When our differences simply do not matter

M. Ali, Manchester, UK

Sometimes, sadly, it takes terrible tragedies, great losses or awful pain for us to stop in our often hectic lives and think about our place in the world and the way we are headed. We are so busy with our daily routines that we rarely stop to consider the gift of life and our great fortune.

The tsunami that hit Asia on Dec. 26 is one of those huge incidents that force us to consider what we can and must do; and the emphasis here is very definitely on that little but so very important word "we".

We have a collective responsibility, and that sense of obligation should influence and guide us all. For too long we have been focused on the things that make us different and we have, regrettably, allowed them to divide us. On days such as Dec. 26, 2004, differences simply do not matter.

Vaclav Havel said in his book The Art of the Impossible, "Only people with a sense of responsibility for the world and to the world are truly responsible to and for themselves." In effect then by helping others we help ourselves and this help is not based on any conditions -- we must help all of our fellow human beings.

However, there are people who will still prefer to see our differences as divisive. They would prefer not to associate with or be responsible for people of different races, religions, ideologies or even nations. But this is nonsense. The destruction and death that came with the tsunami was not discriminatory. It swept away all regardless of human categorizations.

Nature does not pick and choose who it will strike. Human life has no categorization before nature; natural disasters, famine, disease and poverty can strike us all. And yet we have the power to do so much to limit the damage done by nature.

Much discussion in our modern world revolves around the concept of globalization and whether it is a force for good or evil. Like so much in human affairs it depends on what we humans make of it; how we choose to use it.

Again the tragedy of Dec. 26 highlights this. The disaster happened and the global community came together to offer aid and assistance. Because of our globalized world the victims of nature will not be left alone to suffer the continuing vagaries and randomness of nature. Help comes to them from all around the world.

Certainly there will be those who say that the global community could do more and could have done more before the disaster struck, but no small amount of hindsight would be at work in such thinking.

Surely what can and should emerge from globalization is a dignified appreciation of our diverse world and strategies for how we may be able to serve and protect it. Globalization does not have to spread distrust and prejudice only, but can help to achieve trust and justice for all.

We live in a world that is full of diversity -- from biological to philosophical we have a great gift of diversity that should be valued and kept safe. In our biological/physical world diversity is plainly there before us to see and appreciate. Most people would see the need to preserve biological diversity as it is priori needed.

But human diversity is also needed in all its forms. Diverse thoughts, systems of belief and races are all highly valuable. They are all part of the miracle of humanity and any loss should and must be painful.

Diversity is in a real sense God's gift to us. God created difference and as we encounter difference we effectively encounter God. God may be seen in the face of a stranger who we encounter and maybe help.

The very soul and beating heart of humanity is instilled in the blessed differences we have. It is our differences that make us human beings and it is our ability to learn about and respond to these differences that can and should make us humane; allowing us to achieve a humane society and a humane global community.

Each human life has an ultimate dignity regardless of the differences that may be encountered in the affairs of humanity. Globalization offers us both threats and opportunities, but the humane appreciation and appreciation of difference can lead globalization toward positive ends.

Globalization can be the method via which we promote the cause of universal justice and human rights, and this includes the right to dignity in life even when disaster strikes.

Sometimes we are united with the challenges of survival. Dec. 26 laid such a challenge before so many thousands of people of Indonesia and many other countries. But no matter what country people are in or from, they all (we all) deserve the right to dignity.

The response to Dec. 26 shows us how we can come together. Perhaps it is tragic that such an awful event has to happen to bring us together but we can and must learn from it.

The writer is a senior researcher at the Cunningham Research Center in Manchester, UK.