Thoughts on the (Un)Islamic State

I have finally decided to voice my opinion about the atrocious acts of Islamic State (IS), and contemplate on the question that everybody is trying to answer, “How to respond?” Unfortunately some have already responded to the question with violence. My perceived radical Christian views tell me that responding to an already violent conflict is in contradiction with The Way that Jesus gave us about 2,000 years ago. The previous point can be argued extensively, if the followers of Jesus should use any type of violence. I will continue with my post on the assumption that the followers of Jesus should refrain from using any types of violent force. I also believe that a non-violent resolution is philosophically approachable by atheists and other religious communities, not just Christians.

                The answer that most governments, like the United States, have reached, is to use violence to eradicate the perceived enemy. The perceived enemy might even be considered by some as a created enemy, or an enemy that could have been prevented if certain past violent actions or economic sanctions were not taken. Did the US and other Western countries create the enemy we see today? I don’t know the answer to the question, but I do believe we should consider the origin of IS in order to accurately assess the path that should be taken in order to eliminate the current violence.  

                We obviously can’t let the violence continue. The recent massacre of yet to be confirmed Ethiopian Christians in Libya as showed on a recently released video is inexcusable, but it seems that the recent rise in martyrs hasn’t stopped even though some territories have been taken back from the opposition. Creating a conservation with IS seems to be an appropriate first step. The dilemma that we confront is the lack of negotiation that IS leaders have. I am far removed from the situation, so coming up with real solutions without being on the ground is next to impossible. I only hope that confessed Christians would find a different way to “fight” the violence that both the supposed good and bad are producing. In the end, I think, the choice between someone dying and living should be in the hands of God, not in the hands of drone pilot sitting in a comfortable chair a thousand miles away, or the wielder of a very sharp sword.

                Back to starting the conversation with the “enemy”. IS appears to want a supposed Islamic Caliphate, but most of the over 1.5 billion Muslims would agree that ISIS is creating an “Un-Islamic State”, which I would agree with. I am not a Qur’an scholar, so I couldn’t say if the Qur’an actually supports the view of IS, but after reading the five pillars of Islam, I could say that none of the five pillars support the violence that is being used by IS. An outsider view of the Bible would also display the same image, that killing is not allowed, hints the 5^th commandment given to Moses. There seems to be just as many “Christians” who support killings as there are “Muslims”, and maybe even more “Christians” supporters considering Christianity has almost one billion more followers.

                Rather than trying to talk to the leaders of IS, we should talk to the folks behind the scenes. The people giving money to the cause, the people trying to live within IS’s territory. Starting a grassroots movement against IS supported by former members of IS is one idea. The amount of lives lost has not reached the toll left behind the Third Reich, and within the Third Reich there was opposition. Some lost their lives to supporting the truth, like Sophie Scholl of the White Rose non-violent resistance group. The resistance groups trying to undermine the Nazis were small and probably a bit unorganized, but they sought a kind of peace that can’t be achieved through the use of violent force. The end of the Third Reich was brought down by violent force, but have we really seen the end of groups like the Third Reich?

                The answer to the problem of IS won’t be found in my blog post, but it also won’t be found in bombs and bullets. The answer might be found in government budgets. The amount in the military defense budget of the US far exceeds the amount of foreign economic aid that the government gives. Does this mean that US tax dollars are killing people more than they are helping people; this might be true. I wonder how the world would look like if the spending was flipped.

                My view of the subject might seem unrealistic and naïve, but I think the naïve view is the one that most governments support. Obviously it is not working! We can’t stand by and watch our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ parish (meaning all humans). I call for all Christians to become supporters of proactive nonviolence that Jesus teaches us, and may we never concede to support a war or any war that could never be just under the eyes of God.

I offer up a simple prayer-

Dear Lord,

I ask that you might strengthen our faith in the words and actions that your son Jesus Christ gave us many years ago. I also ask that you be with the families that are suffering from violence and persecution. May you also guide those that have vast amounts of control over the lives of your people, ALL humans. I pray that you will guide those individuals and ourselves to always choose non-violence when faced with evil. May you always be with us, Lord! Amen

On Yerba Mate

I would like to explain a recent drink discovery. My new choice beverage mainly has its origins in Argentina, but can also be found in other South American countries. It is known as Yerba Mate, and is normally drank out of gourd or wooden matero with a metal straw or bombilla. I started drinking after a friend from the US visited Argentina, and decided to buy one herself. My matero is made from a dense wood from the Bolivian Amazon region, hopefully it wasn’t logged illegally.

My matero. The crack in the side has formed over time. I eventually hope to buy a gourd matero or maybe even a metal one, and I also wish it was bigger. 

                There are certain customs surrounding the ritual of drinking Yerba Mate. The drink is usually shared between several individuals, creating a connection between each person as the matero is passed around the circle. I associate some of the sharing qualities that Yerba Mate displays with chewing coca leaves, although the customs are quite different. Chewing coca within a group is not as rule heavy, but both have origins in the indigenous cultures of South America. Yerba Mate having its origin within the Guarani people, and coca having its roots within the western part of South America, mainly the Andean region.

About a quarter to a third of the matero is filled with Yerba Mate, then very hot water is added after. 

