Building Bridges in a Great Divide
One serious question we have to ask ourselves is how we can become more tolerant people. At the end of the day, we all have neighbors and want to live with each other, so we must build some bridges over the gaps we have created.
I cannot say that I never thought I would live to see an assassination attempt on a President in my lifetime; it was just a matter of time. I am almost certain that my kids or I will live through another major world conflict. It’s just part of human nature. We are power-hungry creatures. You can go back in history and see the state of civilization at specific points in time and mark the times when we have raised the temperature so high that two sides of the same coin can no longer coexist. There are always two sides and a poor soul stuck in the middle.
When it comes to the United States, most parts of Europe, and almost all of Latin America, it is obvious we are reaching a boiling point where core Judeo-Christian values are no longer the foundation of society. Instead, an antagonistic narrative towards these founding values is gaining the upper hand. The table talks are no longer engaged in tolerable discussion but in damaging, empathy-lacking demonization of the other side.
I say "Judeo-Christian," but neither is faithfully represented in the underlying foundation of our Western civilization. Instead, what we see is a mere human interpretation of what people think each faith's values should be in our societal and political systems, both then and now. Despite this, both have brought out the best in humanity, yet they are still stained with some of the worst. This leaves one thing clear: we do a very poor job representing each faith. Just as in our day-to-day lives, no one is perfect, but we must aim for something.
One serious question we have to ask ourselves is how we can become more tolerant people. At the end of the day, we all have neighbors and want to live with each other, so we must build some bridges over the gaps we have created.
There is real evil, and it does not miss a chance to manifest itself. Both extremes have it, and neither is quick to acknowledge it. It is, again, human nature, sinful nature, the fool's choice to say we have no sin in us. We must speak boldly and passionately about our beliefs, but still be able to sit at the same table with our neighbors. We have to tone it down; if not, things will escalate so quickly that we will no longer recognize the world we live in, and it will happen fast.
It always happens when one side sees the other as less than human; then the natural outcome is to treat them in a less-than-human way. You can fill in the blank with what history has taught us: unmeasured creativity in the most dehumanizing ways to end life.
Governments are important; they allow us to avoid chaos. But when the government is polarized to one extreme, and even more so, works towards polarizing everyone else into that extreme, instead of focusing on bringing unity, we are in big trouble. A house divided against itself will not stand.
Interesting times lie ahead, but in reality, we have been there for the last 40 to 50 years. So the question is, how long will this "fake state of peace" endure? Regardless of the hopelessness of achieving peace through a natural agreement when choices and values are direct opposites, it is our job to never stop trying to build bridges and not divides.
I believe we have built some beautiful bridges in the past; it is within our capabilities. That's why God made different cultures. Yet we can count on two things: we will build and destroy bridges, and there will always be a divide. The final solution is God closing that divide, as it is the one thing outside our capability.
Until the next one,
Javier
