I have a vivid memory of my first visit to the D-Day beaches on the coast of France. The white tombstones at the American cemetery, the bombed-out and pitted grassy hills of the Pointe du Hoc, and the quiet waves rushing ashore at Omaha Beach created a powerful sense of patriotism and national identity for me. I have never been so proud to be an American.

The memory is important because sometimes I look at America and don’t like what I see. The bickering and negativity bring me down. I see too much wasted talent caught up in drug use, unhealthy behaviors, and idleness. In some cases, I see excess. In other cases, I see great need. More than anything … I see division: right and left, haves and have nots, and a new kind of ideological divide — open against closed.

The Economist magazine calls the debate between engaging with the world and separating from the world the new political fault line. In a house editorial, they opined that “closed-world types” are the gravest risk to the free world since communism. They said, “Nothing matters more than countering it.”

Those are strong words, but there is some sound thinking behind them. I go back to my D-Day visit. A coalition, led by the United States, defeated a global enemy and rebuilt Europe. Another coalition brought us the end of communism and enabled the power of markets to lift living standards throughout the world.

It is the unity of good people, backed by correct ideals, that enables the world to prosper. Bridges, not walls, are the key.

We face many challenges where we need unity, not discord. Chief among them are globalization and terrorism. The global economy isn’t working for all of our citizens. Many are struggling to support their families. They need training and an optimized social safety net. It will take unity to implement the right policy solutions.

Terrorism also looms large. It hits so close to home that we have a graduate of Utah’s own Lone Peak High School who felt the ground shake in the Boston Marathon bombing and was later an unfortunate victim of the Brussels airport attacks. The United States can’t fight terrorism alone. It demands a unified international approach.

Division is not only the wrong approach, it is a corrosive condition. It tears down rather than builds up. In the New Testament, all three synoptic gospels reference Jesus’ words: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Abraham Lincoln used the same words to bind our nation together during our darkest hours. While I’m not as familiar, I’m certain other faith traditions call upon the strength of unity as well.

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman made a keen observation about unity. He said this:

“America didn’t become the richest country in the world by practicing socialism, or the strongest country in the world by denigrating its governing institutions, or the most talent-filled country by soaking fear of immigrants. It got here via the motto, ‘E Pluribus Unum’ – Out of Many, One.”