Time for a Global Perspective
Catherine Nelson, Ph.D.
September-October 2018 • Vol 3, No 100
Somewhere deep, very deep inside us is a need for safety in our lives. Perhaps it is in our DNA from living thousands of years on planet Earth. We believe that our safety is determined by our family and our “tribe.” Our ancestors survived trusting that membership in the tribe would help to keep them safe from harm, from attack, from hunger, and so much more—and it often did.
Strangers were suspect. They might be enemies, invaders, or potential conquerors capable of causing the death and destruction of our loved ones. The strangers might have looked different. Maybe they spoke a foreign language, dressed strangely, or had different values. In essence, the thinking was: if you don’t look like me, or talk like me, or believe as I do, then you are my enemy.
