Human Perspectives
by Sara Vandermolen

I believe that only one race exists in this world. As part of the human race, we all share a common underlying humanity that makes us more alike than any other set of creatures. If I look closely enough at any person in the world, I believe that I will find something to which I can relate and understand. If I fail to understand, it usually means that I was unwilling to try. So when I see the seemingly irreconcilable separation of the world—by race, religion, status, and even personal beliefs—I see a world that has learned to clutch personal beliefs as I might clutch a flashlight in the dark. We have been taught to fear the unknown, but perhaps even more to fear becoming part of it. So when I hesitate to step beyond my comfortable belief system, I know it is fear which holds me back: fear of what I will find, and in some ways, a greater fear that I will embrace it. For when I dare to change my beliefs, the inevitable result is to lose reality as I know it.

However frightening it may be to explore these waters, I also believe it is necessary. Although people are capable of living their entire lives without venturing outside their ideological boxes, this attitude comes with a price. Focusing on the differences which separate people can lead to becoming intolerant of those differences. This tendency emerges in schoolyard teasing, shunning, hate crimes, and even war. It can be seen throughout history that when “irreconcilable” beliefs collide, lives and dreams are destroyed. In a tragic twist of irony, the responses of those wronged by hate are often full of hate themselves, creating grudges which deepen the divisions between mankind.

In spite of these dark conclusions, there is (and always has been) hope for a different ending. In one famous case, WWI soldiers from Allied and German armies became friends during a Christmas truce. In the spirit of the season, each side found themselves making connections with the enemy they had been taught to hate. Suddenly, the faceless other side they had sworn to kill was replaced with the faces of husbands, brothers, and sons. In the end, both armies were sent elsewhere by their distant commanders, for neither was willing to fight the other.

Those soldiers found something in common, and in that moment they found peace. If opposing soldiers can become friends in the middle of a war, my excuses for categorical dislikes seem pretty pathetic. Those men, and others throughout history who have created peace, encourage me to say that we can always find some common humanity in people; all we need is a chance. I figure that we owe the world that chance—clinging to our convictions so that we can be right may be satisfying in the short term, but it’s not worth the price we pay in the end.

Note: The story referred to in the essay can be found by the name of “Christmas Truce at the World War I Front”, among others.

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