What Jesus saw that most of His followers don't

I was watching America's Got Talent the other night and was captivated by the story of a stuttering ex-marine who had obtained his speech impediment as the result of a brain injury he received in combat.  His story was inspiring as he was able to belt out a crisp clear singing voice with no stutter what so ever.  But the part of his story that really caught me was how he described being in war and upon being injured, he immediately began to think of his future dreams and worry about ever seeing his family again.  For some reason his story touched me differently than past stories and I was immediately saddened by the fact that all over the world there are people who have family and dreams that are shattered simply because two groups of people decide to go to war against each other.  Now, don't get me wrong, I understand that sometimes war is necessary, especially to defend against tyrants.  But what saddened me was that when we boil it down to the basics, we can have two groups of people with dreams and aspirations for their already short existences on this Earth cut short simply because we fight each other.  Two humans with similar hopes and dreams having to miss out on those hopes and dreams just because of a fight.  

It was sad that all we as a race would have to do is leave each other alone and so many more people could try to live out the aspirations of their lives.  I guess the question really comes down to, "Why do we fight?"  

I know there are a number of factors but it occurred to me that ultimately even though the causes of every war may vary, the reason is always the same.  That reason being that we as people place more value in our beliefs than we do in other people.  This habit is the same habit that will cause a spat between friends or drive two nations to war.  Sadly, growing up in a church setting, I've witnessed and even participated, in treating people vastly different based simply on whether or not we thought the same way.  If someone acts, thinks, believes, or lives differently than us we seem to have this pre-programing to shun them away.  

That's one of the things that made Jesus so different than almost all other people.  Jesus had this ability to treat people with love no matter who they were or what they believed.  If we study His teachings, it's pretty clear that Jesus had some pretty strong opinions about things, but if people didn't like or agree with what He taught, He still treated them the same.  It's as if Jesus recognized that opinions and beliefs are one thing, but people are something entirely different.  People are in the image of God and their value as such surpasses opinions.  When human beings fly airplanes into buildings its because they value the lives of the people in those buildings and on those planes less than their personal beliefs.  When we treat people differently or avoid people because of our religious beliefs we are essentially stating that they as humans are less important to us than our beliefs.  Perhaps someday we will learn not to feel so threatened by others who think and believe differently.  Perhaps someday we will suppress our pride and learn that our value as God's children surpasses belief.