Come together

I was pleased to read this article about local Jews and Muslims breaking their respective fasts together in yesterday's Missourian. I hope that this meal helped the two religions understand each other better. I am a pacifist deep down, and I realize that finding common ground is the best way to start down the road to peace. It is imperative to discover that there is no reason to hate a group of people who are simply different from yourself. If you're going to hate what is unlike you, you'd better start hating people of your own race and religion, too, because they're just as different as someone of a different race or faith. I'm much more like my Korean friend Debbie and African-American friend Camry than I am like my Caucasian friend Erica. Besides, isn't it fascinating to learn about other cultures? The rich jewels of color of India, the thick, heavy jungles of South America, the elegant, picturesque scripts of Asia are absolutely entrancing. Every culture in the world can dazzle with its own form of vibrancy and vitality. Why is it that people won't let them? Is it fear? What is there to be afraid of? Prejudice is so built into some people that they don't understand that people are people. I don't care who you are, what you look like, or what your beliefs are. Your core is the same as mine. Every religion that was discussed in my world religions class last year had respect for life at the heart of it. Granted, we didn't talk about all religions, but I think it was a pretty vast majority. If most religions have respect as a central focus, that seems to indicate to me that respect for life is a basic human trait. I guess another human trait is fear. It is up to us to decide which one we will live by. Will we follow our heart and embrace and respect those around us, even if they are unlike us on the surface, or will we follow the faulty logic passed down to us from generations of mistrust and fear? I, for one, plan to follow my heart. What will you decide?