# Unity in Diversity: Acceptance and Integration in an Era of Intolerance and Fragmentation [extract]

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> Edited extract from M.A. thesis published April 1994
> Department of Geography, Carleton UniversityOttawa, Ontario, Canada. 
> Created for World-Wide Web, 1997 by Roxanne Lalonde
> 
> 
> The political and social climate that prevails in the world today
> emphasizes difference, disunity, and destruction rather than the qualities
> of unity and productive and constructive energy that are required to
> sustain human societies.  These negative processes and forces have
> perpetuated our alienation from the basic material roots of our existence,
> the natural world of which we are a part.  This paper presents a way of
> looking at the world that enables us to foster the diversity inherent in
> the human species as it exists today without perpetuating our alienation
> from nature and from each other.  By exploring the concept of unity in
> diversity as an expression of unity without uniformity and diversity
> without fragmentation, this paper offers a resolution to many of the
> concerns felt by those who are resistant to the spread of one particular
> cultural hegemony and those who fear that awareness of differences can lead
> to greater intolerance.  It is one of the basic premises of this paper that
> fostering the ecological factors that are inherent in the human condition
> at the same time as we maintain a vision of humanity's unique place in
> creation will help to resolve not only our ongoing problems in living
> harmoniously with our natural environment but our ongoing difficulties with
> each other as well.
> 
> . . . the best hope of humankind is to maintain as rich a
> diversity of social types as possible, with the expectation that each of
> these experiments in the human future will cross-fertilise with others, and
> thus maintain the vital diversity essential for indefinite survival. . . .
> Competition for ascendancy in world trade, power, or military might are
> simply empty, meaningless concepts for the future.  By encouraging
> diversity elsewhere, each society ensures a rich source of ideas and
> techniques for its own future.  --Mary Clark
> 
> The remarkable compatability between all fields of science,
> whether they deal with inanimate objects or with living things has
> implications that affect deeply the culture of our times.  The validity of
> these implications is supported by the fact that the various scientific
> disciplines strengthen each other when, perchance, they can establish
> contact.  Despite the immense diversity of creation, we all accept that
> there exists in nature a profound underlying unity.  The search for this
> unity provides the motivation for the lives of many different men--some
> who, like Einstein, search for it in general natural laws and others who,
> like Teilhard de Chardin, would trace cosmic evolution to a divine origin.
> --René Dubos
> 
> The use of the phrase unity in diversity and similar concepts is
> not a new phenomenon.  Its roots reach back hundreds of years in
> non-Western cultures such as indigenous peoples in North America and Taoist
> societies in 400-500 B.C.  In premodern Western culture it has been
> implicit in the organic conceptions of the universe that have been manifest
> since the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations through medieval Europe and
> into the Romantic era.  In contemporary times, the phrase has been used in
> a variety of areas including a bibliography of libertarian publications and
> an interdisciplinary academic symposium, in which the following
> articulations of the concept appeared:
> 
> Unity in diversity is the highest possible attainment of a
> civilization, a testimony to the most noble possibilities of the human
> race.  This attainment is made possible through passionate concern for
> choice, in an atmosphere of social trust.  (Michael Novak, epigraph opening
> Unity in Diversity: An Index to the Publications of Conservative and
> Libertarian Institutions [1983])
> 
> . . . the disparate experiences of practitioners of various
> disciplines studying man as a social being, even when they do not have a
> common measure or a commonly stated objective, nevertheless share a unity
> of intent in understanding man in his social context--a unity that over
> time will lead to greater integrative approaches.  Indeed, the
> technological imperatives of the end of the twentieth century demand an
> integrative approach to man's myriad undertakings, demand a Renaissance
> approach, one whereby the human mind can transcend the fragmented
> understanding of the parts that the explosion of knowledge and its
> collection has fostered.  Whether this will be a systems approach, such as
> General System Theory, or an integration of different modes of
> consciousness, or something else, or a convergence and integration of some
> or all of these, we do not know.  What we do know is that the search must
> go on.  (Introduction to Unity in Diversity: The Proceedings of the
> Interdisciplinary Research Seminar at Wilfrid Laurier University
> [1980])
> 
> The most profound use of the concept has developed over the last 150
> years as an integral aspect of an ecological understanding of the world
> and, to that end, it appears most frequently now in literature promoting
> that vision.  Outside the natural and social sciences and humanities
> literature that draws from ecology, the concept appears in a
> well-articulated form in only one other place that I was able to discover
> in the research for this thesis, the Bahá'í writings.  It is interesting to
> note that the origins of the Bahá'í Faith coincide almost to the year with
> the roots of ecology although none of the original members of either
> "movement" had any earthly connection with each other.*  The parallels in
> the development of both movements are also interesting to note in that they
> both continue to emerge from obscurity in their respective domains, gaining
> recognition and respect as they effectively and constructively respond to
> the challenges that face them.
