The notion, enjoy your life with out comparing it with one of another seems motivating and a fundamental element of self discipline is obvious in those who adopt it practically. However, has anybody ever imagined humanity belonging to the same religion? Whether yes or no, the world would seem Spartan in the way of life if not dire straights most especially when everybody is an expert at the system; belief, ceremonies and duties to be followed. I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge, that myth is more potent than history. However, this can’t hinder my imaginative feeling of how the world would be if this big place, called world belonged to the same religion. Religion has been defined as any specific belief about holy being, often involving rituals, a code of ethics and a philosophy of life. From the earliest known evidence of human religion by Homo sapiens to the present say, religion continues to be a very influential aspect of human lives. Much as no one knows the original truth of which religion is right, many others have continued to crop up, which include, Christianity, Islam, Baha’i, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, Taoism, Shinto, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Sikhism name it. This keeps me wondering, are there as many gods as religions are? The truth is that although there are countless religions, each different from the other, they all serve the same purpose and answers humanity questions like, why are we here? What happens when we die? How shall I live my life? In the world of humanity with diverse beliefs, there seems a lot that need to be fulfilled as far as religions are concerned. With this in mind, religious dialogues are in most cases organized for people to share ideas on the divinity of their different religious beliefs, the results realized not only help the sects but also to the development of other aspects of life such as social and economic set up of societies. Would we have total peace, a similar understanding of life’s issues and harmony if we all looked up to one religion? The obvious answer is yes. We would have peace. However, there are many things that interpret religious texts and how religion should be. For example, Pentecostals believe quite different things from the Catholics, yet they are of the same religion. We have less observant Christians and more observant Christians. For example, the secular Jews are worried about the way Israel is turning into a religious state and the religious people are imposing their ways and views upon the others, they are even being exempted from the army service unlike the secular Jews. So, there would not be peace as there would be conflict between the less and more observant religious people. People don’t fight over religion only; they also fight over land, water rights and everything. People are selfish naturally and religion wouldn’t rule out gang mentality. This means that peace wouldn’t stand a chance still. In the same light, we have witnessed people of the same religion committing terrorist crimes against each other. An example can be derived from the Taliban who pay their allegiance to bomb countries whether they are Muslim states or not. The world will never be at complete peace. Being kept under the same umbrella of religion doesn’t change the fact that we have our own individual thoughts and desires. Some people’s thoughts and desires include some nasty and pretty disgusting things regardless of what their religion is. In the same sense, this implies that having the whole world belong to the same religion can never be a point of choice because right from the beginning of things, God created human beings with a moral will and freedom of choice. It is impossible for close friends, lovers, husbands and wife even twins to have the same thinking capacity and belong to the same thinking basket. We are naturally divided and a mere union of beliefs would hardly rule over natural forces of sex differences, colour differences, economic differences, size, ethnicity, geographical locations, to mention but a few. More so, common understanding,beliefs and background would leave the world in the stagnant position because what would be the essence of meditation for development, truth and history when everything is right? It is sad that no manner of common religion can evaporate natural disasters like floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. So people could join one religion but still be killed in a flood. Which faith would it be by the way? Not even one of our current religions is perfect in it self; I mean no deception, no segregations, no power struggles, no financial unfaithfulness, no fornications amongst its youths and no adultery, it doesn’t exist. Nevertheless, even if it was a new perfect religion and every one on earth agreed with it. Peace culminating from its amalgamation wouldn’t last awhile cause with in no time, different generations and classes of people would have diverse views about the faith thus making it no change for the best. So many people would thus become hypocrites thereby invoking divisions and human unrest. In the same direction, I talked to one pastor and this is what he had to say. “Even if it was a true and perfect religion and all the people bow and worship the God in question, it would be so boring. Have you ever thought about living with out differences, challenges and comparisons without the good and the bad classes of people? A world where there is no one doing wrong and right cause unless some one does some thing and does it right, no one does it wrong. That’s how neutralized the world would be”. I cannot deny the fact that a common religion for the world would be a solution to many problems we are facing to some extent. This is because religion teaches love, kindness and giving. This would improve the standards of the common man and it would teach peace and togetherness, respect for parents and hard work. May be it would make the globe a better place to live in. A sheikh added that it would truly be the place to be, only if every one was Islam, because it is the accepted religion. Any way, whatever belief it could be, peace would be paramount. Therefore, it is true that one common belief would improve the peace and well being of the world’s citizens. However, it would fail to address the biggest disasters that the human race is facing currently such as terrorism, hunger, floods, racism and many others. How do you imagine a world in the same religion bracket? Contact: faimimmy@yahoo.com
