Perhaps there has never been any time in history when terror, horror, cruelty and brutal suffering, much of it inflicted by men themselves, have set their curse upon so many lands. The unimaginable crimes unleashed during the second great World War probably exceeded in depth and extent of horror anything before or since in human history. That was a time of universally declared war when peace and compassion and the common decencies of humanity were not expected to exist.
Now there is no declared war in the world. Yet the cruel civil wars, the religious conflicts, the deadly internecine rivalries seem to be multiplying without end. Parts of the world are sinking into undying enmity, never-ending agonies and merciless hatreds. The ferocity of the Islamic State captures the headlines but, in terms of numbers brutalized, raped, tortured, slaughtered or sent fleeing in despair, the deeds of those black-flagged, blood-soaked fanatics are minor compared with what is accumulating in a score of other scenes of horror. What more can the devil find to do when all that is diabolical is already being done. An incredible half of the population of Syria has been displaced and one hides from the thought of what that means in daily human suffering – especially the innocent suffering of children. They, the children, are the greatest
