Blog of Andreas Eschenbacher

HUMANS and ANTS   Both know to hunt and kill their prey Both have genetics to obey Both are in life subdued to face The task to spread their genes and race   Both understand to win a war Both sting and mutilate galore Both are efficient when they stride To start an all-out genocide   Both have evolved to dominate Both feel the urgent need to mate Both are protective of their seed And sacrifice to raise their breed   Both change and learn to socialize Both are adapted to surprise Both function as they have to do As species of a larger zoo.   Both live their lives and die one day Both have their own eccentric way They differ only in what’s odd: For one of them believes in God © Andreas Eschenbacher

  Religion and Violence Many a book has been written about that subject. Why?  Because people liked to understand the ‘interwovenness’ between religion and violence. People like me. It has puzzled me for a long time why religious people can be as cruel and unforgiving as ‘regular’ folks. Or even more cruel and more unforgiving. Or is it so? Sure, I will say, thinking about the extreme violence of the Church against ‘heretics’, ‘non-believers’, and ‘witches’. Very sadly, the inquisition drew a lot of blood and caused extreme pain for innocent people.  I think of warfare between Christians and Muslims (vice versa), and both against Jews, between European (religious and other) immigrants into America and their massive slaughter of the natives. I’m aware if the long-lasting and devastating wars between Protestants and Catholics,   Sunni and Shii Muslim faith systems, and many more … Now, thinking about all this I came across the book ‘Fields of Blood’ by Karen Armstrong (2015). It is q

  Immunization 4 PREPARE YOURSELF WITH AWE AND FEAR BECAUSE THE END OF TIMES IS NEAR AND JESUS OUR SAVIOR MAY RETURN FROM HEAVEN ANY DAY

Immunization 3   Beware – I say – and be no fool Because the world is cold and cruel And constantly pursues the goal To ruin our life and take your soul   Beware – you hear – of every thought That is not focused just on God Bute tries to lure your asking mind With questions of the evil kind   Beware – my child – of every God That distracts you from our Lord And know for sure that holy fire Will burn away your wrong desire   Beware – God speaks – and do not sin For otherwise you will not win Eternal life in blissful glee BUT BE THROWN INTO THE FIERY SEA. (c) Andreas Eschenbacher

                                                           Immunization 2   You know it and I tell you too   That everything you hear is true   Because the Spirit of the Lord   Guides me in every single word   And asks you now to understand His will and be obedient (c) Andreas Eschenbacher

Immunization 1                              safe and sound THEY LOVE TO KEEP YOU               pure and clean          you are bound YOU HARDLY NOTICE        they are mean     seem so fine AND THEIR INTENTIONS   have no vice   are sublime    BECAUSE THEIR METHODS are so nice (c) Andreas Eschenbacher

 Women Talking – the Decision The women from the Loewen and the Friesen family (clan) would have to come to a decision. They must find their way. They are quite conscious about the obstacles (either way) and the Pro and Cons are discussed carefully (by women who have never been outside of their colony). So, what to choose: Do Nothing: symbolized by a picture of a field (acre) and clouds; nothing will change and remain in self-chosen complacency (and agony) Stay and Fight – symbolized by a men and a woman facing each other with knives in their hands - ready to fight (and kill) Leave – symbolized by a horse showing its back side and looking back (as to invite leaving). Now, because I don't want to spoil the story, please read for yourself. Though very sad, the book is written in a witty, comical manner very worth reading it. For me, this book touches on patriarchal and authoritarian religious sects and communities that are steered and influenced by - often times - messi

Women Talking – the Situation From time to time I check out what other books someone has written, and when checking out Miriam Toews, I discovered her new book Women Talking … and read it (and found it most appropriate to comment this book as ‘amazing, sad, shocking’ – as done by Margaret Atwood). It tells the story of girls and women in a remote Mennonite colony in Bolivia who would wake up in the morning only to discover that are bruised and bleeding from her lower abdomen. They felt dizzy and in pain. However, it was believed (and the women were told so) that this was a result of being attacked by ghosts and demons – probably as punishment for their sins and lustful wishes. Though, in reality, they were made unconscious by eight men from their colony using belladonna spray.   The men were caught and sentenced. However, two years later, the rapes and sexual abuses went on. According to the book’s back side, over three hundred girls and women were raped and sexually assaulted du

There is no need to introduce Miriam Toews but if you don’t know her, please see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miriam_Toews ). I read her book ‘A complicated kindness’ twice – you may take it as sign that I very much liked her narrative of how she and her family managed (or not) living in a small Mennonite ‘old-fashioned’ village. In a very funny (although cynical) way, the main narrator Nomi describes everyday life of her family (father Ray, mother Trudie and sister Tash) and the omnipresent demands and disapprovals by the church leaders of this community – especially by her uncle (also called The Mouth). Often times, the narrator indulges heavily in sarcasm as things (their life and future) are not exactly what she had them wanted to be. Finally, after a long struggle, her mother and sister independently left the village and she and her father decided to stay there and live out a life of complicated kindness … until one day Nomi first gets reprimanded by The Mouth … and then exco