I am greatly conflicted. I am in the midst of a paper, stuck in one section, and no matter which way I go, I can't seem to budge. I've done the reading, written the intro paragraph, and still stuck. I am writing about the destruction of libraries during war times. In the eyes of some this is cultural genocide, or to quote "obliterating cultural memory, erasing identities, and intimidating local populations are all wartime strategies achieved by targeting libraries" (Edwards and Edwards 2008).

Now here is the rub, as a Christian who believes in the second coming of Christ, this seems pointless to me, at least the identity part. To build your identity into the soil of your country? I guess that's one way to live. I realize these people are holding onto this world through cultural institutions. I also realize some people don't have a relationship with God and can't understand the context of heaven or even know about its existence.

I am still confused about the matter...back to the paper.

Edwards, Julie Biando, and Edwards, Stephan (2008). Culture and the New Iraq: The Iraq National Library and Archive, "Imagined Community," and the Future of the Iraqi Nation. Libraries & the Cultural Record 43 (3),p327-342.