Submitted by Ilyana Ovshiyeva, Russia

Religion has always been a really controversial and complex issue in the world’s history. Religion is supposed to inspire people, help them in finding peace and harmony. If we associate religion with peace and love, then how can you explain the endless examples of religious wars the world history is rich with? Every religion teaches people to be compassionate, generous and forgiving. Religion is a salvation for lots of people, their unshakable belief in the power of good. However, the thing is that for years and years it has been used as an excuse for some atrocious, greed-motivated deeds. The paradox is that over centuries instead of uniting the people of the world religion has been dividing them. If you passionately and wholeheartedly believe in the existence of one God, you subconsciously eliminate others. However, the age of bloody long conflicts and deep misunderstandings is over. We had to pay an enormous price to come to realize the importance of such a fundamental value as tolerance. The world is rapidly and inevitably moving toward unity. Now it is a more interdependent and less controversial place. Our borders are beginning to fade away as nowadays there are no such unsolvable controversies that would tear the world apart. Realizing our dependence upon each other, admitting our numerous similarities and at the same time our uniqueness, we are ready to face a new era where just being tolerant is not enough. We have to be not only aware of our differences but also learn from them.

The other day I was watching the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Athens 2004. I imagined how many people in all parts of our huge planet were watching the same thing. I particularly enjoyed the parade of countries. It was such a special moment of celebrating the beautiful diversity of our unique and united Earth. All those different faces were glowing with pride for their country and radiating beauty and excitement. No matter where you are and which God you worship, we, the people of the world, face common challenges, share universal goals and values. We are all children of one Father, God who is Love, Faith. We all believe in the beauty of our dreams, souls and bodies, we believe in the beauty of diversity. However, it also baffled me how many places there are in the world I have never heard of and each of them has their own peculiar culture, their religion.

Facing the unknown challenges us to discover, enrich ourselves. However, for many it is quite intimidating as people tend to be apprehensive of something they don’t know. I believe that the true root of hatred is ignorance. That is where all the senseless prejudices come from. The only way to break those stereotypes and get rid of groundless fears is by gaining knowledge, interacting with those are “different”. These days it is particularly the case with Islam. Different terrorist organizations that claim to be “true Muslims” are doing nothing but putting a shadow on the real Islam. Our challenge today is to learn to distinguish genuine Muslims from those who pretend to be ones. We can only succeed in that by overcoming our initial, instinctive fears and interacting with people of different religion.

I recognize that diversity is beautiful, exciting and challenging, that it can teach us a whole lot. The remarkable thing about diversity is that it expands the boundaries of the familiar world, takes us above the old reality into a new one. Remember that time when the world was so fresh, new and unexplored? Every person had it in their childhood. However, with time people lose that sense of wonder and unknown. They usually become more passive, sedentary. I believe that the future belongs to those who are not afraid of changes and challenges, who never stop wondering, exploring and asking questions, whose inquisitive, tireless minds and unlimited energy keep them young and happy ever after. Old age comes not when your skin gets wrinkly and hair becomes grey but when you close your heart and stop learning and absorbing from the immense diversity of our planet. Communication with people of different religion helps us look at the same things from a different perspective, refreshes our views and principles, enriches our inner world.

All my life I have been living in a small Asian town in the south of Russia. I belong to a national minority called Kalmyks, the descendants of Mongols. The prevailing religion of my town is Buddhism and there is not much exposure to different cultures and religions. When Mohammed came to my class, not many students were eager to talk to him. He looked different from other students and at first he would stay as an outcast. It was not like people disliked him or didn’t want to communicate but they just didn’t know how to do it. Once in the class of Mongolian history we had a discussion about religion. The teacher asked Mohammed to tell us about his God. He would talk about the holy days of Ramadan, Muslim prayers and history. You could see those serious attentive expressions on people’s faces. Now that Mohammed is in our class he has taught us to be more accurate when talking about the Chechen crisis and the problem of terrorism. I’m grateful to him for bringing a fresh stream into our class, for opening to us the mysterious world of Islam, enriching us with it.

Two years ago I won an international contest called FLEX and had an opportunity to live in the USA for a year as an exchange student. It was a true turning point in my life. I was determined to use every single opportunity to learn more about this country. My natural curiosity made me join Maine Civil Rights Team. Maine has always been known as one of the whitest states in the USA. So what happened that year stirred a lot of controversies – the influx of Somalis. About 400 immigrants poured from the poor African country into a small town Lewiston. While some people really seemed to welcome diversity in their midst, others were complaining saying that Somalis were “taking away their jobs” and “taking advantage of their generosity”. This whole situation was going explode into a racial and religious conflict. However, it put a great a challenge on the small town and all the Civil Rights Teams across Maine. The only way to stop the growing hostility against the immigrants, to save people from dangerous preconceptions was by making them interact with Somalis. We invited guest speakers to Augusta Civic Center to give a lecture about Islam. I was surprised how many people, actually, came to listen. The dignified women wearing Arabic veils were talking about gender relations in their religion. Although I was a visitor to the United States, the whole issue bothered me a lot and I could proudly declare that we coped with that challenge.

The little America for me is all those great people that I met: my host mom, who is a believing Catholic, my Jewish friend Alexis and Paul, who is a Jehovah’s witness. Our differences did not make us distant, but they made us infinitely interesting for each other, made our communication incredibly absorbing. I am glad that it was not just me learning and absorbing but people around me as well. For many I was the first Buddhist they had ever met. I told guys about our animal calendar, the idea of one’s destiny, calmness, obedience and an ability to accept life as it is. By holding back feelings and killing desires we can, finally, reach the desired peace of mind, come to Buddhists’ cherished idea of Nirvana. I am glad I inspired one of my classmates to make his senior project on Harmony.

The most unusual and incomparable experience for me was celebrating Christmas. I had heard a lot about this holiday but never actually experienced it. You cannot fully experience American life without celebrating this treasured and beloved holiday, which means so much for American people. I really enjoyed that special, unique atmosphere of warmth, love, safety and closeness. The ritual of exchanging gifts was quite new to me and I took it with me back to Russia.

Hadn’t I come to the United States, I would have never met all those amazing people of different religions. Hadn’t I met those people I might have not become what I am now. Each of them made their priceless contribution to my personal development, which I will never forget, unveiling that sacred world of their faith and beliefs. I feel like I have wings on my back now. I have learnt to fly. Now there are no such things and places called unachievable for me.

People believe that knowledge is power. I would say that knowledge is freedom. It is awesome that the world is so immense and diverse, that there is yet so much to discover for each of us, there are so many mysteries that tempt and challenge us. Every person’s vocation is to absorb and share as life is about exchanging. That is why just being tolerant is equal to passive acceptance, static spectatorship. Only when we open our hearts, willing to continuously enrich and expand our worlds, when we realize that life is a constant self-improvement, shall we learn to appreciate the true beauty and unique colors of our inscrutable planet. Diversity endows us with that true, ultimate freedom we have been searching for – that is, harmony, fearlessness, the sense of peace, safety and belonging to a united human family, our powerful desires to be better, smarter and deeper.