The only thing to fear, the saying goes, is fear itself. At the heart of anger, psychologists write, lies a specific - if unacknowledged - fear. That begs the question, what fear lies at the core of the "fearmongering tactics" which seem so prominent today?

Sunday's feature article by Jeff Selle explored fearmongering's history in American politics, a volley of fire long exchanged between liberal and conservative. As the article suggested with examples close to home, increasingly it also targets religious differences, with frightening and sometimes paranoid accusations of a group's alleged intent to demoralize, control, and even terrorize the rest of "us."

This group - whether delineated by political view or religion - is presumed by its accusers to be uniform. And very well organized. In other words, rare and antithetical to human nature. Thus quite scary to imagine.

Evidence supports the opposite. In politics, one need only a brief listen to CNN to gather that division and discord within both major parties is business-as-usual in national politics. Even less uniform than politics is religious belief. America's majority religion is well enough known that even the least religious are aware that the innermost views, practices, and perceived moralities can differ significantly not only among denominations of Christianity, but more so among individuals who identify with them.

So how about the fearmongerer's common enemy No. 1? Yes, I'll use the M-word. Statistically "the Muslims" are no more uniform than any other so-called group. What one, 20, or 200 say, do, or believe is no more representative of all adherents than are those identifying with any other religion or culture. That's what Pew Research concluded of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims in a 2012 survey, representing 39 countries and 80 languages.

Pew found that, as with Christians' perceptions of God and Jesus, the vast majority of Muslims worldwide believe in one god and that the greatest prophet (among others in the Quran, including Jesus) was Muhammad. However, they disagree and diverge on how much religion plays a part in their lives, whether it should have a place in government or politics, who counts as a Muslim, and what role religion plays in daily life and practices.

Some accept multiple interpretations of their faith; others do not (sound familiar?). Some believe in heaven, hell, angels, and punishment of sins. Others do not. Some believe religion should play a part in government; many do not. Other areas of divergence include tithing, taking the Quran literally, fasting, and intermarrying (spouse of different or no religion).

Generational differences are also apparent. Older Muslims tend to place greater emphasis on religion and are more likely to regularly attend services, pray, and read religious texts, than are those under 35. An odd exception was Russia, where the pattern is reversed and younger Muslims are more observant than their elders. How much sectarian differences (e.g., Sunni, Suffi, Shi'a) matter also varies; while in a few countries about half of Muslims felt strongly about it, Pew found that many Muslims in general "do not know or do not care" about such differences.

Just as true with American cultures and religions, rather than religious labels, more representative of common beliefs were factors such as age, level of education, economic status, and geographic region/culture. In other words, those identifying with one particular faith vary just as all people do. Getting older, learning more, relative poverty or affluence, and the influence of neighbors impact every person's view of the world both physical and spiritual.

Ironically, perhaps the commonality of these basic differences can reduce fear - the recognition that there is no large, uniformly organized, evil "group" with the power to transform the world as we know it. Understanding human individualism may be key to uniting humanity, at least in spirit.

Sholeh Patrick, J. D. is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at Sholeh@cdapress.com.