The Middle East Phenomenon

     There appears to be an unstoppable wave of anti-establishment demonstrations in the Middle East. A tsunami of protesters rebelling against overstaying despots or autocratic rulers has captured current media headlines. Like the hills near San Francisco Bay, the minds of these rebels might have been misted over or befogged in the earlier years or decades of their ruling elite, but the bright sunlight of global communication via the internet and the ever-increasing spread of televised events have swept away the heavy curtains of illiteracy and opened the long-suffering masses' eyes to the "better life" of freedom and the vision of greener pastures that can be reached via individual aspiration, education, and initiative. This calls to mind Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's hypothesis that the cosmos, man included, is on an unstoppable evolutionary course to 'Omega Point' or to fulfillment, enlightenment, even unity with the Divine Creative Life Force/God. If our Islamic brethren were previously blinded and beclouded by misunderstandings, misinterpretations, mistranslations, even downright self-centered  quackery by their leaders, I hope this time the followers of Mahomet have now taken one more step up the ladder to the true meaning of Islam and Enlightenment. Koranic scholars apparently concede 'Islam' is derived from 'Shalom'. And both words actually mean 'PEACE'. The simple truth is that charlatans may fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but sooner or later-- MURDER WILL OUT!