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According to Jainācārya Siddhasena Divakara (5th Century A.D.) the divergent viewpoints, faiths may be charged as false only when they negate the truth value of others and claim themselves exclusively true. But if they accept the truth value of others also. they attain righteousness. He further says, 'Every view-point or faith in its own sphere is right but if all of them arrogate to themselves the whole truth and disregard the views of their rivals, they do not attain right-view, for all the viewpoints are right in their own respective spheres.
Similarly if they encroach upon the province of other view points and try to refute them, they are wrong". For Jainas rightness of particular faith or viewpoint depends on the acceptance of rightness of other. Siddhasena further maintains that one who advocates the view of synoptic character of truth never discriminates the different faith as right or wrong and thus, pays all of them equal regardl2. Today when fundamentalism is posing a serious threat to communal harmony and equilibrium, unity of world religions is not only essential but the only way out to protect the human race.
Jainas do believe in the unity of world religions, but unity according to them does not imply omnivorous unity in which all lose their entity and identity. They believe in that type of unity wherein all the alien faiths will conjoin each other to form an organic whole without losing their own independent existence and given equal regard. In other words they believe in a harmonious existence and work for a common goal i.e. the welfare of mankind. They only way to remove the religious conflicts and violence from the earth is to develop a tolerant outlook and to establish harmony among various religions. Now we shall discuss the causes of intolerance and devices suggested for the development of a tolerant outlook and religious harmony by the Jainas.
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