A Heretical Eschatology!

As the clock ticks away and we slowly but surely approach the date of December 15, on which Detlev Mehlis is scheduled to give his final report, final for him as the chief investigator, or final in the sense of the investigation itself, or both, ideological and sentimental interpretations of what it is likely to happen, of what it is actually involved, and of what could the potential outcome of it will likely be, will predominate, nullifying any attempt at making sense of anything really, at this stage.

But what’s really at stake here?

For some, it is the fight against imperialism and Zionist conspiracies. For others, it is the necessity of fighting for what “we” have, no matter how little it is, or even because it is so little. For this, the regime might indeed appear as the lesser of all evils, since t remains as the sole evident guarantor of stability. The fact that this regime might be responsible for bringing about the current crisis may not matter in the least at this stage. Stability is the only thing that matters here, regardless of how this situation came about to begin with and no matter who stays in power and who leaves.

My sympathy goes to this lot. But, no matter how deep I dig into my soul, I cannot find anything that can make me be willing to invest any amount of hope neither in the House of Assad nor in the benevolence of time. For, time can only bring salvation to those who actively seek it, while those who wait for it will continue to harvest damnation.

Does this sound too much like eschatological gibberish? Well, perhaps it is. But, sometimes, when your soul is on the line, the best you can do, even when you are a self-professed heretic, is to resort to just such gibberish. The road ahead is still too long, even should the regime fall tomorrow (which it still might), and every little bit of moral support does help.