In the last two centuries, more people have died due to wars than at any other time in recorded history. Technology has advanced, education has spread, and yet humanity seems to have become more efficient at killing itself. This contradiction demands reflection. I believe the reason lies not merely in weapons or politics, but in the steady erosion of the idea of honour, replaced by something far more primitive in our behaviour.
Once, honour meant recognising the intrinsic value of another human being. It meant restraint even when power was available. It meant understanding that strength carried responsibility. Today, honour has been quietly pushed aside and replaced with cunning, manipulation, and ruthless calculation. What is often praised as strategic thinking is, in reality, little more than survival instinct dressed up in sophistication.
I believe this shift began when we stopped seeing ourselves primarily as children of God and started seeing ourselves as advanced animals. When humans are reduced to clever monkeys, morality becomes optional and compassion becomes a weakness. If we are merely the product of evolution fighting for dominance, then conquest is natural, deception is intelligent, and cruelty is justified as efficiency. We then act exactly as animals would, territorial, aggressive, and indifferent to suffering beyond our own group.
The language of honour demands that I see you as my equal, regardless of your faith, nationality, or culture. The language of animals demands only advantage. That is why today we see nations invading other nations and calling it strategy. We see people who worship differently being labelled as inferior or dangerous. We see lies repeated until they become truth, and brutality excused as necessity.
Cunning, often glorified as Chanakya thinking, has replaced God given compassion. Intelligence without conscience has become our new virtue. We admire those who outwit others, not those who uplift them. We celebrate domination, not dignity. This is not progress. This is regression disguised as realism.
When I recognise another person as a child of God, as someone of equal worth and divine origin, certain actions become impossible. I cannot casually destroy your home. I cannot mock your beliefs. I cannot reduce you to a statistic or collateral damage. Honour places limits on power. Animals have no such limits.
The world does not need more cleverness. It needs more conscience. It does not need stronger armies. It needs stronger moral anchors. Honour is not weakness. It is the highest form of strength because it restrains us even when we could overpower others.
There are only two paths before us. Either we reclaim our identity as honourable human beings who recognise each other as children of God, or we continue behaving like monkeys with missiles, technology without wisdom, and intelligence without soul. One path leads to coexistence and dignity. The other leads to endless conflict dressed up as progress.
The choice is not philosophical. It is painfully practical. Honour as humans, or continue monkeying around with the fate of the world…!
The Author conducts an online, eight session Writers and Speakers Course. If you’d like to join, do send a thumbs-up to WhatsApp number 9892572883 or send a message to bobsbanter@gmail.com
