It is that the one God, creator of diversity, commands us to honour his creation by respecting diversity. God, the maker of all, has set his image on the person as such, prior to and independently of our varied cultures and civilizations, thus conferring on human life a dignity and sanctity that transcends our differences. That is the burden of his covenant with Noah and thus with all mankind. It is the moral basis of our shared humanity, and thus ultimately of universal human rights. That is why the later covenant with Abraham and his children does not exclude other paths to salvation. The righteous of all nations — those who honour God and his covenant with mankind — have a share in the world to come. Until the great faiths not merely tolerate but find positive value in the diversity of the human condition, we will have wars, and their cost in human lives will continue to rise.

Jonathan Sacks, The Dignity of Difference