Religion has become a very significant force all around the world. Religion on the planet is present in the form of plurality, that means more than one religion are followed by different group of people. There are those who embrace Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and Christianity and then there are those who don’t embrace any kind of religion at all. According to Nigel and Linda (2009) “Reasons for coercive legislation drawn from some particular religion will seldom if ever satisfy the condition for justified coercion”. There are many people belonging to different religions residing in a particular society.
Some of the world’s major religious systems include; Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism. Every single religious system deals with distinctive historical, phenomenological and comparative perspectives. Their beliefs and practices are different but still sometimes a few similarities are clearly visible. But there are a few major religious systems that are apparently linked to each other due to their historical beginnings and development. It is important to understand the various dimensions of these religious systems like; their rituals and practices, history, geographical influences and ethical beliefs in order to make a sense of why people belonging to different religious backgrounds are unable to get along with each other.
People belonging to different religions follow different belief systems their differences sometimes appear to be beautiful and it is quite surprising to see that people belonging to different religions are able to embrace each other differences in fact they don’t let their differences bother their relationship with each other in any way. But sometimes these differences create a very unfriendly and evil atmosphere among people as well. They tend to dislike each other and disagree on the basis of their belief systems. It is human nature that one feels save and warm around people who share similar religious values. But one forgets that there are certain similarities that are part of various religions. For instance, Islam, Judaism and Christianity all three of them are different religions but they share same ideology that there is only one God. Although these similarities are easy to understand and recognize but still due to other differences people belonging to these religions don’t normally get along with each other.
There are many different religions that people follow on this planet and all of them carry certain philosophical, theological and social issues that make it impossible for different religions to get along with each other. Although the core may appear to be the same but in reality every religion is distinct from each other. Some of these religions want to get along but not all of them are able to do so. For example, historically there has always been a rift between Muslims and Hindus on the basis of their religious beliefs. Muslims believe in only one God and Hindus have several Gods which they worship. While observing different religions on earth you may find some of them quite confusing but it all depends on a single or group of individuals how they perceive their religion. As Nigel and Linda (2009) quote in their book:
The religion of one’s inner life can be of whatever intensity and whichever particularity one wishes; no harm there. It is when religion leaves the sanctuary of the inner life and tries to shape institutions in accord with its convictions, particularly the state, but also schools and ecclesiastical institutions that it functions coercively. (p.23)
Religion can be positive or negative as it wishes, it mainly depends on how a single individual or a group of people belonging to a particular religion look upon an individual or a group of people who belong to another religion. Apart from that religious scholars and concerned authorities are the ones who influence relationship with other religions in a positive or negative manner. But in certain cases, there are religions that become pluralist and hence they no longer remain exclusive for one group of individual but at the same time there are situations where religions can be extremely exclusive and secluded to a particular group of people. Any religion that does not post equal individual rights no longer remain exclusive and hence it becomes more likely that a society is hit by negative turmoil and violence with regards to religion.
For example; there are a few conflicts with regards to Christianity and Judaism and as long as these conflicts are highlighted both religions cannot reach to a peaceful solution. The only way to get along in terms of religion would be to pursue a universal religion, a religion which is free of any boundaries or formalities but unfortunately it is hard to determine such religion because the whole planet is comprised of different people who belong to different religious systems and their religious views are distinctive in nature and due to differences in rituals and beliefs it is hard to achieve unity because Buddhists can’t start worshipping only one God and Muslims would never worship more than one God.
One major reason why we don’t get along in terms of religion is that humans have reached a crisis situation because of their different and exclusive religious views. Everyone believes that their religion is the most superior and they strongly disregard others religious views. For instance, Judaism believes in obeying system of divine laws but certain Muslim scholars consider Judaism as a very lifeless and rigid religion. Christian’s belief is that God sent Jesus who penetrated and reformed Jews code of laws but instead of acknowledging Christians and their prophet, Jews strongly condemn their new reforms and hence, since then several controversies have emerged in between Jews and Christians. Similarly, Muslims believe in Allah and they regards Muhammad as their last prophet and at the same time they consider Jesus as their prophet whereas Christians believe that Jesus is son of God and there are controversies regarding their religious views.
These controversies have lead to unpleasant exchange of views among people belonging to different religions and every group tries to emphasize on their divine message and strongly condemn others religious beliefs. It would take a long time to heal the gaps that have been created due to split between spiritual views and beliefs among people belonging to different religions. It is almost impossible to imagine a world that remains at peace with regards to different religious views. Although they all may end up accepting each other’s views and values but at the end of the day they remain distinctive from each other and they cannot be mixed together in order to achieve globalization.
Every single religion is unique in its own way but they all comprise of hierarchy and community. They all have certain traditional values and customs that their believers follow. Whether it is the religion of Islam, Catholicism, Hinduism or any other religion they all follow specific customs and traditions because without proper support from the community a religion cannot function properly. According to Jame (1999);
The removal of hierarchy and community, traditions and customs of any earthly intermediaries between the individual and God – strips away, at least for the most important purposes, any local, parochial, cultural, or national characteristics of believer. In principle, grace faith and salvation can be received by anyone in the world;
Human beings belonging to different religious backgrounds when interact with each other
they reflect their religious values, customs and traditions. They are the ones who make or break their religion’s image in front of other people and individuals. They have the ability to describe the functioning of their religion through their actions. Moreover, a particular religion may affect individuals differently depending upon their geographical location, cultural background as well as individual behavior. In the present world, it is the case of religious extremists who are not willing to even accept other religions surviving in the same society.
Hence, it can be said that there are lot of different factors that influence present religions of this planet this is the reason why it becomes a bit challenging to get along with each other on the basis of religion. Though it is possible to get along in situations where different religious systems are able to absorb each other’s differences and they respect their values and customs but where conflicts arise and disagreements settle in then it becomes difficult to absorb each other fully.
REFERENCE LIST
Jame Kurth. (May 1999). Religion and globalization: The templeton lecture on religion and world affair. FPRI Wire, vol.7 (7). Retrieved from
http://people.umass.edu/~beemer/pdffiles/FPRI.pdf
Nigel Biggar & Linda Hogan. (2009). Religious voices in public places (pp.1-27). New York: Oxford University Press
Andrea Bistrich. Discovering the common ground of world religions. An interview with Karen Armstrong. Retrieved from
http://www.unaoc.org/repository/armstrong_interview.pdf
