Coexist

You've probably seen the above image before, usually as a bumper sticker on the back of a car.  Isn't it a nice message?  We can all live together in peace.

I hate it.

I want to be clear, I do not use the word hate lightly.  I may dislike a lot of things, but I hate very little.  I hate this image and the message associated with it.  The message isn't "We can move past our differences and live together," rather it's "If you think about it, we're really all the same" or at the very least "So many problems arise from different ideas; let's stop fighting over who has the best god."  Obviously, I feel strongly about my beliefs because I actually decided for myself what I believe rather than just going along with what other people were doing.  I earned my faith.

I mostly blame two things for the prominence this image has gotten: ignorance and social pressure.  Ignorance because people see that image and don't bother thinking about it past the most superficial message on the surface and social pressure because people see the bumper sticker and a) think it looks "neat" and b) don't want to look like a douchebag.  I emphasize "look" because who cares what kind of person you actually are, as long as look like a caring person?

This all seems like a new way of saying the message that was at the heart of John Lennon's "Imagine," only more succinct for our shorter attention spans.  As you might have guessed, "Imagine" is a song that I really despise.  It has a beautiful melody that's simple, yet haunting.  Again, if you only half-listen, it has nice message of "stop fighting."  But if you pay even the smallest amount of attention you'll hear that the true message is "we fight because of our differences, so if we got rid of the things that make us different, we won't fight anymore" (which is one of the main philosophies of the Amish).  That's rubbish.  We accept each others differences and choose to not fight.

In the end, it's probably best not to adopt world views based on bumper stickers or songs.