One love, one blood, one people
One heart, one beat, we equal
We are one people
For more information on the documentary see: http://natgeotv.com/asia/the-human-family-tree.
After this documentary I recommend the documentary Skin Deep by the Smithsonian Channel. See: http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/sc/web/show/141379/skin-deep.
Wherein you will learn the truth about skin color.
These two videos above when combined destroys racism and shows how we truly are one human family. I think Paul in the New Testament intuited these ideas even if he lacked the scientific understanding we are blessed with today. For Paul envision an Ideal World, where there is neither ethnic division nor gender divides, but all are one in Christ.
When this science-based unification is realized and combined with the knowledge that we are all made of mostly stardust, we see that the sciences present us with a picture of humanity as one with the universe; as wed we are all deeply interconnected with one another and all of life.
Image source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHlhDrNjHbB9S8veY-sFi9xGDEnVmF5WEBxYaLbxCKhIL2qjL0eD4wsEjwkNSuTqSLtbeiR1Be0UR-brwsnghEWmaD0U9ppKAmjGWMhD3go7jakzxdJezLZuHAG9ejCqduR2XcHgY5mRvs/s400/Cosmic-Origins.jpg
We are not the bundle of thoughts in our heads. Abstractions divide us, while love, as Paul argues, unites us. Those differing opinions and ideologies are not us on the deepest level, neither scientifically or spiritually. Strip a person of their outward persona, clothes, and possessions, and favored dogma; and we are all human, of the same species, and see in a mirror dimly, so what matters is our love.
We are what some refer to as "naked apes" that shave our bodies and wear tuxedos. We are mammals with a highly advanced Cortex, a fallible nature, and limited time bound perceptions. Culture masks our innate similarities, but the truth is behind our bodily appearance we all share the same inner biology as bodies of organs, bones, and blood.
Image source: http://www.holtz.org/Library/Images/Slideshows/Gallery/Science/THE%20STRUCTURE%20OF%20THE%20HUMAN%20BODY.jpg
We all operate with the same limited five senses. We have the
same basic fears and desires. Most of us put our pants on one leg at a time. We all
struggle, succeed, and miss the mark occasionally. We all sleep, laugh, and
cry. We all go to the bathroom. Inside that angry man or woman is often a scared
little boy or girl. Inside that snobbish woman or man is often a teenage girl or boy who still feels the pain of feeling "left out." We all sweat, sneeze, trip and
stumble occasionally. We all dream and wish for things. We all get frustrated, elated, and content. We all live within the same
limited time-span, grow older each passing year, and eventually die. Thus we all deserve each other’s
compassion. We are all in this together. We all know what the other is going through as humans on a similar journey.
Both Jesus and Paul preached against classism and focusing on one's outward appearance, and to instead look at their spirit within. We sometimes see each other as different by the style and cost of the clothes we wear, which is truly superficial. We all look like the same mammal species with our clothes off. We sometimes think we are different based on skin color. But through science we now know that skin color evolved over time after we migrated out of Africa and doesn't change our basic similarity; for skin color is only skin deep. To learn more I highly recommend the excellent documentary by the Smithsonian Channel called Skin Deep mentioned above.
Both Jesus and Paul preached against classism and focusing on one's outward appearance, and to instead look at their spirit within. We sometimes see each other as different by the style and cost of the clothes we wear, which is truly superficial. We all look like the same mammal species with our clothes off. We sometimes think we are different based on skin color. But through science we now know that skin color evolved over time after we migrated out of Africa and doesn't change our basic similarity; for skin color is only skin deep. To learn more I highly recommend the excellent documentary by the Smithsonian Channel called Skin Deep mentioned above.
We are all essentially the same. Yet we pretend we are so
different with our divisive demarcations, dogmas, ideologies, and class divisions; and
other transitory thought forms that create these concrete "thought bubbles" above
each of our heads like you see in a cartoon comic strip. Most of us cling to these mental constructs, and are divided over these thought bubbles. As a result we are often missing out on the profound beauty and complex wonder of the fellow human being right next to us.
Paul himself rejected the thought bubbles of his day and preached nothing but Christ crucified, which for him meant a mystical union with Christ (according to scholars such as EP Sanders and James Tabor). Paul emphasized not doctrine but love as a verb, what Joshua Jipp calls a focus on hospitality.
Paul himself rejected the thought bubbles of his day and preached nothing but Christ crucified, which for him meant a mystical union with Christ (according to scholars such as EP Sanders and James Tabor). Paul emphasized not doctrine but love as a verb, what Joshua Jipp calls a focus on hospitality.
Consider the following thought experiment. Imagine what would happen if extraterrestrials attacked out planet. Wouldn't we abandon our
petty differences over subjective opinions, ideology, and cultural constructs; and wouldn't most of us probably band together as “one” to defend our home planet earth?
Science tells us a unifying story. All of us human beings are intelligent mammals and radiant wonders of cosmic proportions. We are not merely believers and disbelievers, part of the in-group or out-group, according to dogmatic and rigid ideologies. We are one species sharing the same human experience. We are one human family and our home is the earth, which is the central vision of the New Testament (A New Earth).
Image source: http://wallpapersus.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/outer-space-earth.jpg
