Unity, a tree with many branches

Unity, a tree with many branches

By John Phillips

This is the first of two articles on cultural diversity and
how it relates to conflict and unity in a country.

YOGYAKARTA (JP): At first I was perplexed by the Indonesian
idea of "unity in diversity" because the word "unity" has a
positive connotation whereas the word "diversity" can be negative
due to its association with conflict and difficulty.

Although diverse societies are fast becoming the norm in the
world, this has often resulted in an unfortunate increase in
internal and external discord.

The discord is leading to isolated, hostile states even as
geoeconomics pulls the world closer together. The question is:
Will humanity adapt to or be destroyed by diversity in a chain
reaction of hatred, prejudice and, at the root of the problem,
ignorance?

And yet, diversity is also something that countries in their
most lucid moments celebrate. In Eastern philosophy, diversity
may be seen as contrasting elements that are profoundly
complementary, as in the yin and yang symbol.

Here lies an important idea that opposites can be
complementary and symbiotic. So understanding and protecting
diversity may ultimately be what makes each of us whole and
healthy.

But how can something be at once many and yet one?

And then it struck me, in Indonesia, a basic principle of the
country -- the third law of Pancasila -- is the idea of unity in
diversity and is symbolized by the banyan tree.

In another diverse country, India, the Buddha sat under the
bodhi tree and gained enlightenment. And finally, Judeo-Christian
and Islamic cultures uses the symbol of the "Tree of Knowledge."

The tree perfectly represents the essential social
relationship between unity and diversity. The leaves, stems,
branches and roots cannot grow on their own. Unfortunately,
though, trees are much more a part of the natural order of living
things than are people.

A tree never competes with and destroys a part of itself nor
damages its naturally balanced environment without harm to
itself. Humanity has not yet learned this simple fact of nature,
but we must do so if we are to continue to grow and be fruitful.

In this task, three diverse societies, American, Indonesian,
and Indian, have had a head start on the world and can teach us
something about how to live together harmoniously. They can teach
other countries how to keep their cultural roots from rotting by
cropping current social diseases and replanting promising seeds.
The task is to preserve the old-growth forests of cultural
diversity while nursing new ones.

The U.S. cultural ideal is a "melting pot" society in which
diverse cultures blend easily into a unified one. While this
ideal may never have been fully realized, it is so strongly held
that it is enshrined in the basic documents outlining the perfect
society, the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights. The
former declares:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident...all men are created
equal ...endowed by their creator with certain inalienable
rights."

The latter constitutional laws are even more specific in how
to protect diversity and the rights of minorities and
individuals. Even the use of the hyphenated-American (like Asian-
American) often celebrates unity in diversity by linking it to a
new symbol -- the salad bowl -- distinct elements mixed into one.

Historically, however, convulsions in U.S. society, caused in
part by economic problems and regional factionalism, have
resulted in ethnic or religious conflicts that have eroded the
society's cohesiveness. One lesson learned is that people, not
governments, make diversity a strength.

Even though both Indonesia and India are younger countries,
they are much older societies and have more experience with
diversity. They too have well-developed cultural and ideological
bases for adapting to diversity, such as Indonesia's tradition of
gotong royong (mutual help) and in its state ideology of
Pancasila. They have also had social convulsions as a result of
ethnic and religious conflicts. Economic disparity, internal
factions and religious intolerance add to the potential for
social unrest.

As a result, all three countries are at a critical point in
developing diverse but cohesive societies. Only if diversity is
seen to strengthen society can "unity in diversity" have any
meaning. Since only people can truly make diversity work, it is
up to us to learn how and then "to make it so".

People, however, remain largely ignorant and unappreciative of
one another and this ignorance has bred contempt and conflict.

What does this mean?

So, if we fail to learn about one another and how to live
together peacefully, we will all understand better and suffer
from it; "We all hang together or we'll all hang separately."