Jews, Christians and Muslims working together

Many years ago, I suffered from regular migraine headaches. After a particularly debilitating series, I consulted our family doctor at the time, Dr Rosemary Dodd. She helped me solve my problem without any medication, by determining that I only got my headaches if the following three conditions were true: (a) overtiredness, (b) overexertion, and (c) not enough water. Bingo, now I drink lots of water, and I haven’t had a migraine since. Fresh water, the elixir of life, that increasingly scarce resource they tell us we’ll be fighting wars over in the near future. Control one factor, and you can solve the problem.

In the Long Now Foundation’s recent Seminar on Long-Term Thinking (podcast), Niall Ferguson posits (from his book The War of the World) that the outbreak of large-scale lethal violence usually results from a combination of three factors: (1) economic volatility, (2) empires in decline, and (3) ethnic disintegration. Like my migraines, such violence can be avoided by seizing control of one of the factors. Ordinary people have little control over the first two factors, but one thing for which we can all work is ethnic harmony. Religion has often been used as a tool in ethnic violence, and vice-versa.

We can all contribute to controlling ethnic disintegration by be being courageous and refusing to participate in or support the incendiary elements within our religions and ethnic groups. Say no to violence, and say it loudly. We can also act positively by reaching out to others who are different from ourselves. But it will only work if we’re all working in this together.

It’s more than our best hope for the future, it’s our only hope.