Question

write your thoughts on interfaith harmony and what steps can be taken to develop it

Please answer

Answer 1

Martin Luther king, Jr, once said, I have decided to live with love. Hate is too great a Burden to bear. Love should be the only way to move forward and especially when it comes to interfaith harmony within an environment of Religious Pluralism. Harmony is about co-existence that means live and let live. It is a way forward towards tranquility and perhaps success, both urgently required in a world of growing political and economic dissonance. Inter-faith harmony is a plausible condition, suggesting peaceful co-existence among practitioners of various religious beliefs, aimed at eliminating the possibility of discord, violent or non-violent. Such a condition calls for a global level of understanding that all religions are mutually acceptable in terms of their basic tenets as well as manifestations in human behaviour along with all ramifications of traditions and their progression to the contemporary life. Despite all pretensions, the civilisational development might still be some distance from that level of understanding. Consequently, Inter-faith harmony, in strict sense of the word, continues to elude us as an achievable idea in the real world of 6 billion people under the available parameters of human thinking. However, this could change, given the will to show respect and consideration for one another. Growing awareness of the idea of interfaith harmony and the urge for its realisation is valuable. The intensity of this awareness might have been highlighted late because of the unprecedented perplexities, crystallising exponentially in the wake of efforts to impose a New World Order, essentially on the economic trajectory.

Unfortunately, Religion has emerged as a major source of conflict across the globe. Ideological strife has now given place to the “clash of civilizations” and it is felt that in the foreseeable future, religion will be a major source of conflict within and among nations. The possibilities of conflict are greater in countries where different cultures and religions meet. However, such clashes can be prevented if appropriate strategies are formulated and implemented at an early stage so as to ensure religious harmony.

We live in interesting times. To respond to a mad act with an equally insane measure is progressively becoming an acceptable fashion across the globe. Interfaith dialogue can help combat evil forces and rein in fundamentalist elements among various religious communities. In addition, it is the only natural method of relating to people of other faiths and understanding their thinking patterns.

All the religious communities should reaffirm their faith in the values of pluralism and actively participate in undertaking trust-building efforts. Interfaith harmony must be built on the foundations and concerns that all religions have things in common. The sad fact remains that all religions of the world intending to spread the message of compassion and tolerance are invariably used by a bigoted minority with vested interests to fan inter-civilisational discord and tensions. In the post-9/11 era, this pernicious trend has gained enormous proportions as in certain cases mighty political governments are also adopting this policy. We claim to live in a well-informed world today but, in fact, we are fed a distorted view by sensationalist media of how alien other religions and ways of life are.