Humanity has yearned for unity. When you think of it, heaven itself is seen as a place of unity, concord, and harmony. In fact another name for the God of holy love could be the Great Unifier. Even so, an ingrained search for unity will find a littered trail of psychoses. The great unifier for Hitler was the abject unworthiness of the Jews. This conviction served to give his life meaning and purpose and gave him a unified view of the world. Of course, in the world of natural science we are always searching for theories that will unify apparent declensions. Sometimes I envision the image of a politician looming on TV one night and promising to unify America--"Tomorrow you will all wear the same uniform." Every American I know would run the other way. This is because in America we believe "out of MANY, ONE." That is, we appreciate the paradox that in humanity lasting unity is born of diversity marinated in Christian love (of whatever format). That is, we celebrate diversity as long as one person's diversity does not encroach upon (hurt) another.
Let us look for a moment at several possible illegitimate unifiers. Blatant materialism in which the rights of others are ignored is by definition a false god or idol. Now we mustn't oversimplify rewards however (with all extrinsic rewards on one side and all intrinsic on the other). For example, it is certainly true that my house is real estate. However it is NOT JUST real estate. It is also my home that helps unify my life. I have lived in it for some 33 years and it is filled with memories and memorabilia--it is part of my roots in my beloved community. So while my house is extrinsic, my home carries tons of intrinsic value. Likewise the pursuit of power can be a false god of extrinsic value alone. However, some baseline of power (as guaranteed by the Bill of Rights) is essential for human happiness and constitutes intrinsic requisite rights.
I would beseech my friends everywhere to understand that America incorporates the "out of many, one" paradox and thus is highly congenial to the core needs of human nature.
Print Page