> The ecological context of the concept is based on the scientifically
> derived knowledge that biological diversity is necessary to sustain the
> healthy existence of ecosystems and that the healthy progress of the planet
> is dependent on a diversity of such ecosystems.  Natural scientists and
> environmentalists lament the loss of species that will never be discovered
> because the environments in which they live are being destroyed by massive
> transformations such as deliberate burning of rainforests to release more
> arable land.  In other cases, the environments are so sensitive that even
> minor changes result in unforeseen consequences such as the extinction of
> some species.  The long-term consequences of the escalating loss of species
> diversity is unknown at this time.  Efforts are underway at all scales of
> human endeavour to deal with the problem, the most recent global event
> being the drafting of the Biodiversity Convention at the Earth
> Summit.
> This ecological foundation for the concept of unity in diversity has
> given rise to its use by movements such as social ecology, ecofeminism, and
> organizations based on Native principles.  It has also been used as a moral
> foundation for harmony between some of these movements.  In summing up the
> historical conflict between social and deep ecologists, Steve Chase writes,
> "Unity-in-diversity is a basic attribute of healthy eco-communities.  Why
> shouldn't it be a healthy characteristic for the radical ecology movement?"
> (in Bookchin and Foreman, 1991, p. 10).  As will become more evident
> shortly, the concept finds its most profound application in human
> relationships.  For feminism in general and ecofeminism in particular, the
> concept represents a means to unite the diversity of women's voices around
> the world, drawing on their cultural and geographical distinctions, and
> finding common ground in their experience as women.  The concept could also
> find expression in current attempts by Natives in North America to acquire
> self-governance, drawing on their common experience since European
> settlement and the diverse expressions of their cultural traditions to
> provide richness in a new social environment.  Murray Bookchin has
> articulated one of the central aims of radical ecology as a social force in
> contemporary society:
> 
> . . . one of the tasks of the radical ecology movement is to
> articulate a general human interest that transcends the real but
> particularistic interests of class, nationality, ethnicity, and gender in
> order to build alliances to reconstruct our communities along more humane
> and ecological lines.  Yet we need to be wary of talking too glibly about
> the general human interest.  Multiculturalism must mean more than mistaking
> the currently dominant culture as the universal and expecting other people
> to adopt the perspective of this dominant culture.  (Bookchin and Foreman,
> 1991, pp. 102-3)
> 
> Bookchin makes a crucial point here, that is, the fear that many
> "minority" groups have of becoming subsumed within a dominant culture
> characterized by white, male values.  It is this fear also within
> contemporary Western society that has given rise to the notion of
> "political correctness," a phenomenon that threatens to increase the
> fragmentation in society despite its attempts to foster awareness of and
> sensitivity to difference.  A healthy and constructive articulation of the
> concept of unity is needed to erase those fears and mend the rifts that
> have developed.  The concept must incorporate a set of principles that is
> universally applicable to all human beings simply because they are human at
> the same time that it provides protection for the diversity of
> characteristics that maintains the vibrancy of the human species.
