The Chosen:: A Double-Edged Illusion
Humans have an innate yearning to feel special to believe they are chosen for something greater. Whether this belief is rooted in religion, nationalism, ancestry, or even personal destiny, it offers comfort. It gives life meaning. It helps people feel they matter in an otherwise vast, indifferent universe.
But the concept of being "the chosen" carries within it a quiet poison: the implication that others are not. That some are more worthy, more enlightened, more favored—by God, by history, by the universe than the rest.
This is where the danger begins. When one group sees itself as chosen, it often begins to see others as less less deserving, less pure, less human. The myth of chosenness creates a moral and emotional distance between people. It becomes easier to dehumanize, to exclude, to conquer, to kill.
History is littered with atrocities committed under the banner of divine favor or cultural superiority. This need to be special is not inherently wrong. But when it turns into a belief in exceptionalism, it blinds us to our shared humanity. We must ask ourselves: Why do we need to feel chosen to feel worthy? Why do we build our self-worth by separating ourselves from others?
The alternative is a radical idea: that none of us are chosen and therefore all of us matter equally. That meaning doesn’t come from being divinely selected, but from how we choose to live, connect, and uplift each other.
Not because we are special—but because we are human. When we let go of the illusion of chosenness, we begin to see the beauty of belonging not to a select few, but to each other.
