Jesus warned his followers with prophetic wisdom, just over 2,000 years ago, to not commercialize his teachings. The warning unfortunately did not sink in and profitable religious institutions sprang up around the globe – many were at war with each other shortly after Jesus was nailed to the cross.
The world is naturally on edge over the Sunni vs. Shiite conflict. The two Muslim groups read scriptures from the same book, the Koran, yet have fought each other with an embedded savage DNA for centuries.
Pope Francis recently expressed fear of ISIS/ISIL, a Sunni sponsored terrorist sect, entering Rome.
Not much has been said in the news as to how ISIS/ISIL truly came about, because the birth of it is embarrassing to our country that invaded Iraq on the bogus premise that the leader in Iraq, Saddam Hussein, was going to use weapons of mass destruction. What is ironic, the fact the U.S. provided Iraq with WMDs that were illegal to use, according to the Geneva Convention, when we were on friendlier terms with Saddam before 1991, from an investigative report by distinguished news correspondent, Ted Koppel.
As a U.S. occupier, shortly after 9/11, during the Iraq war, thousands of troops under Saddam were incarcerated and one of the prisons, Abu Ghraib, became news around the world for the humiliating treatment done to the ex-soldiers.
If a dog is caged and beaten physically and emotionally for years, there is no hope for rehabilitation and the same is true for all of the former Sunni soldiers released from prison, POWs in their own country for a decade, enraged to become Islamic terrorists of the worst kind. ISIS/ISIL was born when we left Iraq in 2011.
What does one do if an uncaged mad dog bites someone? Kill it. What can one do if an uncaged mad man seeks revenge? The whole world wants to eliminate ISIS/ISIL except Sunni countries, such as Saudi Arabia, who recently stomped to death 769 pilgrims, mostly Shiites, in Mecca, a holy site.
Pope Francis asked us more than once to pray for him. We all need to pray for a miracle to resolve the God-awful mess in the Middle East.
Sally Florence
Durango
