The events in the United States over the past several years are legitimately upsetting to many people. It is hard to understand how other humans, with hearts and minds like our own, can do things that seem so harmful, ignorant or subversive.
I hope that most of my friends want to see peace in the world, both globally and locally, that most of my friends want to see our environment treated responsibly, that most of my friends want to see society advance with harmony instead of conflict.
But, many of my friends do not know how to make this possible when there seem to be some many on the “other side”.
Friends, there are two things that I want to recommend to your attention to help you resolve this conundrum:
- For the secular-minded among you, I strongly recommend the book “The Righteous Mind” by Jonathan Haidt. It is easily the best non-fiction I have read in 10 years (and I read a lot of non-fiction). It provides research-based explanations for the seemingly growing conflict between “left” and “right”, in a way that allows us to build some bridges.
- For the spiritually-minded among you, I strongly recommend the publication “The Prosperity of Humankind” from 1995. It is the most concise and insightful statement on the connection between justice and social progress I have read.
A quick online search will reliably find you either of the above.
Of course, I recommend all my friends read both!