COMMON HUMANITY - I don't think so!

John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia, is a great friend of the USA (I'm an admirer of his as well); his nation's response to the tragedy of what they call the Boxer Day tsunami is remarkable and praise worthy.

But remarks he made at a Hindu sabha (prayer meeting) are bound to raise eyebrows on Christian foreheads both down under and up over.

"We have seen over the last three weeks a spontaneous coming forward of that great common humanity that we all share. And it is an occasion like this that serves to re-mind all the peoples of the world of what they have in common ... and the things that unite them are always stronger and more important than the things that divide us."

It's obtuse generalities like this that offend people of faith and reveal a lack of understanding of the subject on the part of the speaker. Jesus Himself said,

"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; and A MAN'S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD." [Matthew 10:34-36]