Imagine you are on the ground in the region. Look around you. What do you see? Depending on your whereabouts, you may see hills, trees, fields, buildings, or people. Almost everyone around you is religious, whether or not it is evident from the way they dress, talk, or associate. Now imagine that all these people got their memories wiped clean at the same instant, while you were watching. None of them remembers who they are or what religion they believe in anymore. Furthermore, they all lost their ability to speak their native tongue and instead speak fluent Icelandic with a perfect accent.
Who are they? They’re not from Iceland – after all, they were locals just minutes ago – Israelis and Palestinians, most of them God-fearing Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Now, however, they are just people, all equal and similar, and none of them remembers ever hating the other. They’ll enjoy a few decades or centuries of serenity before things start going downhill. During this period, they will live side by side, collaborate, and enjoy a peaceful life. They’ll prosper because of, not despite, each other’s presence in the region. Gradually, they’ll start arguing and clashing again, as people naturally do. Their quarrels will likely be petty and easily resolvable at first. As time goes by, they’ll form cliques and groups, develop disparate traditions and belief systems, follow charismatic figures, and foment hatred toward their neighbors.
The era of tranquility will end when self-aggrandizing leaders take advantage of local disputes and blow them up with spiritual arguments in an attempt to control the lives of their followers, messing things up for everyone. When this happens, there will be hardly any going back. Innocence will be gone, and religious belief will rule people’s lives forever, or at least until the next magical memory-wipe event.