Find a place where nothing is under attack, and you’ve found an alternate reality. Virtually nowhere on the planet is there life that is not under attack.
Olive trees are under attack. A bacterium (Xylella fastidiosa) appears to be the attacker, but the science of the bacterium and its relationship to olive trees is unsure. Nevertheless, there’s a war going on against the nemesis of the trees. In 2015 and 2016 authorities have burned some olive trees to save others in European countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Kill to protect.
In 2015 and 2016 authorities in Brazil and other tropical countries have sprayed insecticides to kill Aedes aegypti and A. albopictus, the bugs that carry Zika, dengue, and chikungunya viruses. Kill to protect.
We sometimes have no apparent options when we are under attack, so we take drastic measures that are often “all or nothing” in scope. True, some “kill to protect” methods are standard procedure: We burn trees to stop forest fires at firebreaks.
And then there’s war, real war, war at its most tragic level, the killing of people to stop the killing. In 2015 and 2016 the Middle East became a place of counter-killing in an effort to stop the further slaughter of innocents.
Apparently, humans have always needed some kind of “firebreak” to stop attacks on their wellbeing. In the process of protecting, we often kill. Maybe that is in itself justification for my calling this website thisisnotyourpracticelife.com. We can’t save olive trees, Brazilian babies, or innocent victims by pretending, ignoring, or passively waiting. Sometimes the only option to guarantee life’s continuance is by killing to protect.
Is it not odd that in my previous blog I advocated you to practice “Ahimsa,” the principle of “do no harm”? Do I not see the hypocrisy in the current blog? Am I unaware of Gandhi’s admonition against violence, even his advice to let enemies “slaughter you”? No, I know what he’s saying. But in view of a one-time-go-round life, I know that when one olive tree is infected with X. fastidiosa, the only way to protect a neighboring tree is by burning the diseased tree. Gandhi might have been compelled by a belief in reincarnation on this planet for another go-round at life.
With no guarantee that such a reincarnation is a reality, with no demonstrable proof that self-identity returns as recognizable self-identity, I advise treating the current go-round as precious enough to defend against bacteria, viruses, and terrorists. This is not your practice life. That it is under constant attack requires some protective measures on your part. In most instances you can avoid attack by changing places, but you always trade one kind of attack for another. Burning your olive trees is a real tradeoff: You destroy your livelihood to protect the livelihood of your neighbor, but in the process of destroying, you save life from further attack by at least one agent. You have a choice, of course: Ahimsa or kill to protect. Whatever you choose remember to decide in the context that for you—and for your attacker--this life is not practice.
Olive trees are under attack. A bacterium (Xylella fastidiosa) appears to be the attacker, but the science of the bacterium and its relationship to olive trees is unsure. Nevertheless, there’s a war going on against the nemesis of the trees. In 2015 and 2016 authorities have burned some olive trees to save others in European countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Kill to protect.
In 2015 and 2016 authorities in Brazil and other tropical countries have sprayed insecticides to kill Aedes aegypti and A. albopictus, the bugs that carry Zika, dengue, and chikungunya viruses. Kill to protect.
We sometimes have no apparent options when we are under attack, so we take drastic measures that are often “all or nothing” in scope. True, some “kill to protect” methods are standard procedure: We burn trees to stop forest fires at firebreaks.
And then there’s war, real war, war at its most tragic level, the killing of people to stop the killing. In 2015 and 2016 the Middle East became a place of counter-killing in an effort to stop the further slaughter of innocents.
Apparently, humans have always needed some kind of “firebreak” to stop attacks on their wellbeing. In the process of protecting, we often kill. Maybe that is in itself justification for my calling this website thisisnotyourpracticelife.com. We can’t save olive trees, Brazilian babies, or innocent victims by pretending, ignoring, or passively waiting. Sometimes the only option to guarantee life’s continuance is by killing to protect.
Is it not odd that in my previous blog I advocated you to practice “Ahimsa,” the principle of “do no harm”? Do I not see the hypocrisy in the current blog? Am I unaware of Gandhi’s admonition against violence, even his advice to let enemies “slaughter you”? No, I know what he’s saying. But in view of a one-time-go-round life, I know that when one olive tree is infected with X. fastidiosa, the only way to protect a neighboring tree is by burning the diseased tree. Gandhi might have been compelled by a belief in reincarnation on this planet for another go-round at life.
With no guarantee that such a reincarnation is a reality, with no demonstrable proof that self-identity returns as recognizable self-identity, I advise treating the current go-round as precious enough to defend against bacteria, viruses, and terrorists. This is not your practice life. That it is under constant attack requires some protective measures on your part. In most instances you can avoid attack by changing places, but you always trade one kind of attack for another. Burning your olive trees is a real tradeoff: You destroy your livelihood to protect the livelihood of your neighbor, but in the process of destroying, you save life from further attack by at least one agent. You have a choice, of course: Ahimsa or kill to protect. Whatever you choose remember to decide in the context that for you—and for your attacker--this life is not practice.
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