-
HOME
-
WHAT IS STANDOur Mission Our Values Our Help Contact
-
WHAT WE FIGHT FORReligious Freedom Religious Literacy Equality & Human Rights Inclusion & Respect Free Speech Responsible Journalism Corporate Accountability
-
RESOURCESExpert Studies Landmark Decisions White Papers FAQs David Miscavige Religious Freedom Resource Center Freedom of Religion & Human Rights Topic Index Priest-Penitent Privilege Islamophobia
-
HATE MONITORBiased Media Propagandists Hatemongers False Experts Hate Monitor Blog
-
NEWSROOMNews Media Watch Videos Blog
-
TAKE ACTIONCombat Hate & Discrimination Champion Freedom of Religion Demand Accountability
The Lie that Pits “Us Against Them”
There is a lie that runs throughout the cultures and countries of Earth that pits “us against them.” This is not a recent phenomenon. It stretches back through history. It is the cause of racial conflicts, religious purges, ethnic cleansing, civil wars, and violence both on a large and on a personal scale. It is a lie that breathes life into movements which feed on hatred. It has been responsible for the fall of empires. And behind it there is always an ulterior motive.
The lie is easy to spot, if you’re looking for it, simply because the rest of us—left to our own devices—are mostly content to get along peacefully with each other. We want to do well. We want to leave the world a better place than we found it. We want our children to be happy.
We have things in common.
As a Scientologist of more than 40 years, I’ve learned that the facts are more important than the “story.” And that they are worth the effort of discovery. I’ve learned that communication and understanding form the road to healing.
We need to pay attention. All of us. As hard as the maligners promote hatred, that’s how hard the rest of us must promote friendship.
Friendship
Your enemy is not:
Christian
Muslim
Jewish
Hindu
Buddhist
Shinto
Sikh
Scientologist
He is not:
Palestinian
Israeli
American
Russian
Chinese
Japanese
Iranian
Indian
Pakistani
There are differences between men.
That makes them interesting.
That gives them something to talk about.
Your enemy is the specific man
who would use these differences
to breed distrust, and then
carefully
fan that distrust into hatred.
That man plants seeds that
he has carefully gathered from his own
hatred.
He is a man who knows
no peace except death.
For him, there is no sunny laughter of children, only
the sound of young recruits to his cause.
And his cause is death.
He dances like the matador, inflaming
the bull with deception
and pain, to the point
that it cannot
think.
It charges anything that moves.
He leads it to death.
Nothing more.
He knows that
there is no gain
at the end of his road.
There are differences between men.
That is what makes them interesting.
They share similar dreams.
This man dreams of
setting them at
each others’ throats. He
is enemy to them all.
Children play in green fields
in the warm afternoon.
He watches from the tree line, hidden
among the weeds. Plotting
ways to turn them into creatures
of hate.
Every country
every religion
every race
has these men.
The war is: All
of us, against the few
of them.
All of us.
