The Nomad and the Olive Branch

Reza Aslan is one of those intellectuals notorious for their uncompromising stance, bluntness, and, to a certain degree, political incorrectness. It comes to no surprise, then, that his latest publication, God: A Human History , reflects his headstrong approach in the sphere of all things religion and spirituality. However, despite Aslan's misgivings, this book is a thoroughly enjoyable read and indeed a most enlightening one. While his previous book, Beyond Fundamentalism , explored the notion of a "cosmic war" of ideologies against a backdrop of globalization, God: A Human History instead looks at how religion came to be from a more scientific standpoint, coming to a conclusion based on his own personal experiences with faith and belief. The book starts with Aslan's recounting of his conversion to Christianity and subsequent reversion to Islam, followed by a revelation of his newly adopted pantheistic approach to which he returns to near the end of the book...

Ever since man invented the wheel, technology as a whole has advanced farther than any of us can ever fathom. The wheel became the cart and the cart became the chariot and the chariot became the carriage and the carriage became the car. The glider got an engine which took it to space. The brick oven started to run on electricity and not on gas. Not long after, it also got the power to emit microwave radiation and the chance to blow up bowls of spaghetti. The pen gave way to the typewriter, and ENIAC gave way to the laptop computer. Writing on stone was later inscribed on leaves, papyrus, paper, and the Word document. Indeed, it would seem that technology has become almost synonymous with human progress. As much as some tried to use that technology to benefit the working man's daily life, much of it has been done for the sole purpose of ruining it altogether, and I'm not just talking about taxes and the mail delivery system. I'm talking about the other thing in life that...

The state of human affairs over the past decade have overall not been taking a turn for the better. War, violence, scandal, shallow gossip, tragedy, and other profit-generating stories congest newspaper headlines and the nightly broadcasts. With the recent economic crises, things aren't looking up, either. As the human population on Earth grows ever so nearer to the carrying capacity, humanity as a whole seems to be taking a downhill swerve... ...or is it? There is at least 1 or 2 in 10 people out there who have heard about the recent story regarding the Chilean miners. Being trapped for at least 15 days underground about 2 months ago, almost no one was sure that they were going to survive. The lack of oxygen, food, and water would surely deprive them of life if the toxic gases, ash, soot, and dust didn't choke them to death first. Around the world, many people watched and, when news of them still being alive 17 agonizing days after the entrapment surfaced ( "All 33 of...