Radical Unity Throughtout History

by LaTaYea

On a world as divided as ours is today—divided by everything from politics to race to religion and more—it seems clear that unity, a radical kind of unity, is desperately needed. The concepts of unity and of radically uniting peoples of diverse beliefs and cultures are goals that some very significant souls throughout history have sought to attain—to unite peoples in hopes of a better “common good for all.”

Kings, pharaohs, presidents, and spiritual leaders alike have shared their visions of radical unity, often at the expense of being labeled “heretics” or “cultists” and at times costing them their very lives. Listed below are a few of these dynamic personalities of history—their philosophies and visions, and some of their achievements and/or failures.


(c. 1352-1354 B.C.) Akhenaten, Pharaoh of Egypt, “is principally famous for his religious reforms, in which the polytheism of Egypt was to be supplanted by a monotheism centered on Aten, the god of the solar disk.” He sought to unite the peoples of his kingdom under one God and built a new capitol city Amarna, based on his revolutionary new religion to further his vision of unity. “Aten was defined as a universal, omnipresent spirit, that not only had created the universe, but also ruled it. … While nothing can be proved, many scholars have suggested that his monotheism came to influence the Hebrew prophets a few centuries later, when monotheism came to be defined in Israeli religion… .”1

“Akhenaten also introduced an entirely new and more intimate form of expression into Egyptian art. … These works are unique in Egyptian art; they do not flatter the king and his family but reveal the real people in all their beauty and decay. They demonstrate a sophistication and creative freedom which was certainly revolutionary in their time.”2

(c. 1010-970 B.C.) King David of Israel was a “powerful king [who] wisely governed the tribes of Israel, forging them into a united nation. God blessed this man to be a valiant soldier, a great military strategist, an able administrator, a diplomat, a composer, a musician, and king. The reign of David marks—politically speaking—Israel's golden age. A power vacuum in both Egypt and Mesopotamia made it possible for the tribes that had entered Canaan under Joshua a few centuries earlier to become a mighty nation... David was king of an area extending from the Red Sea to the Euphrates. David was originally based in Hebron in southern Judah, but when all 13 tribes of Israel accepted his rulership he needed a central location from which to govern. An ideal place was on the northern border of Judah, the city of Jebus, also called Jerusalem (City of Peace)….”3

(c. 356-323 B.C.) Alexander III of Macedon—“Soon after taking the throne Alexander declared war on Persia. In a few years he conquered most of Asia Minor. … To promote harmony between his people and the Persians he ordered eighty of his most important men to marry highborn Persian women in traditional Persian wedding ceremonies. He himself married King Darius' daughter…. Alexander also began promoting Persians to high-ranking positions in his army, saying that Persians and Macedonians should share the empire. His efforts to create unity failed; even the marriages between his men and the Persians mostly broke up after Alexander's death.”4

(c. A.D. 274-337) Constantine the Great “certainly earned the 'Great' after his name. The history of the world was set on a new course when he made Christianity-which until that time had suffered bloody persecution-the state religion. This was hardly an imperative move since Christians were by far the minority at the time.”5

(c. A.D. 742-814) “Charlemagne was determined to strengthen his realm and to bring order to Europe. In 772 he launched a 30-year military campaign to accomplish this objective. By 800 Charlemagne was the undisputed ruler of Western Europe. His vast realm encompassed what are now France, Switzerland, Belgium, and The Netherlands. It included half of present-day Italy and Germany, and parts of Austria and Spain. By establishing a central government over Western Europe, Charlemagne restored much of the unity of the old Roman Empire and paved the way for the development of modern Europe.
Charlemagne believed that government should be for the benefit of the governed. He was a reformer who tried to improve his subjects' lives. He set up money standards to encourage commerce and urged better farming methods.”6

(c. 1100) Iroquois Confederacy— “The people of the Six Nations, also known by the French term, Iroquois Confederacy, call themselves the Hau de no sau nee (ho dee noe sho nee) meaning People Building a Long House. Located in the northeastern region of North America, originally the Six Nations was five and included the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. The sixth nation, the Tuscaroras, migrated into Iroquois country in the early eighteenth century. Together these peoples comprise the oldest living participatory democracy on earth. Their story, and governance truly based on the consent of the governed, contains a great deal of life-promoting intelligence for those of us not familiar with this area of American history. The original United States representative democracy, fashioned by such central authors as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, drew much inspiration from this confederacy of nations. In our present day, we can benefit immensely, in our quest to establish anew a government truly dedicated to all life's liberty and happiness much as has been practiced by the Six Nations for over 800 hundred years.” 7

(c. 1270-1305) Sir William Wallace of Elerslie (also depicted in the well-known film Braveheart), was the “hero of Scotland and a true patriot whose desire for peace and freedom united the clans, gained the loyalty of the people, struck fear into his enemies and defied the cruel hand of an evil, warring and invading King Edward 'Longshanks' Plantagenet I of England.”8 Wallace sought unity among the Scottish clans realizing that in joining forces they could gain the power to overcome the oppression of a tyrannical king and earn true freedom for Scotland to create a better world.

