Thank you for an excellent exposition. I agree wholeheartedly that both religion and secular ideologies promote tribalism because they are based on beliefs.

To overcome the tribalism inherent in theology and ideology we have to have a truly universal alternative to both. I have discovered one.

[Experience has taught me that when people hear of a new idea directly from its author like this its credibility is somehow diminished, but I can’t help that.]

The alternative I discovered is an ethic that follows from observation within material existence, not any belief. That ethic informs what I therefore call “real justice.”

Real justice involves mutual respect, which is also implied by a belief in equality. As a result, the implications of real justice are similar to Liberalism: maximizing liberty and political democracy.

I have also discovered, though, how to apply mutual respect to the structure of the economic system. (I have an M.A. in economics.) Doing that would preserve the existing economy (‘capitalism’, for lack of a better term), but transform its effects on society.

If your curiosity should exceed your skepticism, I do have a Web site, www.ajustsolution.com (though the link might not work). I have also comprehensively summarized real justice (as succinctly as possible) in an essay here on medium.com, “People for Tolerance, Unite!” (That link definitely works.)

I am hoping you might be inspired to write about real justice as you wrote so well about Nietzsche and Andrew Sullivan’s essay. I do acknowledge than I am a better thinker than I am a writer — or a Web site designer/manager.