Way back 45 years ago when I was working in the U.S. Senate, I overheard Senator Scoop Jackson talking to Senator Bill Bradley about problems in the Middle East.  This was a time when the second energy crisis was at its worst, with gas lines.  I remember the look on Jackson's face exclaiming that this is Ramadan, so what can we do? Ramadan?  What was Ramadan?  Since then I've educated myself.  My blog site has covered this topic numerous times.   In 2019 I posted on WHAT IS RAMADAN? How many of you knew that the 1.5 billion Muslims are currently fasting, in their most sacred month, Ramadan, marking when Allah first gave chapters of the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad in 610?  The consumption of food, sex and smoking of course are allowed after sunset to  sunrise.  Mind you, not even drinking of water during daylight.  This year, it began around May 5, depending on the sighting of the moon, and will begin to end tomorrow ( in the USA )...

  We know there is life because we are alive.  We have seen deaths, and it is clear we won't live forever.  But this is my view.  Buddhists might disagree.  While I don't think there is any kind of afterlife, most religions promise or suggest that there is something after you die.  Aside for attempting to sway people into being better human beings, perhaps this final carrot at the end is why religion has done so well in the history of humanity.  Even if reality turns out to be my viewpoint, at least many religious-inclined individuals gain the benefit of some psychological relief about the coming inevitability. Hindu and Buddhism teach origins quite different from Islam and Christianity, but these two have rather similar beginnings because they developed in adjacent locales.  For Christians, in the beginning God created the heavens and Earth. Only on the fifth day did He bring forth life, in the seas and also flying creatures . Land animals and us...