I refer to the Malaysiakini article Interfaith harmony: To understand is to sacrifice with which I wholeheartedly agree.

I was shocked and saddened at the violently emotional objection to the Bar Council forum. While religion is something which touches our innermost feelings, this should not be an excuse to act in an uncivilised manner.

Surely all religions teach humility, compassion, tolerance and love, and these should lead us to act in a far different way – the way of mutual respect, of taking into account the needs and feelings of others.

I am also disappointed that so many discussions concerning inter-religious matters, including in the media, have focused exclusively on rights and on problems.

I am not denying that there are problems, but I think that with patience and sincerity, many of them could be quite easily solved, and they should not be allowed to distract us from the much greater good which religion – all religions – could bring us.

We are fortunate that in this part of the world, religion still plays a role in shaping individuals and communities which uphold ethical and moral values.

All religions share certain core values – honesty, good character, trustworthiness, humility, mercy, and so on.

Our society is facing many challenges – corruption, crime, lack of personal security, decline in moral values and erosion of family ties, and many more - which could best be overcome by promoting and applying these principles.

Why can’t we work together in this way on these bigger issues? If we adopted this approach, I feel confident that controversies and problems would be put into proper perspective and solved more easily through having a mutually respectful cooperative relationship.

I would like to congratulate the writer on his wisdom and insight, all the more so because he is from the younger generation – but then maybe it is he and his generation who will be able to see things in a new light and lead the way to a new era of understanding.