While there are lots of good things about our South Asian collectivist mentality it is our fixation about our socio-religious superiority that perhaps causes the most problems for continental harmony. . . My homeland, as is the case for Sri Lanka, Pakistan Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Maldives, has evolved amid topics of division, events of war, being accustomed to casteism, classism, racism, and the ensuing bigotry, which perpetuates itself from one generation to another, subconsciously. . . No religion spreads hatred, yet there’s so many people who weaponize it for power and control. If we look past the media, which tells us that we’re constantly in battle with people different than us, we know that we’ve been living peacefully with neighbors, friends, family that have different backgrounds than our own, yet politics paints a different picture. . . If we are indeed so progressive, why do our efforts only stop at posturing and never translate into actions, as voters or as citizens? The system perpetuates itself because we let it, by assuming that “someone will bring the change, I just can’t do it all by myself”. Meanwhile, the side which prefers a fractured society continues enjoying its privileges, where it gets to create our enemies, our nemeses, without us knowing them even. This divisive conversation is spun by politicians, spread by the media, but ultimately approved by the people. . . These conflicts have nothing to do with religion and everything to do with control, a power trip that runs this system. To merely sling mud at each other without addressing the issues, degrades us as whole. It doesn’t cost us anything to treat each other with humanity, except kindness. . . The day we can substitute fearing and hating with listening and acknowledging (even if we take time to accept our quirks and flaws), is when we can actually hope to be progressive. . . Written by my husband, @seizekabab . . A Muslim bride, a South Indian Hindu bride, a mosque, and a temple were used as reference.