I disagree that it is unfightable; it’s just an illusion to believe that we’ll overcome the problem someday. The way to combat this is to establish sustainable communities based on wisdom and teaching, while bearing in mind that human beings are susceptible to the belief that they will not succumb to the corruption of power.
This is a cycle that has existed since time immemorial, and I believe it stems from the contrast between feminine nurturing and male physical dominance. This dominance is still the basis of domestic violence today, but it has also caused secluded schools of wisdom to form. In India, for example, the rulers of the kingdoms preferred Hinduism to Buddhism because Hinduism idealised the warrior, whereas Buddhism taught humility and patience through quiet wisdom.
Throughout time, ideals looked for the nurturing warrior or the warrior maiden, and for a while, we thought the endless fighting was over. Instead, however, it developed into the endless forms of competition introduced into society by those who worshipped the warrior. They claim that this is our only destiny, but those of us who have worked in care have seen the other side. Those who have been both soldier and carer embrace a more holistic and sustainable approach.
This vision is sustainable because it integrates strength without domination, courage without cruelty and wisdom without destruction. The ongoing challenge is to build and preserve these pockets of wisdom — spaces where humility, patience and empathy can flourish — as vital counterforces to the perennial allure of power and aggression. This approach acknowledges that thorns will always accompany roses, but also affirms that, through dedication and community, love and wisdom can persist and flourish despite cycles of suppression and conflict.
The ‘Prophet of Love’ was indeed quickly abandoned as the early Christian Church became embroiled in temporal power and institutional authority. Initially, the teachings of love, humility and compassion embodied by Christ were embraced by communities often facing persecution and hardship. However, when Christianity gained favour in the Roman Empire — especially after Emperor Constantine legalised it and later made it the state religion — the Church gradually shifted from being a marginal, persecuted sect to becoming a powerful institution intertwined with political control.
As power consolidated within the Church, the radical and vulnerable aspects of Christ’s message were often overshadowed by a desire to preserve authority and social order. The Prophet, once a figure of humble service and healing, was placed on a pedestal and transformed into a distant, divine deity, worshipped in a way that sometimes obscured the core message of compassionate living and quiet protest against injustice. The Church’s growing emphasis on hierarchy, dogma and ritual created a gap between the original spirit of the teachings and the institutions that claimed to represent them.
Yet even as the Church wielded power and became embroiled in corruption, the true wisdom and healing spirit persisted, albeit in more secluded and endangered spaces. Monastic communities, cloistered sanctuaries and quiet rural enclaves became guardians of this living wisdom. Despite the turmoil of the outside world, these sanctuaries practised sophisticated agriculture, the healing arts and medicines flourished, and spiritual sacrifice was made, especially during devastating pandemics that decimated populations. These communities kept the flame alive, embodying the compassionate essence of the Prophet’s teachings: care, healing and patience.
This nurturing of wisdom was not confined to the West. Whether it manifested as the mystical vision of Christ in the Christian tradition or as Quan Yin (or Guan Yin) in Eastern traditions — an embodiment of mercy and the healing spirit — the ideal persisted across cultures. Revered as the bodhisattva of compassion, Quan Yin symbolises the universal hope that healing and mercy endure even amidst suffering and suppression.
Thus, although the institutional church sometimes strayed into the corridors of power, moving away from its humble origins, the essence of the Prophet’s compassionate spirit was preserved in these hidden, resilient spaces. The rose of love and healing continued to bloom among the thorns of power and corruption, nurturing the hope and wisdom that sustain humanity beyond the reach of worldly domination.
