Everything is Different

Anybody familiar with the US constitution knows the line from the preamble:
"We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal"
EQUAL… what does that supposed to mean? Sure, I understand the spirit behind the phrase in that everybody should have an equal opportunity— but I can't help but think that we are approaching it backwards.

I heard it said that space exists so that everything doesn't happen in the same place— and that time exists so that everything doesn't happen all at once. Recognizing this fact helps us to understand that everything is different.

Our bodies are made up of many different cells— each of which is not the same as your neighbors. We are made up of different molecules, we grow at different rates, our DNA is uniquely different than everybody else. Each of us was born in a different place, at a different time. Even identical twins are not the same because they inhabit different places in the universe. We eat different foods at different times than other people. Even if we ate the same foods (even out of the same pot), they are not made up of the same exact molecules. What I find troubling is that many people try to group others together and call them the same.

It is easy to find similarities between people based upon our own observation. This makes it easier for us to recognize people based upon given traits and behaviors. However, once we start categorizing people into groups it isn't long before we start pointing out the discrepancies in those groups only to make ourselves look better. This in itself is not fair to anybody because nobody is the same and nobody is any better than anybody else. Rather than trying to find similarities, I think we should look for everybody's differences instead. So to rephrase the preamble…

"We hold these truths to be self evident that all are created different"