Are we really THAT different?

Hoary millenniums earlier, their ancestors and mine had been one people, living together, using the same tools and weapons, pursuing the same goals, speaking the same language. Then they had wandered apart, not merely into differing climes, but into steadily diverging life styles as well... We were equally human...flesh and blood...men. -Page 100~101-

      The theme for this year's Spiritual Emphasis Week was "essence", the thing that remains in us when all the insignificance miscellaneous is brewed away. What I discovered quite disconcerting about the theme was that most of the time, I was not happy about what remained as the essence of my soul. Although we may wish for our morals and ethical values to remain as our essence, it is but, of course, something disappointing that lasts and resists all the brewing: our greed. 

      The modern society has managed to disguise and embellish its greedy nature with a facetious of civilized practices and pleasing etiquettes; however, fundamentally, the modern world and the cutoff society of the Sawi are quite the same. Both worlds live so they can satisfy their greed. Both base their societal system on power and authority, fatten their enemies with friendship so they can sore above the ashes of their competition, and resolve arguments via wars and treachery. Although we people of the modern society claim that we are not nearly as sadistic as the brutal murderers and cannibals, a renowned quote challenges our assurances and proclamations. "Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding two guns than two hands?" When observing this quote, we can definitely discover how humans naturally have the tendency to lean towards war than compliance and that our beliefs in our morality are groundless claims. The reason why such culturally different communities are so similar can be tracked back to the essence of humanity. Because the Sawi and the people of the modernized world all live according to their greed, it can be said that the modern culture and Sawi tenants have no significant difference between each other, but have a great resemblance in their flawed, selfish, and sadistic hearts. 

      It is most likely that Don Richardson was able to influence and change the Sawi because he and the tribal people came from the same seed, the same essence. God was probably working behind the scenes of Richardson's journey, preaching the same gospel to the modern and primitive communities and rectifying the innately greedy nature those two societies held in common.