Diversity

I’m a few days late off the blocks, but April is #CelebrateDiversity month. We celebrate diversity in nature. We celebrate the myriad of species. Without mutation of the first life form, we would not exist. So why do we seem to have so much difficulty celebrating diversity within our species? I can’t answer that. I’m trying to. I am currently writing the fourth book in The Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. My modus operandi is to scan forwards through history, from when the previous book ended, until some event or character grabs my attention. That event is the Fettmilch Uprising of 1614 in Frankfurt, a pogrom. So the theme for this book (Called to Account is the working title) is anti-semitism in particular, racism and hatred more generally. What I have learned through my research so far is that there was a mini-ice-age in the early 17th century. This led to crop failures and famine. It was believed that God had created a perfect world. Scientists were discovering the laws and mathematics which governed the motion of the planets. Artists, musicians and architects perceived the patterns and harmony which please us. Therefore something must have been causing the crop failures. A German bishop by the name of Peter Binsfeld, believed that witches were the cause. He wrote a book on the subject, and became a witch finder. Many hundreds of “witches” were executed. Within Germany this was most prevalent in the south, because there were more than enough Jews in the north, who could bear the burden of blame and hatred. I’m not sure I can explain why we have such difficulty celebrating diversity within our species. But I will try to illuminate how absurd it is not to.