Over the history of mankind, there has been a global war between two ideologies, East versus West. It spans across 3 millennia, from the Trojan War to the Persian Wars to the Crusades to the World Wars. What’s interesting is that in today’s world, this battle is still ongoing and the reasons are similar. Additionally, the War on Terror is not a new war to me, the West, has been fighting this war for thousands of years without any permanent resolution. It is just a continuation of what has always occurred between two extremely different ideologies; I am not just talking about Islam v. Christianity or Americans v. Muslims. I am talking about a difference that is, itself, rooted in ancient times before such notions of religion were even a thought.

Circa 1200 B.C., the first of many wars between the East and West began in the form of the Greeks (Western Civilization) fighting the Trojans (Eastern Civilization). Unfortunately, the only source of this war comes from the story of the Iliad and the Odyssey, told by a blind bard, Homer. This story, which has been orally recited for centuries has been interpreted many times. Due to many factors influencing the validity of these stories, most labeled it as mythology and not as fact. While the telling of the story is still under professional scrutiny, it has been proven that there was an actual city called Troy, which has remnants indicating that a massive war took place 3000 years ago. Nevertheless, this was the first of many wars chronicled between the East and West.

In the 5th century B.C., the Persian Wars symbolized a more monumental battle between the East and West. Had the Persians defeated Athens and the Greeks then Western Civilization, as we know it today, would have ceased to exist. That is to say that the Roman Empire, which has contributed so much to the world of today, would have never existed. Persia, larger, richer, and more motivated, launched 2 massive wars against a smaller, less unified Greece. Needless to say, Greece was heavily outnumbered and did not have the resources that Persia had to fight such a massive war. Greece, which was broken up into independent city-states, at the time, unified under a common banner to defend their way of life, and eventually ours. Against all odds, Greece and her city-states proved to be triumphant against the overwhelming forces of Persia. Another battle between the East and West, yet the West won and her ideologies salvaged for centuries thereafter.

In our more recent history, relatively speaking, the wars between the East and West have been dictated by religion. With the introduction of organized religion in this world, many societies, people, and cultures have been destroyed in the name of God.

The wars between the East and the West got progressively worse over years in the name of God. The Crusades or the Holy Wars, whatever you want to call it, historically began in 1096, when Pope Urban II, declared a war on Islam in the name of God. The Eastern half of the Roman Empire had become unsafe for pilgrims to traverse en route to the Holy Land. The Eastern Emperor was losing control over his territory and needed help defending it against the Seljuk Turks. With the fear of losing land, religious sanctity, and commerce, the Western Emperor had to do what any proud leader would do, fight.

The Islamic community, which rapidly rose in population, between the years of 632 to 1096, became a force to be reckoned with. Known to many as the “warriors religion” they forcefully converted people through war and destruction. (Similar to what the Babylonians did to the Israelites in the 7th century B.C.) Nevertheless, in 1096, the first Holy Crusade began under the banner of the Roman Empire and it was meant to protect her assets from the influx of Islam. The war was propagandized as the war to fight and die in so you could secure you a place in Heaven. Of course, many leaders, kings, religious zealots, and priests jumped on this opportunity to seize the Holy Land. Some jumped on this opportunity for their personal gain, as the East was richer than the West in almost every single facet. Some simply jumped to the cause to kill and plunder.

Over the course of centuries to come, the Crusades continued in the name of God. Between 1096 and 1272 there were a total of 9 official Crusades. There were other minor crusades, such as the Swedish Crusades and the Peoples Crusade. Thousands of people died over the course of the Holy Wars and no resolution ever occurred. Although the Crusades were being fought under the guise of God, the true nature of the Crusades was contorted to fit powerful leaders greedy purposes. Most scholars attribute the end of the Crusades to the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 when the Ottoman Turks finally captured Constantinople and held it. Many scholars also attribute this moment as the final collapse of the Roman Empire.

However, the tradition and ideologies of the Roman Empire never ceased to exist. These factors were instilled and preserved in Western Europe, in places like England, France, Germany, and Spain. The Empire never died, it had just taken on a ‘new look’; no longer was it necessary to be the biggest and baddest. Instead of having one massive state to govern all, now many countries shared the same ideologies and religious beliefs as it used to under the Roman Empire banner. With the European discovery of the “New World” in 1492 came colonization and the transferring of these ideologies.

With the colonization of the “New World”, the eastern problems were temporarily forgotten about and Western Europe was consumed with an entire new hemisphere. Converting people from all areas in the Western Hemisphere was more important to the Western European countries than to continue waging a war that had continually given them heartache. No longer was is it imperative to war with the Turks or the remnants of the Eastern Empire, at least not until 1914. Although empires have fallen over the course of history, their ideals have not and the battle between East and West has continued throughout the 20th century under these same influences.

After the Ottoman Empire was broken up following the first World War, there was no great Empire left in the world and after WWII, the U.S. stepped in, along with the U.S.S.R., as the next Superpower or Empire, whatever you want to call it. The U.S. fought the ‘Sphere of Influence’ in Vietnam, Cuba, and Korea over not religion, but socialism. The U.S. dominated a large portion of this movement and eventually solidified itself as a capitalistic superpower. Although the Cold War was not fought over religion, it was fought over power and influence, with both countries vying to fill in the void left by its predecessors. The result was the same as any war before, just without the negative religious connotation.

The world could not even go 100 years before the next attack on religions began once again. In 2001, Islamic fundamentalists attacked the U.S. and the people inside simply because they hated Americans. Why? Because we are from the West. Naturally, the U.S. rallied the troops following the 9-11 attack, greater than that of Pearl Harbor, and proceeded to declare war on various countries and invoked personal vendettas for every single one of their enemies. There is this cliché that history repeats itself, such as a patterned quilt does. That no matter what the times might dictate or what events might seem impact full, the same theme occurs again and again. Naturally the theme I refer to is the war between the Eastern and Western religions, predominately Christianity and Islam, but not solely. In regards to what the true definition of culture is, these two hemispheres have not seen eye to eye in any recorded history. Not having stopped their constant war faring ways over the centuries from the Trojan War through today, this war is truly endless.

Unfortunately, the “War on Terror” began in more recent history and is still being fought. Maybe it’s just me, but declaring a “war on terrorism” seems like the most noble, but dumbest thing I have ever been witness to. Terrorism is not a country nor an empire nor any entity that can be stopped. It is an ideology that you can’t see or touch or contain. It will probably exist thousands of years after we colonize the Moon. I find it funny that the title of this current administrations “The War on Terror” is a committal of the nonsensical never ending battle between East and West.

For some reason light years above my head the East and West have been engaged in constant warfare since the beginning of recorded history, yes I include the Iliad and Odyssey in that summation. This war that has lasted for millenia between the same opponents has shifted the scope of differences, such as religion, really has occurred due to different ideologies of what is right and wrong. As if they were two brother bore from the same source and haven’t stopped fighting amongst themselves; and yes I am referring to the mythology of Cain and Abel.

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