You know the feeling, - you turn on the Simpson's and find it does not make you laugh anymore or you find that you get bored in the first few minutes of American Idol. In television, this phenomenon is labeled, "Jumping the Shark". We can all remember back to the episode or season when our favorite shows jumped the shark - Two and a Half Men, Happy Days, Friends, Glee...etc. The point at which a television show jumps the shark is when we know it is only a matter of time before the show is cancelled. Oh sure, the writers make changes, add new characters or a little skin in a desperate attempt to save the show, but it rarely works.
In every other aspect of our lives we experience this same phenomenon, but now it is called the "point of no return". I thought about this early this morning while playing Monopoly online against a computer. In a game of computer Monopoly, there is a point when I know the outcome - whether I will win or lose. It is usually when I or the computer has several thousand dollars in the bank and a few monopolies, built out with houses and hotels. At the same time, the other player is mortgaging properties to pay the rent. Until we reach this place, we will fight with all our heart - saving each penny to avoid bankruptcy, relent in every argument to avoid divorce, flailing in the undertow to avoid drowning. This is the point in an event, from which we know it will only go downhill, we cannot be saved so we give up.
Unfortunately, the point of no return does not apply only to television or Monopoly. It also applies to much greater, even global, events. Following this mornings game of Monopoly, which I won; and after reading today's job postings, I turned to the news. I read a few stories in today's news and started to wonder if our world has jumped the shark? I wondered if our very existence is reaching the point of no return? With global aggressions reaching an all-time high in our world - I wonder if we are at that point?
To put it into perspective, just over the past 24 hours...the government of Yemen has fallen to a coupe and is now under the control of Iranian backed radicals - enemies of the U.S. The long-time ruler and King of Saudi Arabia has died. Coincidence? Stay tuned! Adding to the chaos is ISIS, spreading their brutality throughout the middle east, seemingly immune to everything our military is throwing at them. Iran, while now measuring for curtains in the palaces of Yemen, is working feverishly to take control over increasingly weakened parts of the middle east. This can only mean terrible things for Israel; who is being snubbed by our anti-Israeli President. If this were not enough, France has reported more terrorist related activity in the first 23 days of 2015, than in all of 2014; the Vatican is preparing for possible terrorist attacks and McDonald's posted yet another bad month. It is bad news on steroids.
With all of these stories over the past 24 hours and a news ticker becoming more active by the minute, we must ask if we have reached the point of no return? I am not alone in my concern as the Doomsday Clock has just been moved ahead by two minutes, bringing it closer to midnight than it has been in 30 years. Though I give little credence to the Doomsday Clock, I believe it reflects the hopeless thinking of many people around the world. Again, the chaos around the world is escalating by the minute, but have we reached the point of no return? Is it time to step back and spend more time with our families in anticipation of the coming apocalypse? I am not so sure. Then again, I am also not psychic, but can only speak to what I can see and add a casual, if only semi-intelligent, opinion.
The global threat is very real! It is however, fueled with the support of our President who has deliberately backed a radical, psychotic and inhumane group of incorrigible Islamic extremists. This group of street punks have stated their intent to kill all Christians and Jews. Though it is good to hear that they have goals, the rule of thumb in goal setting is to make goals which are attainable. At the kill rate of 12 or so per month, in a world of 2 billion Christians, they may want to review their goals. Also, with an estimated ISIS membership somewhere south of 25,000, going up against more than 2 billion people is, well, stupid.
Now, even if we give ISIS credibility in their quest to take over the middle east, they are going to find themselves up against another group of savages who are a bit more organized. Iran has it's heart set on becoming the next ruler of the middle east, and yes, this is a problem for both, Iran and ISIS.. While it is possible that they will get together in a combined effort to kill all Christians and Jews, it is more likely that like a bacterium in a petri dish, they will eventually kill each other off.
Iran is, by far, the nation to watch in this fight. Their danger to the world knows no bounds. With the support of Obama, Iran has been allowed to increase their strength and their global influence. Until Obama is removed from office and terrorists are again recognized as terrorists, the danger will spread. If, for example, the Iranian threat to Israel's existence becomes imminent, we can be fairly certain that Israel will be forced into a nuclear response, potentially setting the wheels in motion for global destruction. ISIS on the other hand, is not as much of a threat. I liken this group to a bunch of adolescent punks with keys to their wealthy parent's car. Growing up, these snot nosed kids were given too many toys and not enough discipline or love. This also explains how they respond to the parents of their victims, pleading for the lives of their children. A little tough love and a few thousand, well armed U.S. Marines on the ground will put an end to ISIS. After a few of them watch the skin of their friends melt off their face in a real military confrontation, they will run with their loaded underwear, back to mommy and daddy.
Some would say that China, Russia and North Korea are equally threatening to the world. In some ways, I agree that Russia and China are a threat, but unlike the "Islamic State", China and Russia tend to be a little more civilized. Both nations are comprised of advanced civilizations with indoor plumbing, at least in their largest cities. Compare this to a civilization with the intelligence of a horny poodle. After all, who else would be willing to kill, based on the promise of sex with virgins in the after-life. Whether 7, 70, 700 or 7 million, anyone who believes that killing people in exchange for sex is a rational belief, is off-the-charts, perverted.. But these are the same people who kill over a cartoon of a false prophet. As a Christian, I would not kill over an ignorant cartoon of Jesus, my Lord and Savior. As I see it, if he is offended, he has much more powerful and effective methods of handling his enemies than I.
A true indication of the quality of people who make up today's Islamic state, consider that most recruits consist of liberal, spoiled, unloved, American or European (primarily French) children, taught to feel guilty for being white; and hardened criminals in our nations prisons. What more needs to be said?
The world is in a very precarious place and the danger is real, but our civilization has not yet jumped the shark. Despite having a President whose actions are akin to a computer virus, doing it's damage in the background; I believe we can survive. When it is all over, the world will be a much different place, but our civilization and McDonald's, will survive and we will all be stronger from the experience.
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