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Commonalities of Life
The first aspect encountered when studying any religion is that there are tenets - core beliefs - upon which the system is based. Following on these tenets are the main rules of that religion, and all seem to reflect some basic ideas about how adherents should live. This applies to the "mainstream" religions, and to those lesser known.
For Wiccans, and many Pagans, it is "Harm None". Taking a look at the Abrahamic sects (Christianity, Judaism, Islam), the Ten Commandments set out those ideas of respecting others - restrictions on stealing, killing and so forth. Buddhists have proscriptions against lying, stealing and killing, as well.
What all this comes down to, whether or not people like to admit it, is that to profess belief in a given religion means living in a respectful manner toward the self and others. It's not all about honoring a set deity, attending services on a certain day of the week, or wearing specific clothes. It's about interacting with the rest of humanity in such a way that each being is valued, all can express their talents and thoughts freely, and the mutual benefits of faith are shared by all.
It is truly sad such an ideal world - written of by many philosophers and dreamers over the centuries - has not come to pass. This is very possibly due to the fact that the core rules of these religions have been skewed over time, and taken on different meanings. Practices created within the framework of religion have altered the viewpoint of the believers, sometimes pitting brother against brother in a battle of "right" versus "wrong".
The situation in the Middle East is a prime example. The Islamic religion is an honorable one, but somewhere, the idea of jihad got twisted around to be seen as a "holy war" waged against one's neighbors. It is, instead, the internal process by which an individual is transformed into a better human being. Still, the call from various leaders for their followers to kill those who do not share their beliefs continues, in Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
For Christians, the words of Jesus have been twisted to make it seem that those who do not find "salvation" according to their rules will end up being eternally punished. Yet, Jesus himself broke with tradition by interacting with Samaritans, Romans and others who were deemed "unworthy" by the Jews. He condemned no one, but those who profess to follow his lead consistently deny the value of other faith systems, and snub their practitioners, or try to "save" them.
Sadder, still, how Christians - Muslims, Pagans and Buddhists - treat those who hold the same core beliefs but may practice according to a different tradition (i.e. Presbyterian, Lutheran or Catholic; Wiccan, Druid or Strega; Tibetan, Indian or Chinese) at arm's length.
It's all about daily life, when push comes to shove. That's what faith is. A person may see himself as a member of a given religious body, and follow all their rules, but if that individual does not nurture his own personal faith, there is no life to the practices. If a person does not grow and change in faith, ever working toward the ultimate goal - whatever that happens to be - then those practices become hollow and one's life stagnant.
Every day when one awakens, there are myriad opportunities to put faith into the ordinary routine. No one passes through a day without encountering others. Just wearing a smile can work wonders, and can be quite infectious. There are no prerequisites to treating others with courtesy and respect. It's not like a police line-up, where it's necessary to identify a stranger's religious affiliation before deciding how to treat him.
Each human being is worthy of respect, regardless of lifestyle, beliefs or appearance.
What does it matter, for instance, whether a person is straight or homosexual? Does it really matter how he or she will do a job in the workplace? Does the color of a person's skin matter? Is their style of prayer or ritual all that important, when the cards are on the table?
It's got nothing to do with the "majority" being right and all others wrong. If a tally were taken - in America, anyway - the minority religions added together would outnumber those claiming to be the majority, just as those of minority ethnicity would outnumber the caucasians, if totals were taken.
Every human being eats, sleeps, and functions in the same basic ways. The uniqueness between them, however, is what makes life interesting. Instead of one religion or tradition pitting itself against another, wouldn't it be better to see how much can be learned from the other?
There is nothing wrong, after all, with expanding one's base of knowledge. Admittedly, many religions fear this idea. They believe, if their congregations were to be exposed to the ideas of "wrong" beliefs, these people would be so weak as to be "misled" and leave the pews. Such a scenario might apply, if a person's faith wasn't that strong in the first place. But for those who truly believe in what they are doing, a little extra knowledge will only help them understand that others have equally strong, if different, beliefs.
And having different beliefs doesn't prevent people of different religions from coming together to help the homeless, or mount charitable efforts for at-risk youth, or just having a picnic and socializing. The love of books, for instance, goes far beyond religious ideals. If two people like Charles Dickens, or Stephen King, or romance novels, do their religious beliefs really matter if they sit down over a cup of hot chocolate to share their thoughts?
What is being written here may sound like the situation is untenable, and possibly hopeless. Consider, though, that decades ago, the immigrants to this country - many of them staunch Catholics - wouldn't even attend Sunday Mass in the parish of another ethnicity. The Polish prayed with other Poles, Irish did the same, so did Italians. It didn't matter the Mass itself was being said in Latin (which few understood, anyway)... There could be an Italian Catholic church a block from the Polish parish, and the lines were drawn and not crossed.
These days, the cultures interact more openly, so there may be a future for interfaith relations where those of different religious systems are respected as equals. They may not worship together, but the need for dealing with each other the other six days of the week, without the suspicion or animosity, is a more real concern.
The bottom line is, perhaps, for people to stop thinking about the differences between themselves and others, and look for the similarities - the primary one being each is human. To let go of that which stops one from accomplishing this end, whether it's fear, inadequate knowledge or the inability to see past rules made by those unfairly imposing their own viewpoint on others, is the starting point.
If this can take place in daily life, then everyone will have something in common - respect - and the differences won't matter that much.
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