There is much in this world that I do not understand. This is often the case when I try to understand how others think. This week I have been reading of the destruction of the archeological remains at the ancient city of Palmyra. I’m certainly no archeologist and I don’t know very much about the slow and painstaking process of excavating and revealing ancient architecture. I am often amazed about the things that can be learned about language and culture from the physical evidence of ancient cities.

Palmyra clearly was a very important and unique site. It was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The monument contains the ruins of a great city. At its height, the city must have been one of the cultural centers of the ancient world. During the 1st and 2nd Centuries, the city was filled with Greco-Roman art and architecture, with Persian influences. The site had more than 500 tombs and more than a thousand columns.

It also was an important tourist attraction, bringing tourism dollars to the area. Before the Syrian conflict, Palmyra was attracting 150,000 tourists each year. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Palmyra was an important pilgrimage destination for Europeans. Visiting the site, located in the the desert near the center of Syria, northeast of Damascus, was said to be a life-changing experience.

Now the ruins are even more ruined. There is less to see. Last week we learned of the bombing of the Temple of Baalshamin, which was a nearly intact building. This morning, BBC is reporting the destruction of the Temple of Bel.

Bombing the site seems to me to be among the most senseless actions that humans could undertake. I simply don’t understand why the IS militants would do such a thing. I understand that history is not the long suit of fundamentalists. They tend to want to have their own version of history, independent from anything that would hold up to independent examination. Perhaps the militants wanted to destroy the buildings so that they could maintain their own myths about history and origins. But it makes no sense to me. History cannot be altered by the actions of the present generation. They have proven that they are capable of destroying buildings of incredible beauty and historical value. They have not been able to destroy history itself. Even after the devastation of the IS bombs, there is much that future generations will be able to learn from the site. Even if the site is completely leveled and no bits of sandstone are left intact, the photographs and video of the site that remain in other parts of the world will survive and last much longer than the current generation of IS leaders.

The destruction of buildings, however, pales in comparison with the destruction of human lives. Earlier this month the group murdered 81-year-0ld Khaled al-Assad, the archaeologist who had looked after the Palmyra ruins for 40 years. I have no idea why they considered him to be a threat. They seem to have no tolerance for those who see the world differently than their own narrow point of view. That death, tragic as it is, pales in comparison to the thousands of other lives that have been destroyed by the senseless violence of the group. In addition to the deaths, the threat of the group is creating a refugee crisis that is impacting the whole of Europe as well as the Middle East. European leaders have been meeting and trying to come up with new solutions to what has become a crisis.

In our world today, reaching a refugee camp is only the first step in a long process of disruption. The average stay in a refugee camp is now 17 years. That’s long enough for children to become adults during their stay in the camps. That’s long enough for elders to come to the end of their lives in the camps. That’s long enough for people to lose hope. The cost in terms of lost productivity and decreased ability to participate fully in the wider communities is devastating. When one considers what could have been, it is heart breaking.

And I haven’t a clue what the militants hope to accomplish by their activities. I simply don’t get the attempt to create a world where those who disagree or who see things from a different point of view have to be destroyed.

So far, the only answer to this senseless destruction has been additional violence. There have been some organized attempts to stop IS militants through military means. One could argue that the use of force has been too little, too late. I’m certainly no military expert. What I do know is that when we target people because of their beliefs, we come perilously close to the kind of thinking that lies behind the militants - identify enemies and destroy them.

The story of the world is clear - whenever the world goes to war some of the enemies are destroyed and the cost of that destruction is the death of innocents. Call is collateral damage. Call it what you might, the death of innocents always produces a backlash of anger and pain and provides fertile ground for a new generation of radical thought and violence. IS would never have grown to the power and world attention that it has if it were not for the refugee camps of previous generations.

No, I don’t understand it. No, I don’t have a solution. No, I don’t have answers.

For now I weep over the loss. We are losing some valuable pieces of our historical heritage. We are losing some important opportunities to study and understand the dynamics of the rise and fall of cultures and civilizations. And we are using a generation of potentially productive citizens and leaders. It is a tragedy of world-wide impact. Some of what has been lost is forever lost and cannot be replaced.

And I wonder if we will ever have a clue why this has occurred.

I wrote this. If you want to copy it, please ask for permission. There is a contact me button at the bottom of this page. If you want to share my blog a friend, please direct your friend to my web site.