…worshipping on the altar of our “Divine Leaders”. Who is your Kim Jong-un? Mine is Jesus Christ. Some submit to Adonai, Allah, Buddha, the natural Universe…still others to science, or a trusted source of information that defines our world view.
Regardless of the target of our devotion, we are called to give absolute fealty…to take as unimpeachable truth any perceived pronouncements from the altar…to form monolithic associations with other true believers (Us), and to offer scorn and contempt to any one who dares to hold different beliefs (Them).
Be rest assured, there are millions of fellow human beings in North Korea today who are certain of our damnation for not yielding to the commands of their “divine leader.” If any of us are completely honest, their certainty will feel very familiar. This is the heart of everything wrong with life today. For people like Us, “we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal.”* And for people like Them, they deserve the inhumanity we provide because they don’t share our values.
Have you noticed there are less of Us these days, and far too many of Them? Truly faithful versus falsely faithful; Faithful versus non-faithful; Objective versus subjective; True Americans versus Fake Americans; Americans versus Foreigners; Conservatives versus Liberals; Democrats versus Republicans; Allies versus Axis of Evil; Fox news versus MSNBC; NY Times versus Infowars; GMO versus Organic; Renewable energy versus Oil/Coal; An Inconvenient Truth versus Global Warming Deniers…
Yet while we condemn Them, have we considered but for the randomness of birth, we would be them?
None of us choose our place of origin, but where we are born, the family that raises us, and the culture we are given, all frame our choice of values. Acknowledging how we became so certain of our beliefs should illuminate how they became certain of theirs.
The moment we can see our choices in their eyes, is the instant we connect to our mutual humanity.
Today, we are all North Koreans.
*Thomas Jefferson