This is a blog and the purpose of blogs are to share information and ideas so that others may learn from that collective knowledge. What once started as a dissertation became a way of life and also helped highlight some serious rifts in our society which influences many of our current problems with extremism. The whole purpose of my initial dissertation was to explore the concepts of race and religion (and economics activity based on social actions) in society from a real life standpoint.
1. Different Worlds: Religion and culture (often associated but not the same thing) create different ways of viewing the world. There are boundaries to this world of who you can talk to and who you can associate with (different societies within a society). The more open minded you are in accepting the multiple flavors of life, the more you move out of one world view and into the next (Unless your capable of integrating the best of each).
2. Subjective Civility and Morality: When we view people who are different than ourselves we begin to view the laws, morality and good moral conscious as having different value to different groups. Those that represent the "other" seems to have less value and in turn less worthy of civil, honest or fair treatment. We may fundamentally agree around core principles of freedom of religion and freedom of speech but discard them in our unwritten codes and social rules.
What you will find is that opening yourself up to new ideas and concepts, like we are taught in school, also means closing off some of our older networks who have not grown or changed. That is dependent on the community and family you come from but it does create rifts. From an unwritten aspect, the social group is no longer allowed to associate with the "other" for fear of retribution from their social leadership (Lack of empowerment to decide for themselves).
One could question the truth of what I'm saying based on how they see the world (Cool so may different ways to look at it!). Yet let us take the blinders off for a moment. How integrated are we as a society? We are all separated out by religion and race and there is very few that can transcend those bounds because all of the communities make it difficult (... some of them are more open than others based on what is in the best interest of that group). In any community you will find voices of inclusion and voices of exclusion struggling for dominance.
Social groups are just as willing to follow bad leadership as they are good leadership (Most people don't know the difference.). In this particular circumstance, local social/sports groups have decided those "others" are not welcome (They were prompted by their group leadership to not treat others civility. It also highlights that there are some negative values such as a false sense of importance being taught in school sports as well as many positive values such as sportsmanship). Hate becomes dangerous when people are no longer empowered to think for themselves, associate with who they want, or follow their own path (i.e. forced social adherence).
Different worlds means you understand the world based on its symbolisms differently. Our world is one of symbolism and constructed meaning. Learning about alternate religions and cultures also opens up the possibility of creating multiple vantage points when understand the world (i.e. the World Knot of cognition). That is a natural enhancement when compared with cradle to birth ethno-centralism (We all sort of do this whether we like it or not. Its not race or religious exclusive).
You will also find that you are not entitled to the same civility, benefit of the doubt, application of local laws, fair treatment, value of life, etc.... (There are exceptions here and I will discuss at some point what was done well.) What would normally be unacceptable in a civilized society becomes acceptable under convenient circumstances. (Our technology has changed but our species changes much slower). Those in-group rules that are designed to protect members now are used to punish outsiders to maintain a sense of power.
I think its important to recognize that there is truth and there is subjective truth. The first people who discount what I have to say are also often the first people who intentionally violate pro-social norms and rules. They have little experience with others but nevertheless believe they know the answers without starting with the right questions. People who are scientific in nature and sophisticated enough to understand the subjective nature of life come to recognize there is value in learning; whether we have the experience to understand it or not.
What we say as a society and how we act are not exactly the same thing. Yet it is precisely walking the talk that will lead us to future national heights or bump us down in international influence. Despite the actions of these local groups there are those who are seeking to create a better society based on a shared sense of purpose. Overcoming local hate is difficult because it is socially embedded. Yet if we don't overcome hate the group will feel even more empowered to cut off itself from the modern world and close itself off to a more enlightened existence (They damage themselves but are not self-aware enough to understand).
There are some benefits to adapting a more universal approach to race and religion but it can't be covered in a single post.
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