It is impossible for religions to coexist. Here’s the simple reason why: no religion is ever created with another religion in mind.

For example, the Bible was not written in hopes of accommodating Roman myths and legends. Catholicism was certainly not established with Islam in mind. The Protestant Reformation was specifically engineered to defy the Catholic Church. And, while I can’t say this for sure, statistics sure seem to indicate the Church of Scientology is for Hollywood only.

Religious coexistence is an impossible reality we will never see in our lifetimes if we expect religions to sort themselves out, exemplified by Islam and Christianity. For Christianity, the Bible commands its readers “to have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). For Islam, the Qur’an commands its readers “do not associate another deity with Allah and become censured and forsaken” (17:22).

The Qur’an and The Bible are already fundamentally at odds with each other; each text demands exclusive ownership of one’s belief. How are we surprised religions struggle to coexist with one another, when each religion demands strict allegiance?

Granted, one may argue the God and Jesus portrayed in the Bible are actually Allah and the Prophet Mohammed, respectively. This would certainly clear up the path to coexistence greatly, if it were only true. One of the most jarring contradictions between each religion is its definition of God.

Christianity believes God manifests in the infamous Triumvirate: as a Father, as a Son, and as the Holy Spirit. This belief is the underpinning of the entire New Testament of the Bible. The Qur’an denies God exists as a three-headed deity, but does not deny the existence of God. These two religions cannot possibly hope to coexist in the face of differing theological issues.

Instead of demanding religions coexist with each other, instead demand the followers of those religions to exist with each other. We may serve different gods, we may serve no gods; we may come from the west, from the east, from the south, from the north; we are all human beings. The Bible famously declares “Love thy neighbor as thyself”; so, too, does the Qur’an. Yes, Sharia Law is the blight of Islam. Yes, the Westboro Baptist Church is the blight of Christianity. Those are bodies of belief and thought, powered by the ignorance of man.

Once we address these issues of ignorance, we as humans will be better able to build a peaceful world of religious coexistence because we will be able to utilize our knowledge to our advantage. Humanity has accomplished so much: we built the Pyramids, the Pantheon, and the Empire State Building; we put men on the Moon, flew across oceans, and reunited West and East Berlin; we put computers in our pockets, libraries in our palms and invented cures for nearly every disease known under the sun. We can solve the riddle of coexisting religiously, too, once we realizing loving your neighbor isn’t conditional.