A fairy tale
There once was a small people who lived close to the sea, along roads where many traders and emmisaries passed from one nation to another.
They were proud of their culture, which included moral ideals and spiritual insights which the world would benifit greatly from learning. They were also fiercely nationalistic and replaced the earlier inhabitants of the land by brutal warfare and sometimes also murdering children, women and livestock.
There is always a stronger tiger. A people far larger and stronger cast their eyes on their land, and they were killed, deported or made secondary citizens of their homeland. Many fled, and as a politicial nation they were broken, never to rise again.
Time passed. Almost all of them were exiled. But the memory of beautiful orchards, the formerly magnificent buildings of their capital and the dream of once again shaping a nation after their ideals never faded. There has never been exiles who so faithfully have let their hearts remain in their homeland. For thousands of years they never forgot.
This also made them different. And since men are never purely good, but sometimes aggresive, fearful and blatantly unfair, hatred often rose against them, finding in them a ready scapegoat and an easy target for violence, mockery or exploitation. They bore this graciously, but there came a time when the always unfounded hatred rose to heights unheard of, they were chased from their new places of living or exterminated. And when their hosts again came to their senses, guilt and disbelief at the sufferings they had endured, also rose to heights unheard of.
For many years, they had dreamt of a return to where they once lived. And since they no longer wished to stay where they had been so mistreated, they started to emigrate and return to their homeland, which again was under the dominion of a foreign power, one which had been on their side during the persecutions, but also shared the horror at what had happened.
People were quick to look for solutions, and the dream of returning these people to their homeland took root among leaders, thinkers and ordinary people alike. There was just one thing, those who shared the dream never asked those now living in the country where these people came from thousands of years ago, whether they were willing to give their land away.
And those who returned didn't come as guests or people who bless those they come to. They were unwelcome and were attacked, and of course they defended themselves, but they also conquered because they were stronger. The story repeated itself and this time it was another small people, living by the sea, who were displaced and conquered by someone who 2500 years ago had experienced the same, without learning the lesson.
They were proud of their culture, which included moral ideals and spiritual insights which the world would benifit greatly from learning. They were also fiercely nationalistic and replaced the earlier inhabitants of the land by brutal warfare and sometimes also murdering children, women and livestock.
There is always a stronger tiger. A people far larger and stronger cast their eyes on their land, and they were killed, deported or made secondary citizens of their homeland. Many fled, and as a politicial nation they were broken, never to rise again.
Time passed. Almost all of them were exiled. But the memory of beautiful orchards, the formerly magnificent buildings of their capital and the dream of once again shaping a nation after their ideals never faded. There has never been exiles who so faithfully have let their hearts remain in their homeland. For thousands of years they never forgot.
This also made them different. And since men are never purely good, but sometimes aggresive, fearful and blatantly unfair, hatred often rose against them, finding in them a ready scapegoat and an easy target for violence, mockery or exploitation. They bore this graciously, but there came a time when the always unfounded hatred rose to heights unheard of, they were chased from their new places of living or exterminated. And when their hosts again came to their senses, guilt and disbelief at the sufferings they had endured, also rose to heights unheard of.
For many years, they had dreamt of a return to where they once lived. And since they no longer wished to stay where they had been so mistreated, they started to emigrate and return to their homeland, which again was under the dominion of a foreign power, one which had been on their side during the persecutions, but also shared the horror at what had happened.
People were quick to look for solutions, and the dream of returning these people to their homeland took root among leaders, thinkers and ordinary people alike. There was just one thing, those who shared the dream never asked those now living in the country where these people came from thousands of years ago, whether they were willing to give their land away.
And those who returned didn't come as guests or people who bless those they come to. They were unwelcome and were attacked, and of course they defended themselves, but they also conquered because they were stronger. The story repeated itself and this time it was another small people, living by the sea, who were displaced and conquered by someone who 2500 years ago had experienced the same, without learning the lesson.
posted by Geir Skårland at 18:55
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