(1483-1546) “Martin Luther was a German monk, priest, professor, theologian, and church reformer. His teachings inspired the Reformation and deeply influenced the doctrines and culture of the Lutheran and Protestant traditions, as well as the course of Western civilization. Luther emphasized that a person is saved by the merciful kindness of God through the merits of Jesus alone, received through trusting faith in Jesus, not by human efforts to earn God's favor.”9

(1543-1605) Akbar of India-”Muslim, Indian, and Western historians all see Akbar as the greatest ruler of Indian history. When his father, Humayun, died in 1556, Akbar became padshah (“ruler of the empire”) at the age of thirteen. …Akbar instantly began seizing more territory throughout Hindustan. …By the time he died in 1605 (his reign, 1556 to 1605, corresponds almost exactly to that of Elizabeth I of England), his Empire was greater than that of Babur and included almost all of northern India.

In order to govern this territory, Akbar developed a bureaucracy and a system of autonomy for the imperial provinces. Akbar's bureaucracy was among the most efficient in the world.

The most important part of the bureaucracy was tax collection. Akbar made several innovations. His tax, like all other states, was a land tax that amounted to one-third of the value of the crops produced on it each year. However, the tax was assessed equally on every member of the empire—a radical innovation considering that every other state in the sixteenth century rarely taxed the nobility. He also eliminated the tax assessed on non-Muslims. From the beginning of the Islamic expansion, a special tax was levied on non-believers. This special tax, called the jizya, was bitterly resented all during the history of Muslim rule in India. In addition, Muslim rulers in India charged a 'pilgrimage' tax on unbelievers traveling to various Hindu pilgrimage sites. Akbar eliminated this tax in 1564.

Akbar was a devout and, so he said, an orthodox Muslim; still, aspects of his belief were in part derived from Shi'a Islam. The Din-i Ilahi, the religion that would synthesize the world's religions into a single religion, that he established was predominantly based on Islam. Like Islam, it was rationalistic and was based on one overriding doctrine, the doctrine of tawhid: God is one thing and is singular and unified. Akbar also elevated the notion of wahdat-al wujud, or 'unity of the real,' to a central religious idea in his new religion. The world, as a creation of God, is a single and unified place that reflects the singularity and unity of its creator.”10

(1599-1658) “Oliver Cromwell's life and actions had a radical edge springing from his strong religious faith. A conversion experience some time before the civil war, strengthened by his belief that during the war he and his troops had been chosen by God to perform His will, gave a religious tinge to many of his political policies as Lord Protector in the 1650s. Cromwell sought 'Godly reformation', a broad programme involving reform of the most inhumane elements of the legal, judicial and social systems and clamped down on drunkenness, immorality and other sinful activities. He also believed passionately in what he called 'liberty of conscience', that is freedom for a range of Protestant groups and faiths to practice their beliefs undisturbed and without disturbing others. Several times he referred to this religious liberty as the principal achievement of the wars, to be strengthened and cherished now that peace had returned.”11

(1732-1799) George Washington and the Founding Fathers called for “A New Order of the Ages” in colonial America's struggle for independence. “A New Order of the Age begins” proclaims the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States.
When the delegates from the 13 states that then made up the United States of America assembled in Philadelphia in 1787, they knew that not only were their fellow citizens anxiously awaiting the result of their deliberations, but that a wider world-and history itself -was watching. They knew that the course of history was about to take a dramatic turn, that a novus ordo seclorum, a new order of the ages, was ready to be born.12

(1751-1835) James Madison, later to be known as “The Father of the Constitution,” stiffened the resolve of those who could not conceive that so daring an experiment in free government could endure. During the tense period when the states debated adoption of the Constitution, he wrote: “Hearken not to the voice which petulantly tells you that the form of government recommended for your adoption is a novelty in the political world; that it has never yet had a place in the theories of the wildest projectors; that it rashly attempts what it is impossible to accomplish. No, my countrymen, shut your ears against this unhallowed language.”

