I've been trying to think of religious topics to write about that won't upset too many people, none at all if possible. So, I started thinking. What can I write about and what experiences can I share with an audience to help foster understanding and respect between peoples?
One of my main interests when it comes to the world's religions is to look at the similarities instead of the differences. So, I've decided that I will be focusing on just that - our similarities.
What kind of similarities? Many believe that the world was created by a Higher Power or Creating Force. Most have a basic system of laws like those against murder and theft. Many religions hold that there are clean / good and unclean / bad / forbidden foods. Prayer, meditation and becoming a better person are encouraged by all religions I know of.
It is similarities like the ones above that I want to write about and focus on. I want to look at the basics that connect people of all religions - the things we all have in common and the things that matter to all of us. Because we need to foster a better understanding of our fellow humans if we want to leave future generations a beautiful planet instead of a nuclear wasteland or worse.
I believe that it is essential in this day and age that thinking humans get together and realise that war isn't the answer - peace is. There is a difference between those who fight for war and those who talk for peace. I choose to be one who talks and writes for peace.
We need to stop fighting, stop making war, stop famine and curable diseases from taking hold, stop hurting and manipulating others, stop unnecessary suffering and cruelty and most importantly we need to stop thinking the way we currently do.
We need to start talking to each other. We need to start listening to each other. We need to really hear the other and understand who he or she is, what motivates them and what matters to them. We need to start up a meaningful dialogue where we first acknowledge the other as full and equal partner before we can move on to showing respect for who they are and for their ways.
We need to commit to solving our problems peacefully without violence or loss of human life. We need to learn to respect our fellow human beings and to treat strangers as if they were our closest friends. WE NEED TO CARE about our future, our planet and what kind of world we are burdening future generations with. We need to take action now, before it is too late.
Regular humans like you and me and people like us from all over the world, of all creeds and religions and shapes and sizes and colours and styles - We need to get together and really commit to making the world a better place.
We need to learn about each other, we need to learn from each other, we need to learn about what matters to other people, we need to respect others and their beliefs and opinions. Because only if we work together can we make the world a place where future generations will be able to live in peace and safety.
As an amateur scholar of the Abrahamic faiths, I am very interested in what currently happens and has happened in the past in Israel and surrounding areas. That doesn't mean that I am for or against anyone or anything, it means I am an interested onlooker. As such, my opinions range all over the board on all sorts of issues. While I aim not to push my opinions on anyone, I do hope to foster mutual understanding by focusing on what these faiths and many more faiths and religions have in common.
To that effect, I am posting a link to an article that looks at the first eleven chapters of Genesis - the account of the creation of the world and the first humans. This account is an integral part of the Tanakh and Old Testament (Christian version of the Tanakh) and is referred to in the Qur'an (Islamic holy book). It is an integral part of all three religions and features characters known by all.
Here's the link to Sparknotes' Old Testament article, I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!