A World in One

Two minor, although significant events occurred recently that illustrate how much the world today has become a singular place. Vast oceans, soaring mountain ranges, walls and barriers (whether man-made or natural) no longer separate countries or peoples from each other – no matter how far we live from one another we are rubbing elbows thanks to technology and modern transportation.

The first event was when a Texas plumber found that the Islamic State in the Levant had acquired one of his pickup trucks, the name of his company emblazoned on the side doors, which he had traded in to a Ford dealership for a newer model. A photo of an ISIL fighter firing from the bed of the pickup was featured in an ISIL propaganda video the group Tweeted, later appearing in news media around the world. 

The plumber, who was harassed as an ISIL sympathizer, is suing the Ford dealership for not removing his business decal before it sold the truck. What this event shows is that commerce, particularly American commerce, easily and quickly overcomes whatever barriers it confronts on its way to serve the globe.

The second event occurred in rural Virginia, where Augusta County closed all its schools for a day after parents who profess to the Christian faith became enraged over a history lesson. A teacher, following state guidance and the curriculums of teaching world history, had her students “try their hand at writing the shahada, an Islamic declaration of faith, in Arabic calligraphy,” the Washington Post reported. 

According to the Post, this sparked anger not just in the community, but across the country “including angry emails, phone calls and threats to put the teacher’s head on a stake – led the school district to close rather than risk disruption or violence.”

For the Christian parents, the lesson was tantamount to indoctrinating students in the faith of Islam, but to educators it was about helping students understand the fastest growing religion in the world.

Ironies abound in this event, particularly how people of Christian faith want to disregard Christ’s message of peace and understanding and turn to violence in response to a religion they fear and they fear because they are ignorant about it, so ignorant that they are afraid to enlighten themselves and their children.

Some of the politicians in America today who refer to themselves as leaders relish the fear suffered by Americans – Christian or otherwise – that is largely due to ignorance. Divisive figures like Donald Trump find this fear about the world useful in the tactics and strategies they employ to gain support for their political ambitions.

Instead of discussing the complexities of issues to help understand terrorism and religion and to alleviate fears, they promise simple solutions that involve either isolating ourselves or others from ourselves. Such solutions should make everyone wary. We live in a complex world now that challenges many of our previous held beliefs about pretty much everything.  

Americas’ greatest leaders – and even not-so-great but people tolerant and worldly nonetheless – push Americans to engage the larger world, to encourage our understanding of other races, creeds and cultures. They do so for one reason – the peoples of the world grow closer and closer every day.

Technology and modern transportation has bought us close, so close that we can see we are essentially the same in body and spirit – having the same wants, desires, concerns and hopes.

Our glimpse via television, computer and iPhone screens at the inside of the apartment of the San Bernardino terrorist couple was perhaps crude public voyeurism, yet it nonetheless spoke to our need as Americans to know who this Muslim couple was. Their belongings showed us that to some degree they were just like the rest of us, and that is perhaps what scares us the most.