During periods of human conflict, whether between individuals, within governments or across the international landscape, man has looked for the answer to peaceful coexistence. Various songs, poems and sermons have suggested that love is that answer but such a complex human emotion can rarely be applied to more than a handful of individuals beyond our immediate families.
Religious persons place emphasis on the healing power of faith, convinced that a uniformity of belief would mend our differences while political junkies invoke a variety of remedies, from rigid capitalism to universal socialism, relying on philanthropy or governmental mandates to appease the masses.
It seems to me that kindness is the key to resolving human conflict. We do not have the capacity to love one another on a societal scale and cannot be coerced by religious or political philosophy to accept belief systems that, in fact, have their disparate roots in limited segments of human civilization. Kindness, on the other hand, is a trait that we can all appreciate and project, regardless of our religious, political or cultural background; its expression reinforces our faith in humanity and, by fostering tolerance, serves to diminish the divisive nature of those social constructs.
