"In The Bowels Of Christ"

The quotation is, of course, from the well-known remark of Oliver Cromwell, urging the mule-headed General Assembly of the Church of Scotland to repudiate their allegiance to the crown, i.e., to Charles II. Cromwell, mule-headed himself, made his famous plea: "I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken".

History is full of those who were wrongly sure of themselves, to the point where we suspect that anyone who is completely sure is never quite right. Many religious groups have been "sure" that "others" were wrong, and have used force to convert them. Within Christianity, Roman Catholics have burned heretical Protestants at the stake, and vice versa, and so on.

Not only in religion do we find this, but in political life as well. Communists have forced their ways on society, as did the Nazis. None of all this made many true converts, or proved who was right. Sports and styles offer more examples, without the violence, mostly.

If we search for reasons for all this, we find ourselves considering, again, the biological need to belong, preferably to those whose appearance, language or geographical origins are similar to ours. We are uneasy being alone. It all seems as simple as that. So much for freedom.