Do we want religion to divide us or unite us?
It’s up to us.
The New Mindscape #12–5.
I have been to Israel a number of times. A few times, I went to Jerusalem, which is the most holy place in the world for Jews and Christians, and the third most holy place in the world for Muslims. It is a highly sacred place for three of the world’s largest religions. There is a place called the Western Wall in Jerusalem, where the Temple of the Jews — their most holy sanctuary — was destroyed 2000 years ago. The only thing that remains of the holy temple of the Jewish people is this Wall. Jewish people around the world come to this place and pray at this wall. It is the most important and holy spot in the world for the Jewish people.
Right above the wall, on the Temple Mount, there is the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third most holy site of the Muslim world, after Mecca and Medina. And if you walk for about five minutes, you will find the Via Dolorosa, the path that Jesus walked down when he was bearing the Cross. This path leads to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where the tomb of Jesus Christ is located. All of these three sacred places are only 5 to 10 minutes’ walk away from each other. All of these profoundly sacred locations for about two thirds of the world’s population are located in this one single spot. Regrettably, people are fighting for the control of this holy place. It has been extremely difficult to keep the peace between these different communities. Recently, violence has once again flared between Jews and Muslims over access to the Temple Mount. Even in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian holy spot, different parts of the sanctuary belong to different sects of Christianity, which have a hard time cooperating for the upkeep and maintenance of the holy site.
For me, it’s amazing that people are fighting over Jerusalem, because they share the same holy place. I would say they should celebrate it! They should be happy that they have a common holy land! Jerusalem should be a place that brings people of different religions together.
Everything depends on how we look at things. If people have a dualistic and exclusivist mental operating systems, it becomes easy for them to become angry, and they want to fight against each other. But if we switch our operating system, the same thing becomes a cause of celebration — something that brings different people together. Nowadays, when religious animosity and violence are once again increasing in different parts of the world, it becomes profoundly important to learn about different religions, spiritual traditions, and approaches to understanding different types of spirituality, and to appreciate what they have in common. So many people in the world only know one way of being religious. It is because of ignorance and prejudice that we find hatred and violence in the world based on religion.
Many people and movements are trying to promote inter-religious and interfaith understanding. The modern inter-faith movement started in 1893, when the first interfaith and inter-religious dialogue in the modern sense took place at the World’s Fair in Chicago, in a gathering called the World’s Parliament of Religions. For the first time, religious leaders and representatives from everywhere in the world were invited to Chicago to share their ideas with each other. This marked the birth of the Interfaith Movement — people of different religions tried to overcome their prejudices and conflicts, and to engage in a peaceful dialogue to increase their mutual understanding. The Parliament of World’s Religions was revived in 1993, and it is held in a different city in the world every few years. Typically, several thousand delegates from around the world attend, representing hundreds of religious traditions and sects. Hundreds of small-scale interfaith events are also organised around the world every year.[1]
Other than interfaith events, many scholars, authors and artists are also trying to foster understanding between religions. For example, if you look at the “religion” section of any bookshop around the world, you will find many books authored by Karen Armstrong. She’s a great author, and has written many books on religion. She was a former Catholic nun, and later tried hard to enhance the mutual understanding between people of different religions. Between Christians and Muslims, there has been a lot of prejudice and hatred. In the videoclip below, she emphasizes the compassion of the prophet Muhammad. While terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and Isis, as well as Islamophobe (anti-Muslim) groups, portray Muhammad as vengeful and bloodthirsty, Armstrong studied the life and teachings of the Prophet to emphasise that compassion was at the heart of Muhammad’s teachings. This is an example of a woman from one religious tradition reaching over to other religious traditions, trying to find the value in the other religious traditions.
Another example is the American Muslim rapper Mo Sabri. In this music video, he testifies how, as a Muslim, he believes in Jesus Christ. In the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam, it is emphasised that Jesus is a prophet of God, just as Muhammad. The rapper emphasises that as a Muslim, believing in Jesus is very important for him. He tried to break down the barriers that exist between people of different religious communities.
A final example is a very interesting interfaith dialogue between a Muslim imam, a Christian pastor and a Jewish rabbi. In this TED talk they joke about their differences and emphasise the common spirit that brings them together as members of different religions.
[1] Gilmour, Peter. “The Culture of the Parliament of the World’s Religions.” Listening 39, no. 3 (2004): 487–497.
This essay and the New Mindscape Medium series are brought to you by the University of Hong Kong’s Common Core Curriculum Course CCHU9014 Spirituality, Religion and Social Change, with the support of the Asian Religious Connections research cluster of the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
