Page "religion" Paragraph 184

Men need unity and they need God.

Care must be taken neither to confuse unity with uniformity nor God with our parochial ideas about him, but with these two qualifications, the statement stands.

The statement also points to a classic paradox: The more men turn toward God, who is not only in himself the paradigm of all unity but also the only ground on which human unity can ultimately be established, the more men splinter into groups and set themselves apart from one another.

To be reminded of this we need only glance at the world map and note the extent to which religious divisions have compounded political ones, with a resultant fragmentation of the human race.

Massacres attending the partition of India and the establishment of the State of Israel are simply recent grim evidences of the hostility such divisions can engender.

The words of Cardinal Newman come forcibly to mind: `` Oh how we hate one another for the love of God ''!!