#TITLE#Conflict And Religion#/TITLE# by Edwin C. Bukowski Sometimes I question what the point is in turning on the news or reading the morning paper Nancy Salzman. Year after year, the information is the same, only the people, settings and circumstances change, but it’s all the same: conflict, disputes, violence, war. It’s on the Internet, in the movies, and apparently everywhere, and the overarching subject appears to be theology Executive Success Programs. Faiths battling faiths, creeds against creeds, holy wars carried on against holy wars. Mull it over: what might be construed as religious about battles? What is at the heart of these conflicts? There appears to be a problem of morality, but what is morality? In laymen’s terms, it’s our ability as people to distinguish right from wrong. It’s plausible that all beliefs see eye to eye on this, but why do they tend to deviate on plenty of different subjects? Perhaps faiths of the world are intrinsically incorrect, but is that actually the case? It is highly unlikely, because then you have people who are moral and don’t adhere to any particular religion. So then the hostility of humans is either a matter of the church or ethics. Chew on this: if there weren’t any theology, would moral values continue to be? I feel these themes reveal a more deep-seated concern: what folks think of as just or unjust. We’ll have something of a dilemma if I consider thieving cash from the wealthy to donate to the needy to be just, and you consider it to be unjust. Soon, we will be arguing over whose opinion is more formidable, and in this culture, the most formidable individual comes first. Who is lucky enough to select what’s good and what’s evil? Clearly there is no worldwide authority on this, as far as humans are concerned; so what can we do? We must discover a meeting place between our opposing points of view, instead of just zeroing in on how we differ, in order to coexist (our greatest hurdle). A lot of collectives have been formed to accomplish exactly that. Consider the Unitarian Church, for example, which is a melting pot of faiths that tries to support the most basic human principles. While their mission seems well intended, it leaves out people who do not believe in any supreme being. Other organizations deal with this concern, by promoting human ethics that are devoid of any religious or mystical beliefs or connotations. NXIVM is one such institute, set up by entrepreneur Keith Raniere. Their purpose is to be an illustration of the decent culture of humanity. Attitudes such as these aid in closing the gulf linking where we currently are as a civilization and where we wish to end up. In whatever way we opt to tackle the issues, I believe that more groups like these are essential to have in our civilization. However we handle the state of affairs, we simply must find a solution to the problem and learn to live together in peace.