Bert Visscher's Website

United We Stand

This is another blog post that was lost in the panic of August 10. I reconstructed it without the very thing or things that forced me to delete it back then.

Let me begin this blog post with a few quotes.

Bible - Matthew 12:25

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand."

Bible - Mark 3:25

If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

Bible - Luke 11:17

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall."

A Clean Escape - Masters of Science Fiction

Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see; who have ears but do not hear. You must listen to Him. Seek peace and pursue it. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore.

Highjacked - Earth: Final Conflict

We must not allow this most difficult situation to divide us.

Here are some messages from 9 schools of thought.

Christianity (Jesus, Matthew 7:12)

In everything, do to others, as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.

Zoroastrianism (Shayast-na-Shayast 13.29)

Do not do unto others whatever is injurious to yourself.

Judaism (Hillel, Talmud, Shabbat 31a)

What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary.

Sikhism (Guru Granth Sahib, p. 1299)

No one is my enemy, and no one is a stranger. I get along with everyone.

Hinduism (Mahabharata 5:1517)

This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you.

Jainism (Mahavira, Sutrakritanga)

One should treat all creatures in the world as one would like to be treated.

Islam (The Prophet Muhammad, Hadith)

Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself.

Buddhism (Udana-Varga 5.18)

Treat not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.

Taoism (T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien, 213-218)

Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss.

Vulcan Philosophy (made popular by Star Trek)

We are different. May we together become greater than the sum of both of us.

Reading the Bible quotes, you may be thinking that I follow a religion. I don't. I just don't believe in deciding about a school of thought without informing myself. But, let's get on with the topic of my post.

All schools of thought appear to oppose division between groups of people. And yet, we see division both between countries and within countries. I've even seen it within a family.

So, Let Us Unite

Let us greet lack of understanding with the desire to learn. Let us not allow anyone or anything to divide us. I believe that curiosity leads to knowledge, that knowledge leads to understanding, and that understanding leads to peace, and we all want to have peace, don't we?

To quote the late Prof. Stephen Hawking from A Clean Escape - Masters of Science Fiction: "The impulse towards violence may be hardwired into our genes, but so is the dream that someday we might rise above it."

Is anyone really going to say that the professor was wrong about this? I for one hope not.

As always, I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post. If you have any questions or comments, then please let me know in the form down below.

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