The historical equilibrium between obliteration and human existence has always managed to avoid the black hole of chaos. It has always been believed that good people are in greater abundance than bad people. Poets have given us this assurance. The mythological tales of ancient gods also point toward an ultimate goodness. Osiris would triumph for the people of Egypt. For the Greeks it was Olympus. And the Romans provided the Pax Romana which kept the peace of Rome for centuries. Every religion or belief system has a positive force, or "god" if you will, that ensures life will go on.

 But history shows us that there were anomalies. There were men motivated by blood-lust and conquest. Like Attila the Hun, Ivan the Terrible (or "Formidable." And so many others. Human life was cheap and the life of a peasant perilous.  The newly risen Christian Church offered graces to mitigate the death and destruction, but it never fully worked. Too often great numbers perished, as in the 13th Century Black Death or Plague that killed off half the population of Europe and came back several times. 

Meanwhile, Christians tolerated their own and persecuted others, like Jews and Muslims. The love of Christ never extended to the millions who populated vast swaths of God's creation. In short, without recounting in bloody detail the history of the Christian Church, it is very obvious that the words of Jesus, ostensibly the founder, have been drowned out by the clash of swords or the bombardment of tanks.

Nuclear weapons, indeed, any so-called weapons of pass destruction, are still waiting in the wings until some truly mad person releases them on billions of people. Is this the so-called sign of the end?

The wars all over the globe, large and small, clearly show that mankind has not learned from the past. And in the advanced, wealthy countries, people do not even consider the possibility of annihilation. 

They go about their business, championing sports, keeping the shop keepers busy, and patronizing the super heroes on vast movie screens. It is a tale of two worlds. No wonder we no longer teach history in many institutions.