Chapter Fourteen

Peace in a Plural Society there is only one way to solve the issue of religious differences, and that is: ‘Follow one, and respect all.’ Cultural Differences The issue of cultural differences is also one that needs to be considered. Social groups are characterized by cultural differences. Some people regard these differences as the root of all conflicts. They argue that to end conflict, these differences in the name of culture should be completely wiped out and a society characterized by cultural unity should be established. This proposal, too, is impractical. Culture cannot be made or destroyed by individuals at will in this way. A culture always emerges from a long historical process. It cannot be invented by someone sitting in an office and preparing a ‘cultural plan’. In the wake of the Second World War, numerous ideologues emerged in different parts of the world. They began calling for the establishment of a monocultural society in order to promote national unity. This monocultural approach was promoted, for instance, in Canada, but it proved impractical and was soon abandoned. Canada has now officially adopted multiculturalism as its policy and has dropped monoculturalism for good. The same happened in the USA as well. After the Second World War, a movement to promote what was called ‘Americanisation’ emerged, which sought to impose a single culture on all Americans. But it failed, because people realised it was impractical. And so, it was abandoned, and now in America, too, multiculturalism is the recognised policy. The fact is that cultural differences are not a matter of differences only between two communities. Such differences can also be found among, and between, different sub-groups in every community. That is why it is not necessary to make changes in religious teachings in order to promote unity and harmony between different religions. For this purpose, the only thing