                A few rules pertaining to the sharing of Yerba Mate include the person who brought the YM takes the first drink; this is to make sure the ratio of YM to scalding out water is proportionally correct, of course this depends on the person. Never say “thank you” if you want to drink more; saying “thank you” implies that you don’t want anymore. This can be a problem for overly grateful persons. The person who owns the matero always refills the matero. Within some groups, the amount of time taken to drink the matero dry is limited, but I tend to be tranquilo to this aspect. If one of the members in the group doesn’t completely drink the matero dry, the owner of the matero must finish it before refilling it for the next person. Never move the bombilla, if you do, the YM has to be prepared again (sediment will enter the drink mix, making the drink unappealing). I feel that some of these rules are subjective; I believe a trip to Argentina is in order to learn the etiquette surrounding YM.

                I have nearly forgotten the allure of chewing coca after having started to drink YM, which I consider a blessing. The adverse effects of coca are much stronger than those of YM. Chewing coca can lead to the receding of gums and enamel decay, so the allure of drinking YM in place of chewing coca is obviously more alluring, of course you couldn’t say that to an avid coca chewer. Ha!

                

All for Him

“Before reaching the final line, however, he had already understood that he would never leave that room, for it was foreseen that the city of mirrors (or mirages) would be wiped out by the wind and exiled from the memory of men at the precise moment 
when Aureliano Babilonia would finish deciphering the parchments, and that everything written on them was unrepeatable since time immemorial and forever more, because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth.” 

-          Garcia Gabriel Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude

I continually have to remind myself of the reasons why I am living in Bolivia. There are several reason on the surface that I could you share, but the final, internal reason is that I am here because I believe I am answering a call from God. This might seem trivial and literally unbelievable by folks outside of the belief in God, or even outside of rationality. I think even reasoning has its limits. If I reason that I could have finished my degree and be making money to buy a new house, have a family etc. Would these things bring me joy? Anyway, there is not that much to contemplate on the subject because I have already made the decision to spend two years in Bolivia.

I haven’t felt right about writing the last three months, and I apologize to all of you who have followed my petty words. I believe I fell into a low part in my service, a small bout of depression; this was probably self-induced and perpetuated by bad habits. I am writing now because I believe I have passed that part in my term here. After seeing and feeling the consequences of escaping my life; I have made a vuelta back to a truly rewarding and enriching life. I have come to embrace the absurdity of life, which to some makes life worth living.

I am still trying to find the source of my lapse in living a good life; maybe it was due to the lack of philosophizing about how to live a good life—como vivir bien? I also think about the work I am doing here, or maybe the lack of work I am doing here. I have always had a job or a purpose that kept me busy, but currently my work has been a bit boring. I have found that embracing the boringness of my job by finding new things to learn has helped me seek a way out of an impasse.

I recently finished One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez; the book is filled with beautiful prose depicting magical moments in the history of a village tucked away in a tropical rainforest that might as well be the history of every Latin American country, as a friend recently described the book. The book continually brings up the cyclical nature of time, that way time repeats itself. I thought about the cyclical nature of time and events in relation to Latin America. Is the colonization of Latin America repeating itself again? I think it is rather a continuation of a problem that has never been completely solved. The exploitive relationships that Latin America has with Western countries continues to affect the daily lives of the people that live here. I can’t point out examples of exploitation that can be felt within an individual, I can only guess. My guesses would be mixed up with the misuse of taxes and corruption of government officials and other issues that don’t have a direct connection with outside exploitation.

The peach season has finally come to end, and the mandarin season is about to begin. I only wish that the peaches were as delicious as the peaches found in the hot summers outside the backdoor of my parent’s house. I am happier for the mandarin season because I believe the mandarins taste better here than in the US. Cochabamba is the perfect place to have fresh fruits and vegetables all year round. The sub-tropical environment of the city of Cochabamba is perfect for growing peaches, strawberries, onions, carrots, limes, lemons, peppers, avocadoes, etc.  I don’t know if there is a fruit or vegetable that can’t be grown in the department of Cochabamba. The department of Cochabamba has three main climate zones: Andean region, sub-tropical/valley, and tropical. These three regions make access to a variety of food sources that keep eating a variety of dishes cheap. I will write a more thorough examination of the food/diet of Cochabamba in the future.

 The construction of a Maca factory is underway in Totorani, and should be finished by the end of May. 

We are in the process of saying goodbye to these chickens, and also the people of Mizque and Aiquile. Our projects in these two regions will come to end, and we will begin the new three project only located in the high mountainous region of Ayopaya. 

A field of potatoes along the road leading to Cocapata. 

I escaped Cochabamba one weekend to visit the beautiful beaches of Iquique, Chile.

A friend invited me to eat Lambreado de Conejo Cuy. The dish includes a fried rabbit, potatoes, chuno, and vegatables. 

A couple of friends and I made a trip to Uyuni to see the famous Salar de Uyuni (Salar de Tunapa). 

The salt flat covers and area of 4,086 sq mil of land, making it the biggest salt flat in the world. 

There are several small "islands" located within the salar. This island has a lot of big cactuses. This island was named Incahuasi (House of Inca in Quechua). 

My sister made me a heart from Perler beads before I left, so I decided to take a picture of it on the Salar. The Salar is a great place to take relative size photos. 

There are some amazing mountains and volcanoes that are in the same region as the Salar de Tunapa.

Amazing rock formations!

Train brakes along the Bolivian-Chilean border.