The movie also approaches the ability of the world's religious groups to work together and achieve long-lasting peace. Surprisingly, when asked about whether things could improve in the world, most people responded negatively. Several expressed pessimism about the future of peace and happiness in the world, saying that things will only get worse.
To many people in the West, organized religion is the cause of much of the violence and social exploitation that exists today. Yet the movie The Great Mystery takes a very different approach to the issue, arguing that the organized religions and congregations of the world can actually work together to eradicate most of the ills that exist around us today.
The Great Mystery begins with the sentence "There will be no more war when all religions work together." It follows producer and director Catherine Corona as she takes a road-trip to explore the idea of the "Great Mystery" – the concept of a Supreme Being in many of the world's different religious traditions. She has two main themes going into the movie: the common spiritual experience of the world's many religious denominations, and their ability to work together to achieve peace on Earth.
She visits a Catholic church, one of the first female rabbis in the world, a Shia mosque, the Staff Keeper of the Lakota Nation, a Hindu temple, and a Tibetan Lama in order to gain a better understanding of the spiritual aspect of these groups. She speaks with congregants, members of the clergy (including Islamic Insights contributor Dr. Liyakat Takim), youth, and adults in order to get a better understanding of their spiritual experiences and their outlooks on the world's future.
Overwhelmingly, the spiritual elements in all these schools of thought are very similar. As a Hindu elder put it, we all worship the same God, whether you want to called him God or Yahweh or Allah or Vishnu. The rituals and traditions of each religion share surprising similarities as well.
The movie also approaches the ability of the world's religious groups to work together and achieve long-lasting peace. Surprisingly, when asked about whether things could improve in the world, most people responded negatively. Several expressed pessimism about the future of peace and happiness in the world, saying that things will only get worse. Yet there was some optimism as well, most noticeably from a teenage Muslim girl, who suggested that if people were to follow the teachings of their respective religions, things could improve significantly in the world.
Although the movie's treatment of the issue of exactly how to achieve world peace was somewhat shallow and cliché, it is still a noble effort in acquainting people with the similarities among the world's different religions and poses commendable hope in their ability to work together to produce everlasting peace. Overall, it does a great job of promoting interfaith tolerance and coexistence, as well as launching a plea for interreligious cooperation in order to solve the world's many problems today.
The movie can be ordered from the website http://www.greatmysterymovie.com
