Established 1970

According to the Oxford Dictionary this word refers to the entry of a hostile army into another country.

Surely the meaning could be extended much further to "encroachment of any kind" such as 'the peaceful invasion of a country by an organisation, a business" or even "invasion of personal privacy or space".

Throughout history there have always been military invasions by Egyptians, Medes, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Huns, Goths, Vikings, Jutes, Normans, Moslems, etc. The Bible recounts the invasion of Palestine by the Israelites fleeing from slavery in Egypt. There is no evidence that they were ever in bondage in that country but probably migrated en masse from Arabia. Remember that the victors write the historical record.

The invaders bring with them their distinct culture, and culture often involves a new religion. The people in Britain received the word 'god' and the names of four of our week-days from the Vikings. In the same way, when the Moslems occupied Spain, they introduced not only their religion but a particular architectural style.

The latter half of the last millennium saw invasion on a terrible scale. It was colonisation first of South and North America, then India, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Polynesia, etc. From the invaders' viewpoint they introduced a superior culture but think of the impact on the original inhabitants, particularly if they have been grossly imposed upon and their country pillaged.

It is one thing for a person, a group or a nation to see the benefit of a new idea, a lifestyle, an innovation, a modernisation and include it in a new outlook. It is quite a different position to have change thrust upon you by a foreign power.

Consider how we inhabitants of earth would react if we were invaded from outer space by a civilisation, which, seeing how backward we are, sought to impose their superior lifestyle on us.

Colonisation and forced invasion is now regarded as morally unacceptable, though the Jewish invasion of Palestine is strongly supported by the USA. One can only assume that the reason for the support is based on acceptance of Bible statements. However, before basing action on the statements in any 'sacred' literature, it is necessary to determine their relevance.

In Palestine/Israel we have now two nations separated by religion. The obvious solution would be for commonsense to prevail and the two religions to be seen as the product of infant indoctrination and completely devoid of any supernatural basis.

Palestinians would acknowledge the technical skills that the invaders have and benefit there-from, intermarriage would occur, there would be one governing body, one non-religious weekly 'holiday', no religious obligations or restrictions.

Then rational solutions would have a chance. Unfortunately religion overrides reason, so the ongoing bloodshed and confrontation will continue with no end in the foreseeable future. What an awful outlook!

Religion has caused this problem and religion stymies any acceptable solution.