Unity is complicated due to human nature
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Editor,
When politicians call for an end to discord and for a new unity, it reminds me of an old story. A person was lamenting, “There is too much dissension. Why don’t the Christians join together with the Hindus, and the Muslims join with the Jews, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses join with the Jainists, and (from Atheists to Zoroastrians) just form one great big Baptist Church.”
The world population is about 7.6 billion. The United States has about 331 million. Each of these individuals has a unique view of how and why we exist here on Earth. By ignoring many of the individualistic finer details, people begin to fall into separate tribal groups. Google lists about 4,200 different religious identifications. In reality, there are 7.6 billion different religious interpretations. The same thing is true of political beliefs.
In reality, each person really has mixtures of experiences, interpretations and personal goals; however, for reasons of survival, protection, comradeship (and more), various alliances are formed. A snapshot in time makes these groupings seem solid; however, in the swirling of reality, each individual has a mind, which necessarily roams among all the options and is constantly on the verge of shifting alliances. Like water coming off a mountain, each drop moves in accordance with some minute effect of gravity versus other forces.
In each case when a mind-shift is made, it is likely that the person is weighing the probabilities of survival. The old snake-brain amygdala does not give up easily. Sometimes this survival is seen as having power. Other times it values communal cooperation and “the greater good.” And there is the drive for reproduction by providing for another generation.
Unity? The most common reason for unity is when there is a threat from outside the tribes. So far, our citizens do not view a sufficient common threat. It might take a long time for such a realization to come about. Don’t expect unity any time soon. It’s complicated.
Gene Johnson
Polson
