"Jews
are responsible for most of the world’s wars."
This
is "probably a true statement" according to one in four
people across the entire planet, a recent global survey has found.
It
would be easy to dismiss these kinds of stereotyped opinions as the
ill-informed ignorance of a small minority, except that nearby events
of the last few months show that discrimination and prejudice of many
kinds are seemingly much deeper and more widespread than we might
like to think.
At
a Brussels Jewish museum in May a lone gunman shot dead three people,
including two Israeli citizens on holiday. Only hours later, two Jews
were attacked and beaten in Paris as they left a suburban synagogue.
In
fact, following from another public slaying of three Jewish children
and a Rabbi in Paris in 2012, more than 1,400 Jews left France to
live in Israel in the first three months of this year, now making it
probable that 2014 will see the biggest exodus of French Jews to
Israel since that country was established in 1948.
The
results from France's municipal elections in May seem to prove that
getting out of the "land of liberty, fraternity and equality"
is a prudent decision for those minorities without that promised
equality.
The
far right National Front party there has just received it's best ever
voter support in municipal elections and actually won the European
Parliament elections with 25% of the vote.
Further
East the situation is also disturbing.
In
the Ukrainian city of Donetsk, Jews leaving their local synagogue
were handed leaflets from the new pro-Russian military that ordered
them to pay a fee and register their property. They were threatened
that failure to comply would lead to their assets being confiscated
or even deportation.
One
resident of the city said that she had never experienced
anti-Semitism until she saw the leaflet but it reminded her of when
the Nazis occupied the area in 1941. In that part of the world and
across wider Europe we know that there has been a long and terrible
history of violent "pogroms" against Jewish people.
But
it is not just religious bigotry that is increasingly finding it's
way into the light.
If
you have a dislike of homosexuality then you can be comforted by
having entire national governments that share your intolerance. Apart
from Russia's new anti-gay "propaganda" laws, in the
continent south from here homosexuality has become a criminal offence
in Burundi, South Sudan, Uganda and Nigeria.
Even
Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott has come up with more than 200
million dollars in new funds in a bid to push his anti-gay attitudes
into schools through so-called "emotional and spiritual support"
chaplains.
Meanwhile,
another survey has discovered that a staggering 43% of Americans
would not vote for any presidential candidate who declared them self
to be an atheist.
Just
as surprising was that 40% would also not cast their vote in favour
of a president of who happened to be a Muslim.
Equally,
the possibility of a lesbian or gay president of the "free
world" would almost certainly be blocked by the 30% of Americans
who openly admitted that they would not support their commander in
chief being of that sexual orientation.
But
where do these attitudes come from?
I
think that purely and simply they can be a result of collectively
identifying ourselves as different from others. If we are X and they
are Y, then oh, that is a relief because now I know who I am.
As
George Orwell wrote, this is "the habit of assuming that human
beings can be classified like insects," and something that I
believe is done instinctively by extremists and others who don't have
what is needed to create their own beliefs.
At
it's core, this mindset of segregation and separation tips 17th
century philosopher René Descartes celebrated phrase "I think,
therefore I am" on it's head.
