When it comes to the issues of racism and violence, the question is not whether, but why. Why is it that at least some human beings treat others so horribly?

There are many answers – psychological, sociological, economic, genetic – but the final explanation, it seems to me, lies in neuroscience. As we develop, starting with the earliest stages of life, sensation arrives in our neural system and works its way to the brain, which in turn tries its best to make order out of the bombardment with which it is presented. It has certain hard wired tricks that it uses for this purpose, good illustrations of which can be seen on the documentary Brain Games, currently available on Netflix. At the most basic level, the brain assorts sensation into some kind of order, creating a perception, which it then supposes to be reality. Unfortunately, the reality created by the brain does not coincide with reality as it is “out there”.

Once the ball starts rolling, it gathers steam. Using past experiences to create a framework of interpretation, the brain interprets new sensation through this framework, an activity that has the effect of enforcing and strengthening the old illusion. We become more entrenched in our ways. We increasingly believe that our way is the true way. We come to believe that if others disagree with me, they must be wrong. We universalize on the basis of our severely limited experiences. The Yahwist, in the classic myth of Eve and Adam, describes the two characters as eating of the tree of the knowledge of good evil, not to be understood as moral awareness, but as knowledge of all things, good to evil, top to bottom, left to right. Of course, they did not achieve such total knowledge, they only acted as if they did. Our problem exactly.

Once we begin to assume that the bubble we have created for ourself is in fact the way the world is, it becomes a simple matter to view others as inferior. They’re not as smart as I am. They shouldn’t have as much power. I can treat them as I will. At a deeper level, however, people who disagree with us pose a threat to our reality. We may be changing a bit, day to day, but for the most part we have aligned our world and our place in it, and if you challenge that world just by being who you are, then you are a threat to me. Inevitably, then, everyone is a threat to everyone else. Hold that thought for a minute.

How do we escape this impasse? If we are locked in our world, it requires something that transcends that world to break in and liberate us. That something has usually been called God, or the Holy, or the experience of Awe. The Christian message- one among many- is that this God is real and is on our side. That is, it is God’s hope and intent that we should grow beyond that bubble that we have created for ourselves, and God is working to help us do that. So, from this perspective, it’s all up to us to take advantage of this divine intent and seek ever increasing stages of enlightenment. And if you don’t accept God, that doesn’t matter, because, whether you believe it or not, from the Christian perspective, God is working to assist you anyway. But you still have to work to escape that bubble.

If you don’t work to escape that bubble, you will perceive others as a threat, and you will miss out on the wonder of your surroundings. The opposite is infinitely more desirable. Be open to those moments of the Holy. Experience awe. Listen to what others have to communicate. Don’t be so sure that you know everything. Expand your learning. Travel if able. See every moment as teachable, to use President Obama’s terminology.

Sometimes it takes but one person to sit in the front of the bus, or to sit at a lunch counter. One event to change the course of history. One person to stand up and say: “this is wrong”. We can be that person. As a community, be it secular or religious, we can stand up and say those words. Confrontation precedes reconciliation, but the confrontation must arise from love, not from arrogance or retribution.

White America is becoming aware that the majority will no longer be white. That is a major bursting of a bubble, and it is bound to be a long process that will not take place easily. On every level -individual, town, nation – world views are being challenged and replaced. This is happening not only here but in Europe as well. The danger is always that right wing fascism will play upon the fear and the threat. The hope is that, with the help of God, love and justice and peace will prevail.