III. Feelings (family, nations, and religion)

This is the third in a series three blogs describing three directions of my current thinking (summer 2026)

Family, nation, and  religion, the Three Corner Stones (TCS) on which my sense of belonging is based. Since at age 18 I left the world into which I was born, loneliness and solitude were not unexpected in my future. Luckily for me, throughout my life, and during my wandering into the new world, and then establishing my life in a new world,  I was able to make friends quite easily and rapidly everywhere. With my groups of friends we provided each other with mutual support, at times both emotionally and financially. So maybe I should have added friendship as a fourth cornerstone. Certainly my friends assisted me in finding  new opportunities, and provided the means for my continued sense of belonging, even when I was still searching where to head during my wandering. But friends we seek and find. The TCS above is either given to us with birth, or it evolves, somewhat in a Darwinian sense. Darwinian evolution is based on the fundamental principle that biological systems survive by adapting to changing conditions of their environment. I think that TCS evolved in the course of human evolution because belonging was a fundamental need.

A loving and stable family was first given to me by birth. And then luckily enough, I created my second family, in which I have been living by now for more than 60 years. First just two of us, then for the next 20 plus years five of us, and today we are eleven of us in our American nuclear family of three generations. For me family is the most fundamental and important group to which I belong. 

Nations are the next level. One can belong to more than one nation. I was born into one and then eventually I became a citizen and a member of another one. But I am also fully aware of the genetic mix that my DNA shows. My gene-analysis showed that I am a total mix of Germanic and Slavic groups, in addition to possibly some Middle Eastern. I love the mix I am and I am proud of it, unlike some people I know who prefer to regularly emphasize that they are pure of whatever. Detailed historical quantitative analysis showed that none of us are pure, belonging to only “one unique nation”. If we go back far enough in history, it turns out we are all genetically related, the ancestors of all of us interbred. Everyone who lived then is our common ancestor. Not only are we all descendants of a few people who evolved in Africa, but statistical analysis shows that given the number of people who existed some centuries ago and the number who live now on Earth, in fact we all must be related and genetically connected. We can only claim to have become “disconnected” from everyone else to a period around the beginning of the historical Current Era (CE). Everyone who lived prior to that is a common ancestor of all of us who live today. So, not only do I believe that all men are born equal, I also know that we are all genetically connected. And that means: we humans are one huge family. We better think of ourselves as one nation.

So where and how does religion come in? Anthropological findings show that we humans have always been looking for something beyond the life that immediately surrounds us. Gods,  symbols,  fetishes have been admired and or prayed to in some form forever. Clearly religion is part of the basic human makeup. I have been raised and practiced Roman Catholicism. I accept and am willing to live with all other religions, as long as they do not violate basic human rights. I studied science  and I have practiced it for about 80 years. While I am not a devoted and regular religious practitioner, I still find religion valuable. I am grateful to a by now deceased friend, the Templeton prize winning Dr. Stanley Jaki, who taught me a simple approach to connecting science and religion. The doctor, who was also Father Jaki, was a Benedictine monk who earned a theology doctorate at the Vatican University in Rome and then another doctorate in theoretical physics in New York. He taught me that observations of events described by numbers and mathematical formulas, and verified experimentally by independent research groups, is the domain of science. Where that is not possible, we have the domain of religion. With this view science and religion are complementary, there is no conflict.

As a final concluding summary of The Three Stones:  use them and value them as the means of belonging and avoid using them to assert power or superiority over others. Being the member of a Nation provides the comforts of a common language, a common culture, and a common cuisine. Using Nationalism as a tool to assert superiority over others, leads to the horrors of World Wars and the genocides that have already occurred in the recent history of Europe, Africa, and Asia.

The concept of nation states was invented about 400 years ago to end religious wars. In our 21st century interconnected world nations should join International Federations and International Federations in turn should strive for a peaceful  Global Federation.

Humans need to unite in a United Nations not only in symbols and words but also in action. This is the only way for Homo Sapiens to secure its long-term existence.