Promoting peace in diversity
We are people with different aspirations, inspirations, and destinies. The realisation of that requires accommodation and peace.
In order to maintain that, it is up to every individual to pay attention to our similarities, common grounds or what connects us, rather than focusing on differences.
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Diversity should be seen as variety in our way of life. Diversity includes or involves people of different socio-cultural and ethnic backgrounds, as well as those of different genders or sexual orientation.
William Blacke in his book, The Divine Image, Songs of Innocence, illustrated thus: Mercy has a human heart; pity, a human face; Love, the human form of divine; and peace, the human dress.
Peace
Peace has always been among humanity's highest values. For some it is supreme, Peace is at any price. Peace is better than war, peace is more important than all justice.
Peace, unjust, is preferred to war that is justified. Peace has never been bad and there has never been a good war.
To achieve peace in diversity, in every human endeavour, such as, politics, tourism, education, election, entertainment, religion, traditional, and international relations, should make room for people of diverse backgrounds.
The effect will be eradicating uncertainties, marginalisation, social exclusion and social unrest.
Difference
Todd Shuster, an executive producer of movies, said that as human beings, we are all the “same kind of different.” Each one of us has a unique mind, personality, and appearance.
Each one of us has inherited traits and characteristics shaped by our education and life experiences. Most people worldwide want the same things — peace, health, safety, comfort, personal attainment and fulfillment, a sense of purpose and meaning, love, friendship, family.
When we notice the differences between ourselves and others, we might feel uncomfortable or unsafe. At times we may feel so frightened that we might separate ourselves from those who don’t seem to be quite the same as we are.
In some cases, we may even become violent because of such differences. It’s the unfamiliar that breeds corrupted thinking and destructive behaviors.
Solution
The solution, then, is coming to know others whose culture, or way of being, or appearance is different from ours.
When our friendships at work and in our communities embrace such diversities, any differences we detect in others become familiar to us. They then come to seem less peculiar.
And then we realise that we are, indeed, the same kind of different, all in the boat of life together.
We are all in fact quite similar. We can be with one another in peace.
I would urge all as Ghanaians to continue employing divergent views and means in resolving our differences and creating an enabling environment devoid of discrimination.
The writer is a staff of the Information Services Department.
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