"I get so tired of this 'Us versus Them' mentality."
I overheard this statement while sitting at a sports bar surrounded by other men in a variety of team jerseys all rooting for their teams to defeat one opponent or another.
"God do I hate the Cowboys."
"The Packers suck."
"Why does Jacksonville even have an NFL team."
So much for hating "Us vs. Them" eh?
From our formative years we are taught to pick sides and compete in an "Us vs Them" format. Whether it be Pee Wee sports or video games or a simply backyard football game on Thanksgiving day, we are conditioned to identify some other group as our enemy and to attack them based solely on this "Us vs. Them" way of thinking.
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While I can't disagree with hating the Dallas Cowboys or the Green Bay Packers, I did have a moment of harsh realization as another television set buried in the far corner of that same sports bar displayed yet another terrorist attack overseas.
The ultimate "Us vs. Them."
Given a few days to consider all of this I have come to the following conclusion: we as a people don't really want "World Peace."
Let that sink in for a second.
Sure we all say that we want to see World Peace in our lifetimes...then we take our children to their youth football or soccer leagues and coach them from the sidelines to destroy the opponent.
Now don't get me wrong, there are many positives to youth sports...this post is not an attack on organized athletics. My point here is that as a society we often perpetuate this "Us vs. Them" strategy into every walk of life. I've seen it in the workplace, at clubs and social gatherings, heck even at your own church. Our competitive natures get the best of us and the next thing you know friendships are damaged or even worse.
We all have that relative we try to avoid for this same reason. That may not seem like a competition but too often it is one.
So I say to each and every person who is reading this blog, let us take this coming Thursday, this Thanksgiving to truly be thankful for each other and set aside our competitive differences and just enjoy our loved ones.
Let's all take a day off from "Us vs. Them."
Or...at least until kickoff...
