PEACE IN DIFFERENT RELIGIONS

PEACE IN DIFFERENT RELIGIONS P EACE being the greatest concern of man, all religions attach importance to it. Indeed, peace is the essence of all religions, the reason being that the objectives of religion can never be fulfilled without peace. The aims of every religion, in principle, are man’s spiritual development and the transformation of each individual into a noble personality. This kind of instruction and enlightenment and training can never be imparted without a peaceful atmosphere. Peace in Judaism The history of Judaism goes back more than three thousand years. According to Jewish traditions, when the Israelites left Egypt and reached the Sinai desert, God gave them the fundamental ten commandments that were to govern their social existence. One of these was: You shall not kill. (Exodus, 20:13) This biblical commandment forbids all kinds of violence, whether individual or social, whether directed against one’s own community or against another. It was revealed to Moses directly from God. According to Jewish tradition this injunction is in the nature of an absolute command. There is another injunction of the Torah worth quoting in this connection. It embodies such moral teaching as is common to all religions, although differently expressed. The wording of the Torah is as follows: What is hateful (or hurtful) to you, do not do to any other man. In the context of peace, this teaching is very basic. Obviously, we shall not find anyone in this world who would like to be the victim of violence. Violence is abhorrent to everyone. This being the reality, it is essential that man should also abhor the perpetration of violence on others. In no circumstances should he indulge in violent activities against others. Undoubtedly this injunction is general in its application. It is addressed not only to individuals but also to the community as a whole. Just as a standard is set for individual behaviour, similarly a standard is set for social behaviour. Referring to this verse of the Torah, a Jewish scholar, has rightly observed: