Donald A. Windsor
Tribalism is the real original sin of humanity. Being members of tribes enabled us to survive and thrive. However, tribalism is the basis of war -- one tribe against another, or one group of tribes against other groups of tribes, supertribes.
Being tribal is built into our genes and we may never be able to shake it. We may never want to. All we can hope to do is recognize it and then learn how to reduce its evil effects.
Being tribal is, in itself, not an evil. Waging tribal warfare is. What holds us together seems to keep us apart. Our tribe is us; our personal identity is our tribal identity. Everyone who is not in our tribe is them. Us versus them is the essence of tribalism.
Competition is one thing, but why does it have to be deadly? Kill or be killed seems to be the attitude. Is there any hope that this attitude can ever be relaxed?
Judging by history, no. Alliances, treaties, and even inter-tribal marriages among tribes may create temporary peace, but eventually war breaks out, again. Supertribes, groups of smaller tribes, prevent war among their constituent tribes, but then war breaks out among the supertribes. Peace among all tribes everywhere seems hopeless.
We all belong to tribes. Teams are tribes. Clubs are tribes. Work places are tribes. Neighborhoods, hamlets, villages, cities, countries are all tribes. Political parties are tribes who often put their own goals ahead of municipal interests. Tribes of billionaires (the 1%) wage class warfare against the rest of us (the 99%). The middle class seems more concerned with the welfare abuses of the poor than with the greed of the rich, thereby allowing the rich to stand back and enjoy the tribal warfare between the middle and lower classes.
Meanwhile, we all suffer. Humanity has suffered all through history because of tribal warfare. Humanity did profit, however, because we are now the dominant species on Earth.
Jesus did not deal with tribal warfare. He dealt with the actions of one person to another. The Old Testament covers the relationships between people and God. The New Testament covers the relationships between one person and another. I am puzzled as to why the tribal interrelationships are not addressed as an evil.
In fact, the Old Testament was heavily tribal, the Jews versus other tribes, as well as their own 12 tribes of Israel. When the Jews, after 40 years of wandering, finally reached their Promised Land, it was not vacant. The Canaanites were already living there. Joshua had to lead the Jews to wage a genocidal war to invade and take over the Canaanite land. This might-is-right event is the most evil episode in the Bible. Yet, it is portrayed as being approved by God.
The New Testament has Jesus involved with persons from other tribes, Pharisees, Samaritans, even Romans. Jesus demonstrated good will toward all people, even those of other tribes. But Jesus did not touch upon tribal warfare. Turning the other cheek is not a battle cry. It is begging to be slaughtered. Well, admittedly, that is one way to reduce tribal warfare, by annihilating tribes.
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