The Division of Unity

I've come to accept the fact that there are 3 factors that dictate relationships between people who both know each other, and are perfect strangers. Religion, Language and Race.

Religion can unite people from completely different corners of the world, but can divide people who have been friends all of their lives.

Language, much like religion, often unites people who have never met each other before. For people that speak different languages, it can provide a hurdle that is manageable, but that exists none-the-less.

Race certainly divides people, and does not necessarily connect or unite people.

Now if you paused for about two minutes and sixteen seconds, and considered who your closest friends are, I bet you'd discover that they probably qualify in two of the three categories I've mentioned, if not all three. I guess that makes sense, but, I would just hope that we, as human beings, wouldn't limit ourselves to associating with people who are just like us.

I don't know why it is that people sometimes think that racial commonality should make for some significant social connection. For instance, I've often heard black people say that black people should marry each other because they'll relate easier. I don't think that statement could be any farther from the truth. Some black people are extremely well aware of the struggle that their predecessors went through while others simply are not.

I'd argue that what "hood you grow up in" and the similarities that exists there are better indicators of social connection than race. Depending on the neighborhood, two black people in the same city can have diametrically opposed cultural views which wouldn't be condusive to a good relationship at all. At the same time, a black person and a white person that grew up in the same neighborhood could socially (and culturally) relate in multitudes of ways.

Language is an amazing device. It can be so incredibly uniting. I've seen whole friendships blossom out of scenarios where one person discovers that another person speaks their native language, no matter their races. I've also noted that languages often come with a religion, which might explain why language similarity makes for such a significant relationship (Spanish is often related to Catholocism and Arabic is often associated with Islam, for example).

When traveling to a foreign country, it is like a sign of respect to know the language of that country if you aren't a native speaker. People even appreciate your effort if you sincerely try to speak the language of that country, no matter how bad you are at it. On that note, it is often perceived as arrogant or rude when you don't try to speak the language of the country you find yourself in. Finally, although people who don't speak the same language struggle to verbally communicate, that barrier can be overcome through actions. I actually know of people who are married that don't speak the same language, but express love to each other through their actions.

It would seem to me that religion would be the one thing that wouldn't divide, but unite people. Unfortunately, religion seems to be the most divisive of these three levels of social communication. If I can simplify religion (which I can cuz this is my blog), the goal of it is to separate right from wrong. And though it would seem like the knowledge of the difference between the two is humanly inherent, it isn't. Religion dictates what's right and what is wrong. Since there are hundreds of religions out there, each teaching different rights and wrongs, unless two people agree on the same religion, then a wall as tall as Mount Everest often exists between them. Very few people can scale that mountain successfully. And it has been my observation that if you can overcome the religious hurdle, then the language and especially the racial differences are no big thang to swallow.

Unfortunately, religion is often engrained in us from childhood, and the notion of only one right religion (and all others are wrong) is unbelievably hard to shake. As a result, I have witnessed numerous people in love that were never able to fully explore all that their love for one another had to offer (through marriage or similar arrangements) because of religious incongruence alone. Religious solitude is often reinforced by family, further making it a point of significant contention; because who wants to disagree with their family?

If this world were mine, all of these barriers would crumble like cake mix without egg and oil. For some reason, however, these factors significantly define who we are, both to our friends, and to people who don't know us at all. We prejudge people based on what we can decipher about these factors. And as open minded as I think I am, even I'm guilty of harboring certain opinions pertaining to race, language and religion. I guess it is because they are indeed important. I just wish that this human family could truly come together as one unit, and not allow these social/cultural characteristics to further divide us.

-Maelstrom