel and tacitly support the one who runs Russia. And just elected our own bully who now believes that the Western Hemisphere is ours to take, that might makes right, and that our allies of 80 years are on their own.  

America has on the books various rules of war that we are now violating everyday, from bombing speed boats in the Caribbean to attacking another country without provocation to actively denying the people of Cuba the food and energy supply they need to live. America, under Donald J Trump, is committing international war crimes, all approved by the now fired Attorney General Pam Bondi and encouraged by the head of the Department of Defense that is executing this war as if he is playing a video game in his basement, as if those who die, enemies as well as Americans, are not real people, the rules of war be damned.