Why do we always concentrate on differences rather than similarities?

Question

Conflicts and arguments always arise from wrong emphasis. Say for example in Religion :Jews are waiting for their Messiah, Christians are waiting for the second coming of Jesus, Muslims believe Jesus will return.
Lets be a bit idealistic and start a trend. Lets aggressively look for similarities in ALL AREAS of life. Easy to write but hard to do - so lets make the effort and make it our challenge for life.
Are you on board?

Answer 1

Good point.

There was a man who died, went to the gates of heaven and wanted to know if he was to be accepted there. The angel told him yes and to follow him through the long corridor.

The man and the angel passed several rooms while going through the corridor. The man noticed people in these various rooms. The man asked the angel about the different rooms and the people.

The angel told him that each room was designated to accomadate the souls of different religious systems. Some rooms were for baptist, methodist, penecostal sunni, shia, hindus, buddist, etc.

The man ask why was this necessary. The angel said,

"Because they think that they are the only ones here!"

Answer 2

Difference is what gives you identity. Similarities don't encourage tolerance but blending in and assimilation. We start respecting the other when we start being aware of how different we are.