Imagine

Imagine all the people, sharing all the world.

Today is Easter Monday. Last Wednesday marked the beginning of Passover. A week ago today was the fifteenth anniversary of the death of Juvénal Habyarimana, which was swiftly followed with the Rwandan Genocide. Ninety-two years ago yesterday, Canadian efforts culminated in victory at Vimy Ridge. Forty-one years and nine days ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. In the midst off this, I thought I’d share my reflections on the world.

As the world learned too late, over 100 days in 1994, hundreds of thousands of Tutsis were butchered at the hands of Hutus in Rwanda. However, the difference between the Tutsis and Hutus is difficult to pin down, and may be as simple as artificial divisions remaining from European colonial times dependant on the size of your nose, or possible your heard of cattle. And yet both ethnic groups have taken turns mercilessly slaughtering each other. In 2001, terrified school girls were subject to taunts and projectiles hurled at them by angry Loyalists in Belfast, because the Loyalists believed that the Bible is the only infallible authority on Christianity, while the children believed that the episcopacy is also a valid power. Sunni and Shiite Muslims have been mean to each other ever since their religion was twenty-two years old when a disagreement broke out about who the legitimate successor to the Prophet Muhammad was. These and all arbitrary differences are creating an ‘other’ to blame for our own deficiencies, and dividing humanity.

In many cases religious or ethnic differences are simply used as a smokescreen to hide other cultural challenges, but the fact is that divisions created sometimes thousands of years ago to suit the needs of a horny king or a discarded heir or a colonial power are continuing to drive a giant wedge between humans today. What we need now is a complete separation of church and state, and a greater global harmony going forward. While visiting in Turkey, Barack Obama recently boldly reinforced that the United States was not a Christian nation. Canada has, to a large degree, exemplified that notion quite well, and continues to be a beacon of multiculturalism and acceptance.

‘Cause tonight; we can be as one tonight.

I was listening to CBC radio a while back, and they were interviewing a Muslim scholar. I can’t remember who it was, or the context of the discussion, but what they were talking about was their notion that what their organization was striving for and envisioned was a world in which everybody was Muslim. This made me stop and think for a moment, because the concept of the entire world following the same religion, and the idea of organizations striving for this, was a concept that had never really occurred to me. Sure it makes sense that people would generally desire others to agree with them on such topics, but for an organization to actually foresee this as an eventuality, let alone a possibility, really struck me. Perhaps because the only way I can see that ever happening is as a secular world, rather than any one religion over all the others.

That’s because it seems somewhat presumptuous to me to assume that your religion, or race, or ethnicity, or group is solely correct and only your people will be chosen or saved (I'm afraid it was 'the Mormons.' Yes, 'the Mormons' was the correct answer). Since most religions are for the most part mutually exclusive, it follows that only one can be totally correct, or, quite possibly, that none are correct. Some may accuse me of taking too literal an approach to this matter, but I believe a literal approach is a valid way to consider such an issue, especially when one group involved can raise almost $40 million in California to see to it that homosexuals cannot be married, because over two-thousand years ago, Leviticus said: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”

Something that always gets me, and gives me hope, is the Christmas truce of 1914, in which enemy soldiers dug into trenches in the Great War joined each other in No Man’s Land to sing, exchange gifts, bury their dead, and play soccer. The war would last almost five more years, but on that day everybody was a human being.

Imagine there’s no countries. It isn’t hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for. And no religion too. Imagine all the people; living life in peace.

Russ

The Merging of the World: Using Connectivity to Understand and Promote Diversity

Over time humanity has always striven after connectivity and through this connectivity; unity, but all too often this goal becomes perverted. In connecting with others we sense an incompatibility which causes us to shy away from those sharing a different opinion. It can even lead to violence, war and destruction. When was the last time you heard of a war between two countries because they agreed about something?

The reason our quest after unity becomes perverted is simple. In our desire to be the same, we realize somewhere along the way that we are not. Most of us are passive enough to simply back away and surround ourselves with people who share our opinion. Some of us, mostly those with a philosophical or political persuasion, will attempt to engage the other in discussion and have a lively debate, perhaps trying to convince each other to re-evaluate their assessment. There are also those that are so sure that they have the truth that they move beyond lively debate to criticism, derogation, fundamentalism and general intolerance. All of these phenomena however are, as I previously mentioned, results of a single desire; a desire for unity.

Perhaps it seems ironic that a notion such as “unity”; a notion that is so commonly seen as a virtue can also be the source of so much discord. Then again maybe this does not come as a big surprise. Other more notorious phenomena can also be linked to unity, or homogeneity. Communism, ethnic-cleansing, ethnocentrism, religious fundamentalism, colonization and even random violence all involve the employment of different methods of assimilation in order to convert, convince or force people to be the same.

Yet for some reason these methods do not work. They cause significant pain and suffering, but they never succeed in totally assimilation or eliminating the other race, belief or point of view. One only needs to look as far as the holocaust or the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia to see that even the most extreme political movements and violence is not strong enough to wipe out even one group of people or one ideology.

