Changing the World for Lasting Peace through Religious Tolerance
Happy Eid-ul-Fitr, 2023
By Benjamin Pulle Niriwa, 21.04.2023
Religion and politics are like twins. Most often I smile when people say that because of religious differences they don't want to associate with this person or that person. It is now an open secret that politics is dirty game dividing even families. Whatever biasness that might be associated with religion is normally caused by the biasness of people but not religion (Shaver et al., 2018; Noy & O’brien, 2016; Thomson, 2009). But violence on earth normally starts by first creating division amongst people!
With the little life experiences I disagree that religion and politics divide people! Religion does not divide people: politics does not divide people either. So, what then divide people? People divide people; but NOT religion or politics. To prove this Jesus used the “Parable of Good Samaritan” (Corpora, 2022; Lu, 2022) to let people know that those we tagged as opponents can be our saviors even more than those that we think we share something in common with. If religion really divides people, there is no way that the Samaritan’s man would have helped the helpless traveler needed help most.
Figure 1: Religion and Politics Does Not Divide People
The Good Samaritan spent the little that he had to save a supposed “enemy” (Corpora, 2022; Lu, 2022)! But it is obvious that one of the major causes of religious discrimination is because of the letter “M” (Shaver, 2018). But, though money “M” can help people enjoy life on earth and be peaceful, it is not a guarantee of happy life and peace. The source of all happiness and peace is God/Allah Almighty. Unfortunately, the drive to be wealthy sometimes makes people forget the source of endless wealth. This is what mostly introduces discrimination not only in religion, but various aspects of human’s lives.
Nothing can change the world better than how begin to think religion! Religion must be the leading solution to the world’s numerous problems. The mentality to attack others with the claim of defending our faiths is an outmoded mentality that does not fit the 21st Century’s religious world.
References
Corpora, F., J. (2022). Road to Jericho (Setting for the Good Samaritan). Faith, Retrieved on 03.01.2023 at 8:32 AM from https://faith.nd.edu/s/1210/faith/interior.aspx?sid=1210&gid=609&pgid=33100.
Lu, Y. (2022). The Good Samaritan Parable Revisited: A Survey During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Front Psychol, 13: 776986. Doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.776986.
Noy, S., & O’brien, T., L. (2016). A Nation Divided: Science, Religion, and Opinion in the United States. Relig, Sci Pub Opin, https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023116651876. PubMed.
Shaver, J., H., Lang, M., Krátký, J., Klocová, E., K., Kundt, R., & Xygalatas, D. (2018). The Boundaries of Trust: Cross-Religious and Cross-Ethnic Field Experiments in Mauritius. Evol Psychol.: Intern J Evol Approaches Psychol Behav, 16(4): 1474704918817644. PubMed.
Thomson, J. A. (2009). Who are we? Where did we come from? How Religious Identity Divides And Damns Us All. Am J Psychoanal. , 69(1): 22–42. Doi: 10.1057/ajp.2008.46. PubMed.
