Blood Diamonds

I just finished watching "Blood Diamond", and it inspired my thoughts.

One of the main characters kept saying, "When the fighting stops, this place will be paradise; when peace comes, this place will be paradise". That was the most powerful thought in the whole film. Not just Africa, but the whole earth, is nothing but paradise. What is there on earth that is not beautiful and good? What is there that is not for our benefit? The land, the water, the oceans, the grass and trees, the clouds and the sky, the rain, the deserts, the ice and snow, the animals and plants and bugs and bacteria, are all beautiful and good. What of it is not for our enjoyment? What of it is not for our prosperity? The earth brings forth food and fuel and housing and clothing, and even beautiful luxuries like diamonds and gold, all for us! God's excess and lavish gifts are amazing and without bound.

So why do we do the one thing that can ruin it? Why do we hate and kill each other?

It reminds me of the "Riverworld" sci-fi book series, in which billions of people wake up one day in a paradise, young, strong, beautiful, and immortal, with endless free food and clothing. They almost immediately set about torturing and enslaving each other.

Why does humanity do this?

More thoughts tomorrow...

-micah