It is worth noting however that these movements to assimilate exist in forms we do not recognize on a daily basis. Trends are one of the obvious forms of social assimilation that we accept and buy into all the time; one that is especially evident among kids, but exists also among kids of all ages. Feeling pressure to get that new toy because everyone at school has it is a way of avoiding social exclusion that almost everyone has been a part of. As a kid I remember in the span of a week almost everyone in my class had a fancy new generation yo-yo and I thought, I don’t even like yo-yos, but I don’t want to be the only one without one. Another example is how over the past half-century women, at least in the Western world, have enjoyed liberation from patriarchal assimilation and sexism, but at the same time they are expected to conform in other ways that are more subtle. The pressures to be skinny, to look beautiful all the time and to be feminine are all forms of assimilation that millions of women buy into everyday. Even men feel pressure to fit into the mould of the socially acceptable “manly-man.”

What I am getting at here is that social pressure and social assimilation are more subtle, and therefore more powerful than major ideological movements. It seems that people are a lot more willing to buy into being the same as others when it does not happen on the rational level, but instead on the subliminal level defined by “social acceptability.”

This, however, is not a good thing. As we move towards a higher plane of connectedness, we are more and more surrounded by information and propaganda that we don’t even know exists. In this sense, I would suggest it is ever more important to have a clear picture of who we are and what exactly is important to us; something that is not always easy.

Connectivity and uniformity are, as I suggested in the opening paragraph, intertwined. The nature of information is of course to inform, but also convince. This is a good thing. The world would be a boring place without difference of opinion and lively discussion. This is precisely why it is so important to preserve the diversity of opinion we have and that starts right with our own individuality.

This, however, is the paradox of the age of connectivity. How are we supposed to convince other people that we are right and preserve diversity at the same time? If we truly had our way in this, everyone would be exactly the same with the same understanding of the world as we have. Of course we will never be successful in convincing everybody ourselves, but as I already discussed, the power of social pressure is huge and is only catalyzed by the immeasurable amount of information we have at our fingertips today.

Like I said before though, the answer to this paradox can really only be what we can ourselves do as individuals. We have to be able to respectfully disagree but at the same time try to understand others, and even when we cannot understand others, we can marvel at the intricacy and diversity of the world we live in. Those that try to change others and make them more like themselves really only cause anguish, no matter what their cause.

Perhaps this is a little post-modern, but finding unity in our differences is a possibility in my eyes. We, as individuals, are all linked by our uniqueness and as our connections to each other continue to grow, we should use this connectivity to explore instead of assimilate. In the end, we have to realize the possibility that someone else’s way might just be as good as ours.

Will Grassby

Special Edition: The Speech Heard Around the World

Due to the extraordinary happenings in Washington today The Blog Journalists are publishing in advance of their ordinary Wednesday slot in order to provide up-to-the-minute coverage of President Barack Obama's inaugural speech. Enjoy!

The Speech Heard Around the World

Just having listened to Barack Obama’s inaugural speech I felt the need to put in writing the feelings roused during the roughly 20 minutes where the world stood still to listen this afternoon. I left the room before any analysis came on or talking to anyone else in order to give my own impressions without the influence of any outside sources.

Addressing a wide variety of issues, Obama had the undivided attention of millions and did not disappoint. His slip during the oath was soon forgotten as he dazzled with unrivalled charisma and poise. Highlights for myself were the moments where he reached out to the nations of the world and addressed both subtly and explicitly America’s adversaries saying “We will reach out our hand to you if you will unclench your fist.”

Without naming any names (Bush, Bush, Bush) Obama sounded at times apologetic for America’s recent behaviour and urged Americans and the world to look forward to a future of change but change based on the beliefs of the American forefathers such as honesty, integrity, hard-work and determination. This sense of moving forward while relying on traditional and enduring virtues was a powerful one, especially in the face of the present economic, environmental and international turmoil.

Most powerful was the way Obama chose to incorporate equality into his time at the podium. His assertion that it is only because of “the giving our all to a difficult task… why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath...” was extremely significant but perhaps surpassed by the way he took that notion forward and extended it to the world citing “the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.”

Whether one attributes the virtue of equality to a God, a moral code or a simple sense of justice, the sentiment expressed by Obama is both clear and needed. The dream of Martin Luther King Jr. lives on; a dream not just of equality for African-Americans but for humanity as a whole. That, in Obama’s words “…men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration.” This unifying image of hope and equality gives purpose to the struggle of both Americans and the human race as a whole.

Obama even touched on the metaphysical, acknowledging that “God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.” Despite potentially alienating a meaningful group of population, Obama touches on something that even the non-believer can agree to; this being the mystery of life and the uncertainty we experience each and everyday. Obama did his best on this day to address these uncertainties and inject hope into the American society in a time where it is most needed. His message? “With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end…”

Now it is up to Obama to follow his own advice and steer both America and the world through those icy currents; a task many see as being the most difficult any president has ever faced.

After seeing Obama today and hearing him speak I don’t know anyone better for the job.

Will Grassby