Joel

Yes.

As much as we choose to deny and forget it, we are primates, more closely related to chimpanzees than chimpanzees are to gorillas. We are devoted at the deepest level to our family/clan/troop mates, and fiercely protective against those of other groups.

As humans, our downfall is that "other" is no longer simply defined by smell or territory: we are capable of symbolic thought. This enables us to define "other" by ANYTHING: labels (religious, national, &c.), skin color, school of thought, &c., &c.

Until we figure out how to deal with this ethological curse, we will have wars.