This document discusses how religion can contribute to social harmony and peace among multi-ethnic communities. It begins by defining key terms like religion, social harmony, and peacebuilding. It then outlines the world's most prevalent religions and their populations. The main body examines teachings around peace from Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism. It argues that religious beliefs can support peacebuilding by addressing profound human issues and promoting values of empathy, forgiveness, and social justice. The conclusion states that most religions teach peace and following religious thoughts can enhance peace and harmony in the world.

1. [Date]
Religious Contribution for peace building
SM.Sajir
Faculty of management and commerce
South eastern university of Srilanka

2. Introduction
This introduction provides an overview of “How religion can contribute to enhance the
social harmony and the peace among the multi ethnic community?”
This title divide into three sections,
The first section addresses the origins and meanings of the terms 'religion', 'social
harmony’ and ‘peace’. It also explain about various religion and world population in each
community.
The second section explain about World’s Most Prevalent Religious Teachings about
peace.
The third section addresses Religious beliefs as intangible components supporting
peacebuilding processes.
Section 01.
Religion
A specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreedupon by a number of per
sons or sects.
World’s Most Prevalent Religious population
Christianity 2.1 billion
Islam 1.6 billion
Hinduism 1.1 billion
Buddhism 376 million
Social harmony
Social harmony is an ideal state in which the values of a group align with the collective
output of the group's thoughts, actions and beliefs. Social harmony is generally associated
with utopia, a society in which there is no violence or aggressive competition.
Peace Building
Peace a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, especially in personal relations.
Peacebuilding is an intervention that is designed to prevent the start or resumption of violent
conflict by creating a sustainable peace. Peacebuilding activities address the root causes or
potential causes of violence, create a societal expectation for peaceful conflict resolution and
stabilize society politically and socioeconomically.

3. Section 02.
World’s Most Prevalent Religious Teachings about Peace
Christianity
According to Christianity, reconciliation is an act of God and was initiated by Him through the
death of Jesus Christ. God is reconciling the world to Himself. All Christians are children of
God. God has written the law in their hearts and they are commanded to love God and their
fellow humans. Where disputes arise, the offended is commanded to take initiatives to reach
out to the offender and sort out the differences.26 If no agreement is reached, the next step
is to involve a third party, and if this does not work, seek support from the whole community.
Christians are not to keep anger for the entire day; instead, they should seek reconciliation.
The offended party is therefore commanded to forgive an indefinite number of times.
Christians should love God and their neighbour as God loved them by saving them through
Jesus Christ.
Islam
Islam connotes the attainment of peace through submission to Allah or through conformity of
his Will. Perhaps one of the most important observations to make is that God or Allah in
Islam is often referred to as Merciful. He is also compassionate. The Quran teaches order,
orderliness, morality and human betterment. This can be achieved through the guidance of
God the Most Merciful and Compassionate who has the power to lead men into the straight
path. The power for people to reconcile comes from God and can thus be achieved. Muslims
should keep and promote peace and justice with all, including enemy, keep the greeting
peace be unto you, and exercise tolerance.
Hinduism
Hinduism followers constantly reflect inward and make a commitment to achieve subjugation
of desire, renunciation of petty desires and personal motives, upholding of practical interests,
tranquillity, self-control, patience, peace of mind, and movement towards liberation from the
concerns of this world. Hinduism teaches its followers to practice truth seeking, and upholds
moral purification as a constant practice in renewing ones conduct and behaviour.
Reconciliation starts with individuals who analyse themselves, reach out to others, and then
build a community or society in which they can live harmoniously.

4. Buddhism
Buddhism exhorts followers to seek enlightenment. Enlightenment is found through
exercising right view, right aspiration, right speech, right conduct, right endeavour, right
sound-fullness, and right contemplation. This calls upon a person’s decisions to emanate
from informed judgment and deep reflection. Extremism is discouraged in Buddhism;
instead, Buddhists strive to find the middle way in conflict resolution. As part of moral living,
Buddhists are prohibited from taking life, from what is not given, from misconduct, from false
speech and from intoxicants that lead to clouding the mind. They are exhorted to maintain
good relations, behaviour and conduct within the community.
Judaism
Judaism emphasises a covenant relationship between God and His Chosen people.
Pertaining to relations between people, Judaism emphasises justice, love, kindness and a
humble walk with your God. Living harmoniously with God requires harmonious relations
with fellow humans. Furthermore, every member of the faith should be responsible for the
moral conduct of those neighbours one is able to influence. The words of Hillel summarise
the profound teaching about relationships between man and man: What is hateful unto you
do not do unto your neighbour. The rest is commentary, now go and study. Reconciliation
can be taken to mean: taking responsibility for harmonious living with God and neighbours.
Section 03.
Religious Beliefs as Intangible Components Supporting Peacebuilding
Processes
Peace in the main religious teachings
Religion is a powerful constituent of cultural norms and values. Because it addresses the
most profound existential issues of human life (e.g., freedom and inevitability, fear and faith,
security and insecurity, right and wrong, and sacred and profane), religion is deeply
implicated in individual and social conceptions of peace. Religion has also developed "laws
and ideas that have provided civilization with cultural commitments to critical peace-related
values, including empathy, an openness to and even love for strangers, the suppression of
unbridled ego and acquisitiveness, human rights, unilateral gestures of forgiveness and
humility, interpersonal repentance and the acceptance of responsibility for past errors as a
means of reconciliation, and the drive for social justice.
The teachings and practices of major world religions reveal spiritual and moral formulations
that support peace, social justice, reconciliation, and harmony within and between humanity
and divinity. Theologically, for instance, all three of the Abrahamic faiths set store in mercy
and forgiveness, qualities that are indispensable in seeking resolution to long-standing and
deeply entrenched conflicts. For all their differences, there is much that people of faith have
in common, not the least of which, of course, is spirituality itself. Therefore, one can argue
that "the recognition of a shared concern to develop 'honest, loving, and holistic relationships
with God and neighbour' can form the basis for the rebuilding of constructive relationships
destroyed by violence. On this basis, religious actors and faith-based NGOs advocate
nonviolence and train others in the methodologies of nonviolence or promote reconciliation
because of their religiously based pacifist conviction.

5. These philosophical and theological bases can best be captured if one is acquainted
with the scriptures and teachings of the major world religions. Theologians and
scholars from different religions have elaborated the understanding of peace
according to their religion and identified values and principles that constitute a
peacebuilding framework that may guide scholars and practitioners who are
interested in promoting such concepts in a contextualized manner, taking into
account local communities’ frames of reference. Indeed, some analysts have
stressed the fact that relying on these values may be more appealing to local
communities than supposedly universal sets of guidelines that may seem at odds
with their own vocabularies…
Section 04.
Conclusion
Religion is the way of people life, mostly human being activities based on their religion, and
religion is the main part of their life, religious activities can be various but mostly all religion
based on the peace. Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and all other religion teach
peace. Those religious main part is peace. We can definitely enhance peace and social
harmony through following religion, if one person follow a religious thoughts he will be a
peace full person in the world.

6. References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_religious_populations
http://www.peacebuildinginitiative.org/index9aa2.html?pageId=1827#religious-beliefs-as-
intangible-components-supporting-peacebuilding-processes
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/harmony
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/religion