They're Just like us

I'm reposting a few of my older posts from a dead blog. Given the chants and problems with RFC this week, I was reminded of this one, so wanted to re-share it.
I'm getting a bit slow on updating this in my old age, but I just wanted to give some thoughts on an article I saw in the Sunday Herald last weekend about the Catholic Church in Scotland withdrawing support for shared campus schools and preferring to keep their schools separate. I'm sure they have their own reasons, but it always saddens me to see actions like this, because it does lead to this idea that people from one community are different from people in another, which goes against my experience, and it's only a short jump from "different" to get to "better".
What interests me most about these sorts of divisions however is all the articles talking about the charities, community groups and other organisations working to bring children from different backgrounds together, to play football or form an orchestra, or whatever, whether it's Catholic and Protestant, Israeli and Palestinian, natives and asylum seekers, etc. The one thing that all these projects seem to have in common it the sense of astonishment and amazement the children have when they first turn up that causes them to utter, "They're just like us". When that sort of news comes as a surprise, there's something seriously wrong with our humanity.
Be nice, shake a stranger's hand tomorrow.
@<