A Cause Worth Pursuing

WHEN I WAS in sixth grade, our teacher told us to never, ever discuss two subjects with anyone: religion, and politics, as you may've guessed. Those two topics, above and beyond all others, divide people, and start arguments. And, without even thinking about it, you can see her point. At the time, I must already have been a rather disagreeable little snot; my first thought was: gee, Mrs. Stirewalt, that's takes away the two most interesting topics. what else is there to talk about? Besides, can't we all just get along, accept our differences, and respect them? You can kinda see that viewpoint too. The whole problem, the reason we can't talk about it, is categorical thinking, thank you very much Aristotle. People, being social animals, (thanks again Aristotle) tend to organize into groups, many groups, some of which are based on religious or political points of view. As if we all feel comforted by being part of a group which shares viewpoints, groups such as a political party or a church or an organized religion. America's founding fathers didn't like political parties, and considering what's going on now, you can certainly understand why. Wouldn't it be wonderful if humanity ceased all attempts to organize people into groups according to politics or religion, and we all accepted the reality that those choices are purely individualistic, ultimately? The abandonment of uniformity and conformity, and the celebration of billions of different religions and political points of view! Then, at least our conflicts would be minor. That, my fellow citizens of Earth, is a cause worth pursuing.