On 25 April, 2013 (the 60th anniversary of the publication of the structure of DNA) I attended a conference on genetics in downtown Boston. The conference venue was just a few blocks from where ten days before two bombs had exploded at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, so I went to the site. There were many bunches of flowers and notes and prayers. One store was still boarded up. I fought back tears when I thought of the eight-year-old boy literally blown to pieces after just watching his Dad complete the race, and two young women, one from China and the other from our town of Medford - a friend of a friend of ours. Other acquaintances had narrow misses.
One of the speakers at the conference was Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker who spoke about his 2011 book The Better Angels of our Nature: why violence has declined. Was this a bad joke? And indeed that was the first question from the Boston Globe editor interviewing the professor. Pinker was quick to acknowledge the horror of the recent bombings, and then reminded us of the mind numbing death tolls in the American Civil War, recently "upgraded' to 750,000 deaths, and the two world wars of the 20th century. I was reminded of when I accompanied Rajmohan Gandhi to Moscow soon after the collapse of Soviet Communism. During a date with a senior official of the Communist Party, Rajmohan asked the party official how many Russian citizens had been killed under the Communist rule. Without a moment's hesitation the man said 'Seventy three million!'
Nevertheless, argues Pinker, humanity has become less violent over the span of human history. Archeological sites have revealed many human remains showing signs of violence. It is estimated that in hunter gatherer times, an individual stood a 15% chance of dying a violent death. Medieval Europe was also a dangerous time and place to be alive. One war raged across Europe for thirty years between Catholics and Protestants in the 17th century. The homicide rate in Western Europe has gone down thirty fold over the last 700 years.
We are privileged to live in a relatively more peaceful time, particularly post WWII. Why? This being a genetics conference, Pinker was quick to discount genetic change – it has happened too quickly for evolution to have much affect. Pinker credits our improvement to the steady expansion of liberal democracy and the intermingling of humanity in our modern world. In short we have to thank the American experiment where peoples from every nationality have come together to live in one nation – with all our flaws - to a degree unlike any other country or time in history. In similar fashion, Europe, following two massive wars centered on the continent in the first half of the 20th century, has built a Union of 27 states making it very difficult for war to break out again between these countries. International travel and the internet give many of us the opportunity to get to know people in other parts of the world. Much of the violence in earlier human history was tribal – based on the fear and distrust and just plain ignorance about the bunch of people over the next hill who perhaps looked different or spoke differently or had different customs and beliefs.
As I listened to this encouraging report I thought to myself that Initiatives of Change has played an important part over several decades in these positive developments, bringing people together and breaking down barriers of mistrust. During one of my visits to the Palestinian West Bank in the 1990s, I met with a leader of Islamic Jihad. He had never met an American before and wore a mask to hide his identity. I was asked several questions about my opinion of Islam. He seemed surprised by my answers and then said 'I didn't know Americans thought like this.' When I see the array of people sitting around me on the subway train by chance, or deliberately coming together to learn from one another in the dining hall at the IofC conference centre in Caux, Switzerland, then, despite setbacks, I believe we have reason to look to the future with hope.
Bryan Hamlin has a PhD in epigenetics, worked full time with MRA/IofC for 40 years; is now retired and lives with his wife Anne in Medford, Massachusetts.
NOTE: Individuals of many cultures, nationalities, religions, and beliefs are actively involved with Initiatives of Change. These commentaries represent the views of the writer and not necessarily those of Initiatives of Change as a whole.
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