At the Root of Violence

At the root of violence and prejudice is the erroneous thinking that there is a “we” and a “they”. There is only “us.”

A thousand years from now, when we are time bleached bones, no one will care how the owner of those bones voted, what color the skin was, who they loved, how much money they had or what their title was. Given the horrific stories of weapons used to hurl small bits of metal at one another on roadsides and in churches, it might be a good time to take a harder look at all the ways each of us see ourselves as separate, better, more privileged, more worthy, more anything than others of us.

In truth, the cancer that is killing humanity is intolerance; adopting an attitude of superiority based on thoughts going on in our heads. Our self-imposed segregation into groups of like-believers who purposely engage in any form of intolerance only perpetuates and reinforces the “we” and “they” culture.

Are we consciously fighting hatred or are we feeding it with our own “acceptable” version of intolerance? Identifying ourselves as aligned with others who are similarly intolerant is a twisted and cancerous pride at being a “member” of a club built on mutual hate.

There is no “we” or “they”. There is only US.