> 
> Unity without Uniformity
> To establish a universally recognized concept of unity, there is need
> for an acceptance that universal principles exist.  These principles are
> reflected in values that apply to each and every human being.  These
> principles
> 
> lie at the core of all the major religions and our most noble
> cultural traditions.  The values of universal brotherhood, love for one's
> neighbour, and the golden rule of treating others as we ourselves would
> wish to be treated are just some of the ideals that are common to all
> cultures.  They have fostered social union and amity between people for
> countless generations, inspired great works of art, and continue to
> underscore our highest aspirations.  Today's world would indeed benefit
> from a profound affirmation of these essential spiritual truths.  (Laszlo,
> 1989, pp. 104-5)
> To Laszlo, the application of these values requires
> rising above the religious dogmas, political ideologies and
> national allegiances which bitterly divide the world.  It entails restating
> the fundamental truths that lie behind all religions, philosophies and
> traditions.  Consideration of these values . . . leads us to recognize the
> oneness of the entire human species, an ideal that extends former loyalties
> and does not abrogate them.  (p. 105)
> If we accept this philosophical foundation for the application of unity,
> traditional rivalries and vendettas must be forgotten, divisive theories
> and ideologies submerged, and national borders transcended.  The
> interdependence implied by the notion of the oneness of humanity requires a
> relinquishing of any idea or activity that allows for the suffering of even
> one person.  If we are interdependent, then the suffering of one affects us
> all.  When a person receives an injury to one part of the body, the entire
> system of that person is affected as the body attempts to heal itself.  If
> the injury is severe, the whole body, not just the affected part, becomes
> debilitated.  The treatment in that situation is multifaceted.  Not only is
> the injured area treated with specific remedies but the whole body also
> receives the benefit of nutrients that are provided to assist in the
> healing.  Human beings have not yet learned how to apply this concept of
> healing to the planet or to the human species itself.
> To carry the organic analogy one step further, each component of the
> body performs an essential and specific function, without which the entire
> body is handicapped.  Each human being possesses talents and the capacity,
> when given the opportunity, to acquire skills that contribute to the
> ongoing progress and development of the species.  Those talents and
> capacities ideally contribute to the richness of the human community as
> each individual expresses herself or himself freely and harmoniously with
> others.  However, humanity has developed institutions and systems that
> inhibit the optimal function of each individual in the collectivity.
> Because we possess ingenuity and creativity, humans have developed coping
> mechanisms that have obscured not only the hidden damage caused by ignoring
> certain fundamental characteristics of the human species but also the
> direct causal connections between our efforts to "improve" human existence
> and the devastation wreaked by such "improvements."
> As long as human beings in any part of the planet are inhibited from
> developing their individual potential the entire species will remain
> handicapped.  True unity will be achieved when each individual becomes an
> active and functioning participant in the whole, performing the skills they
> possess as constructive and productive contributors to their local,
> regional, and global community.  This goal can be accomplished if a balance
> between the physical and spiritual dimensions of human existence is
> achieved, enabling productive contributions to human society to be offered
> as service to the ongoing progress and development of the world without
> fear of exploitation and oppression.
> The Bahá'í writings include many evocative analogies to express a vision
> of unity that is characterized by diversity rather than uniformity.
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá offers this description of a flower garden to illustrate the
> concept:
> As difference in degree of capacity exists among human souls,
> as difference in capability is found, therefore, individualities will
> differ one from another.  But in reality this is a reason for unity and not
> for discord and enmity.  If the flowers of a garden were all of one color,
> the effect would be monotonous to the eye; but if the colors are
> variegated, it is most pleasing and wonderful.  The difference in adornment
> of color and capacity of reflection among the flowers gives the garden its
> beauty and charm.  Therefore, although we are of different individualities,
> . . . let us strive like flowers of the same divine garden to live together
> in harmony.  Even though each soul has its own individual perfume and
> color, all are reflecting the same light, all contributing fragrance to the
> same breeze which blows through the garden, all continuing to grow in
> complete harmony and accord.  (1982, p. 24)
> 
> The light that we all reflect is the spiritual foundation for the
> concept of unity that is expressed in this paper.  It manifests the source
> of all creation, the qualities latent within each creature, including
> humans, that reflect those of the Creator.  This aspect of creation is
> beginning to be perceived and expressed by participants in the deep
> ecology, ecofeminist, and bioregional movements.  This passage from the
> Bahá'í writings also alludes to the differences within the human community,
> emphasizing that this diversity should be a reason for unity rather than
> discord, a vision that in the contemporary post-modern ideological
> environment requires further elaboration.