Our Founders, having pledged their lives, liberty, and sacred honor to winning freedom for this nation, turned their intellects to the creation of a system of government that has endured for America and inspired free institutions throughout the world.13

(1805-1844) “Joseph Smith [founder of the Mormons] had identified the setting [of Zion] by revelation and envisioned a complex of sacred temples, a city of refuge, and a gathering place for the kingdom of God…. Their success would require unity of purpose, what Joseph called “a long pull, a strong pull and a pull all together.

Though the dream of Zion in Missouri was not realized in the early days, the Saints did gather and establish communities. 'He who scattered Israel has promised to gather them,' the Prophet explained, to build up the kingdom of God, 'a work that is destined to bring about the destruction of the powers of darkness, the renovation of the earth, the glory of God, and the salvation of the human family'.”14

(1831-1890) Sitting Bull (a.k.a. Tatanka-Iyotanka) was “a Hunkpapa Lakota chief and holy man under whom the Lakota tribes united in their struggle for survival on the northern plains. Sitting Bull remained defiant toward American military power and contemptuous of American promises to the end.”15

(1882-1927) “Hazrat Inayat Khan was a Sufi teacher from India who started 'The Sufi Order in the West' (now called the Sufi Order International) in the early part of the 20th century. Though his family background was Muslim, he was also steeped in the Sufi notion that all religions have their value and place in human evolution.

His teaching strongly emphasized the fundamental oneness of all religions. He was deeply concerned that many of the western religious traditions had lost knowledge of the “science of soul”, and the prayer and meditation techniques necessary to develop higher consciousness in man.

It was at Suresnes that Inayat developed the Universal Worship service that is now associated with the 'Sufi Order in the West'. The ritual consists of an invocation, a reading from each of the holy books of the world's major religions, and the lighting of a candle for each tradition. A candle is also lit for all those individuals or religious systems (unknown or forgotten) that have inspired mankind. The ritual continues with a discourse, and ends with a blessing. One goal of the Universal Worship service is to show people from different cultures the many common elements they share in their religious traditions, and to create a sense of unity among people from different cultures by teaching them to read each other's scriptures and 'pray each other's prayers'.”16

(1925-1965) “Malcolm X [eventually] formed his own organizations, the Organization of Afro-American Unity.

He also adopted views that were not popular with other black nationalists, including the idea that not all whites were evil and that blacks could make gains by working through established channels.

Malcolm X had a profound influence on both blacks and whites. Many blacks responded to a feeling that he was a man of the people, experienced in the ways of the street rather than the pulpit or the college campus, which traditionally had provided the preponderance of black leaders. Many young whites responded to Malcolm's blunt, colorful language and unwillingness to retreat in the face of hostility.

At first thought to be a violent fanatic, he is now understood as an advocate of self-help, self-defense, and education; as a philosopher and pedagogue, he succeeded in integrating history, religion, and mythology to establish a framework for his ultimate belief in world brotherhood and in human justice.”17

(1929-1968) Martin Luther King, Jr. believed “the point of nonviolent resistance is not to humiliate the opponent, but instead to gain his friendship and understanding.

He believed the philosophy of 'turn the other cheek' and 'love your enemies' applied only to conflicts between individuals and not racial groups or nations. However, after reading about Mahatma Gandhi and his teachings, he changed his mind. King was struck by the concept of satyagraha, which means truth-force or love-force. He realized that 'the Christian doctrine of love operating through the Gandhian method of nonviolence was one of the most potent weapons available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom'.”18


These are just a handful of the many great souls who sought to build bridges rather than walls. To unite people across borders and divisions of all types, it takes radicals…souls willing to stand up and be counted among the change agents of our world. We can either watch history being made on TV or get up off the sofa and make some history ourselves. We must seek ways to unite, not divide ourselves from one another. Times are serious, the moment is at hand, and as the Hopi Elders said, “We are the ones we've been waiting for.”

1 lexicorient.com/e.o/akhenat.htm
2 www.eyelid.co.uk/k-q2.htm
3 www.kingdavid.org/kingd1.html
4 www.royalty.nu/Europe/Balkan/Alexander.html
5 www.allaboutturkey.com/konstantin.htm
6 www.lucidcafe.com/library/96apr/charle-
magne.html
7 www.ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/
9 www.highlanderweb.co.uk/wallace/
9 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther
10 wsu.edu/~dee/MUGHAL/AKBAR.HTM
11 www.olivercromwell.org/cromwell_and_reli-
gion.htm
12 www.xs4all.nl/~wichm/newageb.html
13 edsitement.neh.gov/ConstitutionDay/constitution_index2.html
14 www.josephsmith.net/...
15 www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/sittingbull.htm
16 www.om-guru.com/html/saints/khan.html
17 www.gale.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/macolmx .htm
18 afroamhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa010901a.
htm