We live in a world of conflict.   Recent attacks in New York as well as the Middle East and elsewhere have certainly made that clear, yet this disharmony is far from new.  The records of such battles go back thousands of years on every continent.   Embedded inside such tragic events is a far more important 'race' or 'duel' which will define nothing less than the eventual fate of our entire world.

  This contest involves two distinct elements

¤   On one side of this challenge are mankind's continuing technological leaps in communication - allowing for huge improvements in tolerance and understanding between everyone from your next door neighbor, to bordering countries.   This massive expansion in communication is reflected in the near elimination of such things as slavery and apartheid, as well as peaceful conversation and trade between many nations all over our planet.   In the past few years the Internet has played a huge part in this progress.   With all the information it brings instantly to our fingertips (some of which create outrage) it is still undeniably increasing dialog, knowledge, and awareness around the world.   Just a few years ago it would have been impossible for us to casually 'chat' for hours with someone in Singapore, Germany, or South Africa for the small cost of our Internet connection.   Today, regardless of what our 'leaders' are doing, common people can simply talk - and even become friends.   Not that long ago it was rare if we could read newspaper opinions coming from Hong Kong, Jerusalem, or Saudi Arabia.   Much like Radio Free Europe during the Cold War, the Internet circumvents those imaginary borders.   The relative size of our world - our entire existence - is  shrinking  at a dramatic rate and even those countries that would prefer to block their citizens from worldly knowledge are gradually losing that battle to the Internet and other forms of communication.

"It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster on planet Earth in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand, or million.   The human race shouldn't have all its eggs in one basket, or on one planet. I see great dangers for the human race. There have been a number of times in the past when its survival has been a question of touch and go. The Cuban missile crisis in 1963 was one of these.   The frequency of such occasions is likely to increase in the future."   Steven Hawking Ph.D

¤    On the opposite side of this contest exists our many technological or scientific discoveries and these advances are not going to suddenly come to a halt.   New, more powerful as well as more portable weapons, stronger chemicals, strange uncontrollable viruses, and other manmade concoctions make it easier with each passing year to create cataclysmic horror and devastating havoc.   While recent advice to purchase duct tape for sealing up our homes may seem amusingly unnecessary now, it was a certain omen of things to come.   With all our positive advances in communication, there is also growing dissension, disputes, and escalating conflict between nations.   On top of this, attacks and retaliations have become far more 'personal'.   Now, even a small group of men can destroy what they choose - and this capability is not going to get weaker or disappear.   Soon (very soon) - one angry man will be able to create more destruction and suffering than we can now imagine.   As we continue to progress, eventually one insane individual will be capable of ending all life on this planet - perhaps even accidentally.   Like it or not - this is a fact.

              While much of this conflict is based on ownership of land, in our present world far too much is created by the words we use.   What each of us "believe" is expressed with those words, and the world of religion or theology couldn't exist without them.   Throughout our history everything, including our laws, what we eat, and our politics have been greatly influenced by theological beliefs.   Even today, violent disagreements stretch from family wars and tribal disputes in the Middle East, to the killing of abortion doctors here - all of them based on their various religious or theological beliefs.
              There exists one particular document which is accepted by approximately half this world as the foundation of most theological arguments.   But - if they all agree on it, how could it possibly create violent disputes?   The answer is those words have been pushed, stretched, and pulled into literally hundreds - if not thousands - of directions.   Now, thanks to the root character method, all the violent arguments and translation errors can come to a halt - because there is a wonderful new answer.
        To Find the Truth - Seek the Roots.