When out and about, look at the people around you…

How many people consider the people they share the same state with a compatriot?
How about the county, city, or even one’s next door neighbors?
Many people spout on about being patriotic, but how many really view one another as a fellow countrymen (/compatriot/citizen/whatever-term-one-is-more-comfortable-with)? It seems that many who claim to be “patriots” do not treat their neighbors as compatriots. Do we spend too much time focusing on our differences rather than the things that should unite us?
Too often, I hear people making statements that denigrate others because of silly differences.
Sex, gender, sexuality (or lack thereof), spiritual path (or lack thereof), religion, phenotype, melanin content, language.
Are these differences so important that they should bring about a divisiveness?
Should we not try to focus on being more forward thinking?
If not, can we really say we are advanced?
I think we spend too much time focusing on our differences in a negative way. The challenge is this negative focus has a higher probability of causing alienation, resentment, and further negativity. Thereby creating a cycle of behavior that, I feel, is not conducive to the social progress of which this country is in need.
In his speech, “House Divided” (1858) Abraham Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Let us really consider that statement as we look at the current issues in our current culture.
Have we become divided against ourselves?