Strength to Be Human
by Mark Antony Rossi
Loyal First Books
2015 Kindle EBook Editions, 48 pages
Tackling the existential existence of humanity on a global scale would be a topic too large for even a War and Peace length volume, but Rossi’s “Strength to Be Human” manages to boil down his poignant distillations in less than fifty pages. Quite a feat when considering he neither dances around political opinions nor runs away from criticizing Science and Religion as potential negative elements that hold back humanity from its fullest potential.
In “What We Learned” Rossi states…..We waste our time building the better machine rather than raising the better child. The sum of our species is naught if we simply carry our fear and hostility to the Cosmos?
This is the first time I have ever read a book that successfully pushes back on religious thought and science philosophy without calling for extreme measures or proposing to exchange one idiotic ideology for another. He plainly points out that religion and science are most dangerous to peaceful coexistence when allowed to lament on humanity’s lack of superhuman or supernatural powers. Powers he clearly shows are unwanted and unneeded.
There is a certain poetry in these writings that ease the deeper thoughts into your mind as with the closing lines of “Prime Mover “— “But the ultimate beauty of the human creation is the indomitable desire to rise above the sum of our shortcomings. In this journey the happiness of humanity stands the strongest chance of building a better world and finally finding a love capable of pushing back the primal instinct.”
These essays read like meditations for the well-being of four billion people. It’s a heady goal but likely a beneficial mission suited for the world-at-large. If Poverty and War have a permanent cure the medicine will arrive by natural means. No test tube or holy touchstone can bring people closer to peace until they settle the war raging in their own hearts. The mechanical and the metaphysical have a place in our dreams if humanity takes care to ensure our deepest decisions are made from personal experience and common sense.
About the reviewer: Sy Albright is past editor of Bioethics Review, a book reviewer and webmaster of Loyal First Books. Http://loyalfirstbooks.wix.com/books-seller