United under God?

First of all, apologies that I have left it so long to write my next post. It was in the pipeline, and now I actually have time. Over the summer I have been working, pretty much full time. This linked with the constant catch up with friends most evenings and everything else that turns up in everyday life, means I have not had much time to sit down and write my thoughts down.

On the agenda was to inform that I have been finally diagnosed with dyslexia, and as I started to write this, the actual report came through the post. This report confirms what I myself, my parents and many past school teachers have suspected. High potential but average grades means that I have either had no interest and did not care, or that I have had a disadvantage to the rest of the general student population. I suppose it is nice to have an excuse for my somewhat poor sentence structure and going off at tangents though. 

The title for this post is 'United under God?'. It is a subject that I have been wrestling with for a while,  whenever I have had a chance to be in my own company. The subject concerns whether the human race can ever be united. To the point where war and poverty would no longer exist, because of a unity with the rest of the world. In the New Testament, particularly in the book of Revelation, the scriptures speak of how one day 'every knee will bow' and all who are saved will be united under God in the new heaven and new earth. 

Yet secularism offers a different approach. Many secularists will argue that all people do not all have to share the same beliefs to share empathy with one another. People do not have to believe the same things to live in mutual cooperation. It is interesting that when a group of Christians are together for any length of time, there will always be separation and classification. It has become a kind of joke among many Christians, 'what denomination are they?'. 

This will always remind me of the classic joke about the 'man on the bridge', which goes like this:

    I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump. I ran over and said: "Stop. Don't do it."
"Why shouldn't I?" he asked.
   "Well, there's so much to live for!"
"Like what?"
   "Are you religious?"
He said, "Yes."
    I said, "Me too. Are you Christian or Buddhist?"
"Christian."
   "Me too. Are you Catholic or Protestant?"
"Protestant."
   "Me too. Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"
"Baptist."
   "Wow. Me too. Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?"
"Baptist Church of God."
   "Me too. Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"
"Reformed Baptist Church of God."
   "Me too. Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?"
He said: "Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915."
   I said: "Die, heretic scum," and pushed him off. 

Yet, when a small group of Christians who have never met before were to do so, say, in a predominantly Islamic area or nation, the sheer fact that they have Christianity in common is enough. However in a more familiar and comfortable setting the opposite is the case. Why is any kind of empathy toward our fellow human being only aimed toward to the few in a crowd of many. I don't understand!

I think it is fair to say that we have come a long way in our short time on this planet but have a long way to go before I will call our race 'civilised'. We know longer only keep to blood lines or local tribes/clans, but are now (in the broader sense) largely identified with our nationality. Still though, even in a 'United' Kingdom, there is the North-South divide. Then there is what part of the North/South you originate from, in some cases even moving on to where you were born/raised, as if such a thing is in anyway important.

Christianity, and indeed most modern religions hold that under their respective God/s and moral code, the world can be united, just as long as everyone follows that belief system. Anyone who has studied the history of Christianity for any amount of time can see that Christendom (Church governed state) has not and never will work. The same can be seen in many Islamic nations where any shift from the cultural or religious norms is harshly oppressed and eliminated. 

I suppose that yes, if everyone thought the same, believed the same, acted the same, was the same, that global unity would be very possible. This is not however possible, anyway doable, or fair. Logic would then ask the question, and wonder what can actually develop a mutual empathy that can unite the world, eliminate discrimination and break down physical and imaginary man-made borders. This kind of world would not be united under God, but united through shared empathy toward all. I wonder what part religion would play in this, and whether religions would have a positive or negative part to play. 

Any comments to add? Please let me know, I would be very interested to hear agreements and disagreements. I hope my next post won't be so long away this time. 

Thanks for reading :)