> 
> Diversity without Fragmentation
> The growing interdependence of the communities of the world over the
> last century or two has resulted in an increasingly interwoven and complex
> system of relations.  The growth of the Western hegemony that has coincided
> with the development of that interdependence threatens to impose a uniform
> set of ideals and values directly and indirectly on all the peoples of the
> world.  Notions of "the good life" are increasingly viewed as synonymous
> with the possession of consumer "goods" from the West rather than the
> Judeo-Christian and Enlightenment morals and values that in varying degrees
> shape Western society.
> As a result of the increasing dominance of the trappings of Western
> civilization throughout the world, endeavours to promote cultural diversity
> have become more vociferous in the last half of this century.  As the
> traditional lifestyles of indigenous communities across the globe become
> disrupted, efforts have been made to preserve those cultures in various
> ways.  In contrast to the "melting pot" approach of the United States, some
> Western countries like Canada express their committment to the preservation
> of multiculturalism through open immigration policies and the fostering of
> community-based events and organizations that enable participants to
> continue many of the practices that are unique to their culture.  One
> scholar has expressed the ethic in this way:
> 
> the presence of cultural diversity, with the constant
> exchanging, through travel, trade, intermarriage and so on, of cultural
> traits, offers humankind a rich source of new adaptive possibilities for
> cultural evolution to meet changing conditions in the future. . . .
> . . . Preservation of cultural diversity, far from being perceived as a
> threat to human survival owing to rivalries and differences, needs rather
> to be respected and fostered by all cultures.  Our global goal must not be
> simply tolerance of diversity, but its positive nurturing.  Each culture
> represents an important, perhaps crucial, experiment in the unfolding drama
> of human life on Earth.  (Clark, 1989, p. 477)
> 
> Multicultural events provide opportunities for members of different
> communities to learn more about each other, thus fostering increased
> awareness and understanding of the diversity within the human community.
> The increased visibility and promotion of cultural diversity has been
> accompanied by stronger feelings of attachment to ethnic roots, often
> causing conflicts among and within different groups.  When the open
> acceptance of diversity is perceived as a threat to the preservation of
> one's own traditions, tension can develop and conflicts arise.  When
> disharmony among individuals arises as a result of adherence to traditional
> expressions of culture (including religion), perhaps it is time to examine
> those traditions in light of a changing world.  Perhaps a re-examination of
> a certain cultural practice will reveal the reason it was developed in the
> first place many decades if not centuries ago and offer a resolution to
> contemporary conflicts.  Such an analysis will reveal why cultural traits
> are so important to the members of that group and what makes culture such a
> powerful aspect of human existence:
> Each person, in order to retain those attributes we recognise
> as human, must live in relation to others, within a social context, a
> culture which gives meaning to individual existence.  This need for
> cultural meaning is at once the sine qua non of human existence and the
> source of our greatest danger. . . .
> It is apparent that people everywhere, as they struggle to adjust their
> traditional worldviews to meet changing circumstances, must take care that
> they do not throw out the "baby" of cultural meaning and bondedness with
> the "bath water" of maladaptive institutions, lest they end up with new
> institutions that are destructive of the human psyche itself.  (Clark,
> 1989, pp. 474-75)
> Religion, as the most powerful of cultural expressions, is also the
> greatest source of conflict.  If it continues to be a source of disharmony
> among human beings, the planet would certainly be better off without it.
> However, religion continues to be a powerful force in human existence; it
> is destined to endure in one form or another.  Therefore, an even more
> intensive examination of religion might be necessary to reveal the sources
> of the tensions between different religious groups.  It is just possible
> that the evidence will offer not only a resolution to the problems that
> continue to perpetuate the fragmentation within and between national
> communities but also a source of inspiration to unite the global family thro
> ugh guidance for each individual at the interpersonal and community levels.
