I was born into a Hindu family. My two roommates from my previous college were Christian and Zoroastrian. And. What I loved about our friendship was how our religions affected our behavior with each other – it didn’t.

Let me start where I left off last week – religious coexistence.

I have given spirituality and religious philosophy quite a bit of thought. Why do we create and fight so hard to conform to a religious and cultural lifestyle? Why do some people think the primary agenda of science is to discredit religious philosophy?

I have come to perceive religion as a guideline that you use to work your way through life both physically and spiritually. And yet we are surrounded by debates that fixate on literal details, missing out on the essence of the verse.

“When you go to Buddha’s tomb, you will find his dead body. That’s because he is mortal and he never resurrected,” said a priest during a sermon I attended not too long ago. He went on to insist that this implied that Buddhism was inferior to his religion.

Enlightened, I struck Buddhism off my list of legitimate religions. On a more serious note, quarreling over religious superiority is petty.

When I found out that the SGA set goals for an interfaith prayer center on campus, I was partially in disbelief. I had almost given up hope when it came to finding a strong culture of religious coexistence.

I have dreamt of a prayer hall with pristine white walls devoid of any religious symbolism – a place where people would care not about whom the neighbor was praying to, but on their conversations with God instead, or simply on meditating.

I am excited to see how this venture could unfold. My fingers are crossed for the growth of a culture that celebrates every religion and the common essence they stand for.