Every decade or so has characteristics that represent that era’s Zeitgeist, or spirit of the age. This current generation has several contending characteristics that might one day be seen as representing this decade. One such distinguishing trait is people’s penchant for championing pithy slogans.
Slogans like “Love is Love,” “Black Lives Matter,” “Facts Don’t Care About Your Feelings,” are just a few phrases that appear on yard signs, bumper stickers, the Internet, and bathroom stalls. The problem with slogans is not necessarily that they lack nuance, which they do, but that people uphold their favorite slogan as firmly as a religious creed. Today, attacking a slogan-creed is akin to promoting heresy. Unlike religious creeds, however, slogans sound appealing on the surface, but delving deeper one realizes that slogans are shallow pools for shallow minds.
One shallow slogan-creed the reader has likely heard or read more than once is, “Diversity is Our Strength,” or “Unity Through Diversity.” This creed is one that almost every major corporation or industry has adopted and then plastered it throughout their websites. It is a creed that anyone can adopt to gain social credit without risking anything. Here is the problem with this stated belief: strength comes from common ground and unifying principles – not diversity of people. That is not to say that people with different backgrounds cannot bring new ideas into their spheres based on their unique angles. Those ideas, however, are impotent if unifying principles are jettisoned in favor of including every type of person under the sun.
History offers innumerable examples that illuminate the reality that common principles supersede diversity as a unifying force. Spanish history, in particular, shows how common principles can unify diverse people. The Iberian Peninsula, otherwise known as Spain, spent most of its history split into several kingdoms. Throughout the Middle Ages, each kingdom had a distinct set of traditions, laws, and sometimes dialects of Spanish. The Iberian kingdoms, though they inhabited the same peninsula, spent much of their time warring against each other. The fortunes of the Iberian Peninsula began to change when Queen Isabella of Castille and King Ferdinand II of Aragon married in the late 1400s, thereby uniting two of the most powerful Iberian kingdoms.
The two kingdoms, notably, did not merge into one powerful kingdom but maintained their respective borders and customs. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were faced with the task of unifying these two countries each with its different laws and traditions. They solved this problem by a unifying principle that both countries could agree with: orthodox Catholicism. Catholicism, from that point on, was one of the key unifying characteristics between Aragon and Castille. The cost of maintaining this unity, however, was not cheap. Once Catholicism became even more central to Iberia than centuries before, religious toleration plummeted. Jews and Muslims within Castille and Aragon were given a choice: convert to Catholicism or leave.
Forced conversion and deportation are hardly considered virtuous to the twenty-first century conscience. One can argue that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella’s policy was cruel and un-Christian. What cannot be argued is the positive result for the Spanish kingdoms. While Europe was torn with religious conflict throughout the fifteen-hundreds, the Iberian Peninsula remained a bastion of religious unity, which kept its people united in almost all aspects of life. By maintaining a unifying principle, Spain preserved its identity, while religious diversity wreaked havoc across the rest of Europe.
Perhaps the charitable reader remains unconvinced. Common ground does unite people, but why should an increase of people with different ethnicities, religions, and worldviews threaten that unity? Look at the United States within the past two years. Religion, ethnicities, and political leanings of people continue to diversify. Corporations, by now, have had time to update their websites with a diversity section. Despite the influx of diversification, Americans are becoming more hostile towards those they disagree with, rather than united as the slogan “Unity through Diversity” would suggest. Diversity untethered to unifying principles creates warring camps that reduce their opponents into a symbol of evil.
For those still unconvinced that common ground unites people better than diversity, take a look at political parties. Each party contains a group of people that vary to some degree on policy but unite under common goals. Republicans may not agree on minute points of immigration policy but they do agree that stability is something worth defending. This principle of common ground is especially seen in how efficient a political party can work when it controls both the Executive and Legislative branches of government.
Those three words – strength through diversity – can never hope to convey any real meaning without committing an intellectual sin. Without unifying principles, diversity is an empty phrase. Slogans will always be paraded about by the Zeitgeist philosophers as serious arguments; however, those who desire to think seriously must avoid them at all costs.
The views and opinions expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the values and beliefs of Cogitare Magazine.
