There’s a lot of debate around the world at the moment. Should we be staying, going, joining, leaving? All sorts of things are coming under close scrutiny.

When I listen to the news, or conversations going on around me there are agruments for staying or going about the European Union, Scotland and England, President Trump, Catalonia and Spain, refugees in the Mediterranean and so many more. Some want to join one thing or leave another, religious fanaticism being flavour of the century so far. And amongst all of the opinions, arguments and debates I sense that beliefs are becoming more entrenched. It’s as if the effect of opinions being ignored or dismissed makes the speakers more inflexible. I sometimes listen to people speaking passionately and observe the shift from passion to anger. Then to aggression.

Staying with these debates gets harder for me when it drifts into aggressive language. Because not far behind the aggression I sense fear and anger. I wonder where any sense of unity has disappeared. And I find that trying to bring the discussion back to community becomes impossible. The lack of unity means that I and others stay quiet whilst awful things are both said and done. Fear keeps me quiet. Aggression wins the day. Often I find myself wanting to leave the debate to others. I stop joining in so, effectively, I have been silenced. My silence becomes a guilty recognition that I am supporting disunity. Until I push myself to join the discussion once again.

Staying focused on community is the way to challenge the silence. Reminding myself that as human beings we are all the same.

I believe there is unity in recognising that we are divided right now. That some get to speak and others are silenced. I also feel that we should recognise that the issues are not about staying, going, joining or leaving. It seems to me that these are the outward manifestation of an inner lack of respect for self and others. I know that children are free from divisive beliefs. The divisions we hold in our minds are socially conditioned. Children don’t recognise ‘them and us’. They recognise feelings of fear, hate, anger but don’t understand why those feelings are there. Until they start to think, at about the age of seven, all they know is the emotions they are being taught to feel about things.

I know that once those emotions are overlayed with thoughts from others, children start to divide the world into good and bad. And their world ends up staying divided. I feel that’s where we are right now as adults. I believe we have stopped recognising the ‘common good’ that binds individuals into communities. Unity is something that is based on mutual respect for mutual benefit. As long as there is an attitude of having more or less then I feel we are stuck. To me that’s our current task. I feel it’s time to talk long and loud about respect. Self respect first. What is it best I do to make sure I respect my needs, abilities and life. Then how do I take that value of respect out into all my interactions in the outer world.

Staying with the status quo is not an option. It has to go before another generation of children is harmed by disunity. Joining together as a global community is the work we have to commit to now. That way I believe we will be leaving strife, separatism and war behind us in the dust of the past. It’s long past time to let the old ways die.

Day 696 of my blogging challenge