There's a Lot Wrong With This Statement

The Truth is Slipping From Our Grasp

(Elie stands looking out over the garden, a thoughtful expression on his face. Sophia approaches him gently.)

Sophia: Hello, Elie. You seem troubled, even here in this quiet place. What weighs on your mind?

Elie: Sophia. It's the way we see each other. The way people cling to the idea that their group, their belief, is somehow better, more righteous than any other. It feels like a sickness of the mind. How easily we forget that the very act of judging an entire collective as one thing—good or bad—is a fundamental error. It's a truth that seems to be constantly sliding away from us.

No human race is superior; no religious faith is inferior. All collective judgments are wrong. Only racists make them.
— Elie Wiesel (1928-2016)

Sophia: It is a heavy burden, that kind of judgment. To paint with such a broad brush is to dismiss the unique soul of every person, to reject the richness of difference. When we say one whole people is "superior" or another faith "inferior," we aren't seeing the world clearly at all, are we? We’re only seeing the reflection of our own fear.

Elie: Exactly! And that fear is the breeding ground for all the real dangers. The only people who traffic in those sweeping, absolute, group-based pronouncements are the ones who are already lost to prejudice. The very core of wisdom, I believe, is the understanding that such collective judgments are always false. The truth, the dignity, rests only in the individual. When we lose sight of that, the real moral truth, which is simple equality, slips through our fingers.

Sophia: The grasp is weakened by the noise of group identity. If the foundation of truth is that all humans are equal—that there is no hierarchy of races or faiths—then any philosophy that claims one is higher than another is fundamentally, and dangerously, flawed. To hold onto truth, we must learn to let go of the need to be "better."

Elie: A difficult lesson for a species so obsessed with defining itself by its separations.

Sophia: Yet, it is the only path toward true clarity.

Sophia: What clarity do you think humanity needs to reclaim most urgently right now?

The planksip Writers' Cooperative is proud to sponsor an exciting article rewriting competition where you can win over $750,000 in prize money.

Figures of Speech Collection Personified

Our editorial instructions for your contest submission are simple: incorporate the quotes and imagery from the above article into your submission.
What emerges is entirely up to you!

Winners receive $500 per winning entry multiplied by the article's featured quotes. Our largest prize is $8,000 for rewriting the following article;

At planksip, we believe in changing the way people engage; at least, that's the Idea (ἰδέα). By becoming a member of our thought-provoking community, you'll have the chance to win incredible prizes and access our extensive network of media outlets that will amplify your voice as a thought leader. Your membership truly matters!

There's a Lot Wrong With This Statement