It is indeed a shame to associate conflicts with religion. Does Christianity summon Christian extremists to bomb abortion clinics in the West? Does Islam summon Muslims in Palestine to kill Israelis and themselves in suicidal attacks? Does Hinduism preach kidnap and kill those who are against Hinduism? To most Indians and I am sure Pakistanis as well as also to most people of other religion will more than agree that such practices are wrong and must be condemned. Religions do not contain inherent conflict-genes, making unsolvable conflicts an inevitable outcome of their co-existence. Conflicts involving religion are always the result of misperceptions in our minds.
In mid-nineties Samuel P. Huntington became widely known for his fright-provoking prediction of a future worldwide clash of civilizations. This new dilemma would amount to nothing less than a re-making of the world order. The Cold War logic of states uniting with either of two ideologically opposed superpowers would be replaced by a pattern of unity determined by the dominating religions. A possible outcome of this separation of the world society would be a world order derived from and determined by religious...