It seems religious fanaticism is hitting another peak these days. Between the Christian Right and their agenda in the US and the militant Islamic forces in the Middle East and Asia, it seems people are more willing to die for their faith now that at any other time in the past 20 years. This is strange to me. One would think that as time progressed forward, people's minds would become more open to what's going on around them in the world, and the wide gap in differences of beliefs.

Can't people realize that this is the only world we have and we have to live together to make it work?

I realize there are a lot more forces at work than simply faith, but such religious conservatism seems strange to me in the 21st century.

I just started reading a cool new book by one of my favorite authors, Jon Krakauer. Known for his forays concerning extreme physical adventure such as Into Thin Air and Into the Wild, this new book is a exploration of spiritual extremes. In Under the Banner of Heaven, Krakauer examines the history of one of America's strangest religious orders, the Mormon Fundamentalists. Notorius for their polygamous beliefs and practices, the men in this religion believe it is their divine obligation to take multiple wives, many of which are already related to them as part of their own family. Incest, molestation, and rape run rampant in these secluded societies in Colorado, Utah, and British Colombia. The head of their order, who is believed to be God's mouthpiece on Earth, divides the women up amongst the men, many times marrying girls as young as 14 to men twice or three times their age. These women become like sex slaves, and are so indoctrinated by the church itself, many times they accept their lives of servitude without question. This life is all they know. Mormon Fundamentalists are forbidden to read books, magazines, newspapers or watch television or films from the outside world. They live in these weird little bubbles with their gargantuan, sprawling families, ruled by the church itself. It's a facinating and extremely well researched book.

Fate is a tricky thing. Is it something we can control? I'm not so sure.

I saw a cool movie at the Bangkok Film Festival yesterday called Once You are Born, You Can No Longer Hide. It's about this 14 year old kid who is the son of an affluent factory owner in Northern Italy. One weekend he goes saling on his uncle's yacht, and while everyone is asleep, goes up on deck and accidentally slips off the boat in the middle of the Mediterranean. A few days later, he is rescued by an overloaded ship of Middle Eastern, African, and Eastern European immigrants on their way to Italy. It's a rowdy bunch, and they can tell he's a rich man's son. Two of the men want to hold him for ransom, others want to just throw him back in the sea. A Croatian boy a little older than him and his sister come to his resue and protect him from the dangerous men.

When they finally get to Italy, the boy convinces his parents to adopt the 2 Croats that he became close to on the ship. The parents agree, joyous their son is alive and eager to please him in any way they can. But there are complications in adopting illegal immigrants, and when the authorities find the elder boy has a criminal record, they want to ship him home, separating the siblings. Desperate and unwilling to be apart, the Croatians steal from the rich Italian family and take flight into the city in hopes of staying together.

The ending of the movie is kind of weird, so I won't really get into it, but what struck a chord with me was that here is a family that wants to do a good thing: adopt these 2 Croatian children and give them a better life, but they are prevented by red tape and diplomatic processes; aka, by the System.

Don't hate the player, hate the Game.

What is the difference between these 2 boys? Fate. Luck. One was born to a rich family and was afforded all sorts of opportunities. One was born to a poor family in a war torn country, and was afforded very limited opportunities, if any at all. Is there anything one person can do to change their fate? The message that Once You are Born, You Can No Longer Hide is telling us is, "no". If you are born into a certain class, a certain position, there is actually very little we can do to change that. There are already so many processes in place to keep you in the same spot that you were born in. The opportunites you have in life are dictated, in some degree at least, by class.

Does giving this beggar on the street a dollar actually change anything for them? In the short term, yes, they might be able to have a meal or do whatever it is they need to do. In the long term, not really. I had a professor in college who once said it would be better to let the beggars die, in the hopes that their death might galvanize some kind of change, instead of letting them eek out a nameless living in the shadows of society, living off scraps and trash of the world.

I don't really subscribe to either theory, personally. I think fate does play a big role in our lives, but I also believe that we as humans possess the power to change our fate. We can control it, if we really want to. But it's not easy.