Chapter Fourteen

mother burst out screaming: ‘Don’t kill the child!’ Give it to this other woman, if you want!’ This is the true test of love. Those who have true love for their country must raise their voices, just as this woman did, and declare, ‘We cannot bear to see our country being destroyed! We have forgotten whatever happened in the past so that we can fully use the opportunities of the present and build a glorious future for our country!’ Peace and unity are possible only when underlain by tolerance. It is a principle of nature that differences will inevitably arise between individuals and groups. They are an indispensable part of life. This is why communal harmony cannot come about by eliminating differences. Rather, it is possible only when tolerance is shown. The fact is that to attempt to eliminate differences is to act against not a particular community, but, rather, against a universal law of nature. No individual or group is so strong that it can fight with, and win, against nature. That is why pragmatism demands that, as far as the issue of religious and cultural differences is concerned, we must abide by the principle of tolerance, rather than engage in confrontation. We need to tolerate differences so that unity may be established, because seeking to establish unity by eliminating differences is simply impossible.