I'm not talking about today. Nor about the last 2000 years. Let us go to ancient India around the time of Adi Shankara around 2500 years back. (Source of date per traditional sources: http://bharatbhumika.blogspot.com/2014/08/puranic-chronology-of-india.html)
There used to be six religions. This was called Shanmatha. They were worshippers of Shiva (Shaivites), Vishnu (Vaishnavites), Shakthi (Shaktas), Kumara (Kaumaras), Ganesha (Ganapathyas) & Surya (Sauras). Each sect believed that they were the only true religion & their God was the only true God. There have been clashes between the sects.
Let us look at some concepts from the Upanishads.
The paths may vary but the goal is the same.
God is one but is worshipped in different forms and names.
Just like all rivers go to the ocean, all prayers go to God.
At the beginning of a path at the base of the mountain, it appears that your path is different. The higher you go, the closer you appear to someone else's path. At the goal (summit), you realize that all paths had the same goal.
Adi Shankara, in his short life of 32 years, debated and was able to convince the common people of these concepts. One of his greatest achievements is that he brought these warring religions under one umbrella. Every person can have his own Ishta Deivam (preferred deity/God). Even today, in most Hindu families, every person may have a different Ishta Deivam, and they coexist without conflict. Compare this with interfaith families which insist on conversion and bringing up kids in a specific faith.
In addition to this, all philosophies were brought under one umbrella (Nyaya, Vaiseshika, Samkya, Yoga, Purva Mimamsa & Uttara Mimamsa/Vedanta). Adi Shankara debated on the superiority of Vedanta over other philosophies, but they were all brought under one umbrella.
There were competing religions of Buddhism (derived from Samkya) & Jainism which did not accept the Vedas, the Hindu holy scriptures. These followers were the Sramanas. Fast forward a few centuries. In Hindu temples, there is one main deity worshipped as the supreme manifestation surrounded by other deities. Many Hindu temples have Buddha & Mahavira (the last Jain Teerthankara) as deities. Buddhist temples have Rama, Sita, Shiva as deities. Jain temples have Padmavati/Lakshmi as deities. These concepts percolated through all these religions. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZgKKlmUl0
Fast-forward to today. In Chennai, you'll find liberal Hindu auto drivers carrying pictures of Ganesha, Jesus & Mecca. This will be absent from the conservatives of intolerant religions. Paramahamsa Yogananda, credited with spreading Yoga in the USA, along with his Guru: Yukteshwar Giri (who went to a Christian school as a child), have a Yogic interpretation of the Christian scriptures, and have incorporated Hindu & Christian worship into a meditative practice of self-realization.
The totalitarian religious beliefs of converting everyone to their faith to establish peace has failed, as recorded by history. After Shankara's unification of Shanmathi, religious conflict dropped drastically and there was improved harmony and tolerance in interfaith marriages, and in society. As a historical precedent, it would be best if there was mutual respect (not just tolerance but respect) between faiths, and the right to follow different beliefs and faiths. This will require totalitarian faiths to drop the notion of being the only true faith and having the only true God. Following this way would eventually result in harmony.
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