I think of the line from the play of Westside story. “Hold my hand and we’re half-way there.” That was the basis of marriage, forming community, forming nations.
The story was about identities in conflict. The story of all of the 20th century was that of young people unable to control their identities. That was gangs organized either in ethnic community, based upon religion….based upon nationalities.
The Polish feeling about Russia. The Irish feeling toward the Brits. And now the feeling about 1.4 billion Muslims about the American presence in Iraq, as part of the war on terror. With this presence, terrorism is inflamed, not contained. This was the reality of politics and religion, with fault lines that only the locals knew where they were.
We were all in gangs in conflict…..To start the 21st Century it was religion, if you had one, in conflict. Or even if you did not.
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