There will be blood

I am a student of history. Not the sort of history you were taught in grade school. Specific names and dates are largely irrelevant. I study history the way a meteorologist studies the atmosphere. It's the overall currents that matter, not the local gusts. What the currents tell me is that humanity's problem is not an inherent condition of the species. Rather, it is a condition of a subset of the species. That condition is evangelism.

Merriam-Webster defines evangelism as "militant or crusading zeal". Evangelists are so sure of the superiority of their beliefs they are unable to accept that others may have different beliefs. Whether it's Muslims flying planes into buildings, socialists slaughtering millions in gulags, Christians "protesting" funerals, or vegans placing billboards to ridicule omnivores, evangelists simply cannot let others live their lives differently.

And this is where the problem begins. Because there is only one single rule to a moral life; live and let live. I do not control you. You do not control me. We are sovereign equals. The instant you seek to coerce me in any way you have violated my sovereignty. You have aggressed against me. You have initiated a conflict.

But evangelists do not mind this conflict. Because they are certain of the righteousness of their ways. They do not care about my sovereignty. To them, my very existence is immoral. I am but a bacteria infecting the body of their perfect society. And they will do whatever they can to excise me.

And so we have bloodshed. Because I do not wish to be excised. All I want is to be left alone to live my life. Living my life was precisely what I was doing before the evangelist came along to control me. The evangelist broke the peace and forced me to defend my existence. The evangelist spawned discord where there had been harmony.

That is just on the personal scale. Magnify that effect up to the regional or global scale. Factor in all the different evangelist groups with often opposing ideals. Instantly the world comes into focus. If "live and let live" were universally practiced within the human population there would be no war, no crime. War and crime are the result of evangelism. They are the result of people seeking to control their peers instead of simply allowing them to exist in peace. No good can come from evangelism. It is the mindset of the tyrant.

Is there hope for a cure for this condition? No. Evangelism will always be with us. The best we can hope for is to marginalize evangelists so that they don't gain the power they need to hurt others. And one final note for the evangelists who may read this. Your actions define your morality. So if you refuse to let me live in peace, I will return the favor.