Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Can we all agree that without arrogance the world would be a better place

I would go as far as saying that just about the cause of all evil and suffering is arrogance in some form or another. Racism is arrogance, thinking that you are superior to others because you are inherently better. Look at how many people died and suffered because of it, if you only consider Hitler by himself and his arrogance/racism that's well over 60 million people, and millions more affected decades and decades later, even to this day. Imagine a world without the Palestine-Israeli conflict. 

The Arrogance that caused Colonialism, affected millions more, 75 million Native Americans coerced and ethnically cleansed, and that's just "the new world".  There was plenty of colonizing that happened all over the world, all but very few places on earth weren't colonized by a handful of rich super powers. Millions dead, for no reason other than their arrogance which lead to their greed. You can't justify enslaving and killing a race of people other than your own to become more powerful unless you dehumanize them, and believe with every fiber of your being that you are a superior people. 

World War I was caused by arrogance, Europe was itching to fight and prove to the other countries that it had the better army, the assassination was just an excuse and with the invention of the telephone declaring war was faster than ever, being in the heat of the moment and all. Millions died for nothing, as was commonly portrayed by the depressing literature and poetry from the time. 

Arrogance is thinking you are superior to someone or something, and acting or inciting upon it negatively or in a rash and stupid manner.  But it is more of a mentality, it is the thinking part, the most dangerous part is actually getting yourself to believe those things. To be convinced that it is the truth. What better way to convince someone of something than to make them think it is their own idea, which is what I believe has been happening ever since the beginning of humanity. 

Arrogance leads to the 7 deadly sins of christian ethics, and is the main cause of the devil's rebellion in Islam. The story goes like so, the devil was one of the best worshippers of God until God made Adam from clay and told the angels (and satan who was amongst their ranks) to prostrate to him. Satan was too arrogant and refused, telling God he is made from fire while Adam is made from clay. God exiled him from Heaven, then the devil asked God to wait until the day they are resurrected, and he will do everything it takes to misguide humans. Then God says that he will fill Hell with all of you who disobey, allowing his wish to be granted. 

I think everyone might to some extent be able to sympathise with satan on his rage, he was an avid worshipper, and then comes this creation that didn't worship a day of its life and it is honored in that way. But his reasoning was the embodiment of pure arrogance and racism. He believed he was better because he was made from fire, also it takes a lot of arrogance to not admit a mistake, and it takes an immensely colossal amount to do so when you know full well there is an eternal consequence that is worse than anything imaginable. The language used in the Quran to describe the issue meant that satan acknowledged God as the creator and God of everything, but he still did what he did and continues to do what he does. That is the stupidest thing I can imagine, yet he is a very intelligent creature capable of convincing people that doing things they would never dream of doing and doing so willingly and thinking they thought of it. His process is long and he does so patiently and with careful planning, leading people into downward spirals to the point where they don't need his whispering to do his bidding. 

It is so amazing how someone with all that intellect and potential would do something so stupid and persist on it because his pride was hurt. Being that I am someone who believes Islam to be true, and believes this story my conclusion is that arrogance is the root of all evil. But there is still a long while before I can claim to convince you that what I am saying is true, so until then can we all agree that arrogance is horrible and leads to the worst things human history has seen, and the world can do without it. 

Next is more talk about arrogance sorry for the delay in posts it must've been a year or so since I last posted, but IsA more to come!!