> This release of guidance and inspiration has the potential to have a
> massive impact on every aspect of human activity, a possibility that brings
> the discussion back to the basic focus of this thesis, the environmental
> crisis.
> 
> Unity in Diversity:  Environmental and Human Applications
> The message is clear when we examine the geographic scale of human
> awareness of and action to deal with the environmental crisis.  Not only
> must we learn how to think globally and act locally (the ubiquitous slogan
> coined by René Dubos) but we must also learn how to think globally
> and locally and act globally and locally.
> This ethic of thinking and acting has profound geographical, ecological,
> social, philosophical, and spiritual implications.  During most of recent
> human history, the primary way in which regions have been perceived has
> been derived from the political boundaries that have been established.
> However, as ecological awareness has developed, there is an increasing
> perception of the difficulties posed by such often arbitrary determinations
> of territory.  Research in both the action-oriented and philosophical
> streams of environmental studies is resulting in increased knowledge
> relating to the physical foundations of human existence and the impacts of
> human attitudes and activities on the planet.  The heightened awareness of
> and sensitivity to the ecological factors of the human-environment
> relationship reveal the need to broaden our concept of territory beyond the
> politically created boundaries that currently denote the international
> social and economic climate.  By adopting scales of attention that reflect
> the bio- and geophysical factors that shape the earth, human beings will
> recapture their connection with their natural roots.  By learning more
> about their local environment and how it connects with the biosphere, human
> beings will not only increase their sensitivity to and understanding of the
> immediate factors that influence their lives but also heighten their sense
> of interdependence with the global community of which we are all an
> integral part.  The diversity of ecosystems across the planet is the
> physical foundation for the diversity of cultural groups that have evolved
> in those regions throughout human history.  Increased knowledge of those
> groups will also heighten our awareness of the interconnections between
> human and nonhuman nature.
> However, focussing on the natural environment as the source of unity for
> the human family is not sufficient.  There are many other factors that need
> to be considered.  Human beings are complex creatures whose psyche is
> profoundly affected by more than just our connections with nature.
> Attention must be paid to how the knowledge gained from studying human
> interactions with nature affects human interactions with each other.  If
> humanity is ever to find peace with itself, it will come from a massive
> transformation in the way humans relate to one another both individually at
> the family and local community level and in terms of the national and
> international institutions that are developed to organize broader scales of
> human interaction.  The moral foundations for such relations are deeply
> rooted in human history in the inspirations for the religious and cultural
> traditions that provide meaning for the billions of people who share the
> planet.  Unity will be found in the development of broader understanding
> and acceptance of the diversity in the human family and in the fostering of
> the basic principles that sustain healthy interpersonal relations.
> 
> 
> *The term "ecology" was coined in 1858 as Okologie by German biologist
> Ernst Heinrich Haeckel.  Thoreau used the term in English in his later
> writings.  The Bahá'í Faith was officially established in 1863 when, in a
> garden outside Baghdad, confirmed to his followers that he was "the
> Promised One" foretold in the previous religious dispensations.
> 
> References
> 
> Abdu'l-Bahá.  1982.  The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks
> Delivered by Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada
> in 1912.  Bahá'í Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois.
> Bookchin, Murray, and Dave Foreman.  1991.  Defending the Earth: A
> Dialogue between Murray Bookchin and Dave Foreman.  South End Press,
> Boston.
> Bronowski, Jacob.  1965.  Science and Human Values.  Harper and Row, New
> York.
> Clark, Mary.  1989.  Ariadne's Thread: The Search for New Modes of
> Thinking.  Macmillan Press, London.
> Dubos, René.  1990.  The World of René Dubos: A Collection
> of His Writings.  Gerard Piel and Osborn Segerberg, Jr., eds.  Henry Holt
> and Co., New York.
> Laszlo, Ervin.  1989.  The Inner Limits of Mankind: Heretical
> Reflections on Today's Values, Culture and Politics.  Oneworld
> Publications, London.
>
> — *Unity in Diversity: Acceptance and Integration in an Era of Intolerance and Fragmentation [extract] (Used by permission of the curator)*