I’ve been thinking. My previous husband always told me, “That’s dangerous.” Mike, who lives with us, says, “You have too much time to think.” My friend, Ruth, says, “Don’t do it, Sally. But I know you will.” And so I will!

The Middle East has us in a muddle, afraid, and wondering how it will end. We ask ourselves, “How dare this Al Baghdadia guy tell us what to believe?” First it was ISIS, the ISIL, and now he thinks he has the power to declare a caliphate and call upon Muslims all over the world to come to the aid of a new State of Islam? Oh, I guess he forgot about Al Queda!

Is this current war about borders? Is it about religion? Is it about power? Is it about moral values? I see traces of all the above.

This idea of borders has a long history. I say it goes all the way back to our human evolution to protecting our area of influence. The Roman Empire can be traced back to the 8th century BC and lasted for 12 centuries. Its borders encompassed most of the known world at that time. It boasted several religions, and many of its rulers had a difficult time with morality, to say the least. The general population never knew from whence might come the sword on the back of the neck. The families of the rulers feared poison from even close family members.

Meanwhile, in 1095, a Catholic Pope declared the first Crusade in an attempt to restore access from “the infidels” (the Muslims) in the holy sites in Jerusalem. There were seven subsequent crusades, one which led to the massacre of millions of Jews by the “Christian” crusaders.

In 1453, Constantinople was conquered and here come the Turks and the Ottoman Empire. Now Christians are the “infidels.”

The Ottoman Empire was one of the three major Muslim empires and acted as the bridge between the Eastern and Western parts of the world for six centuries. It was only dissolved after World War I when we get the new state of Turkey and the Balkan and Middle Eastern states. Still today, those pesky and “arbitrary” borders are giving us big-time headaches!

Does history show us the importance of military or religious power? Or both? Are we genetically inclined or programmed to wage war on any and all who approach our borders? If so, how shall we proceed as a civilization from this violent military and religious past?

The answer is not in sight. I’ll close with some words from Pete Seeger (1919-2014), a musical icon devoted to social justice and love for our green Earth: “All of our militance, enthusiasm, bravery will count for nothing if we can’t cross the oceans of misunderstanding between peoples of this world.”

Sally Breen lives in Windham.