I once saw a study that revealed [not surprisingly] that people who live among people who think like themselves are more likely to become more extreme in their views than people who live among different types of people.
If one is exposed to people of other viewpoints, his extremism is tempered. He learns that just because he thinks a certain way, that doesn't mean that everybody thinks this way. So if a person lives among people of other religions this can also have a downside - He might start believing that there is no absolute truth. Many Westerners live and even believe this way. "Live and let live". "You have your truth, I have my truth and nobody has a monopoly on absolute truth". This is absurd because EVERY RELIGION believes that they are the bearers of absolute truth. It CAN'T BE that Islam is true and so is X-tianity. They are mutually exclusive. There is one famous Modern Orthodox rabbi in our times who fudges this and presents a theology [as I understand it] as saying "Hey, we are Jews and believe and practice as we do, but you guys are great too". We actually believe that other religions are at best - false, and at worst - evil. That doesn't mean that we impose our beliefs and values upon others or oppress them in any way, G-d forbid. But it does mean that we claim to be the bearers of absolute truth. We have many reasons for believing this. The most famous one is that we have a tradition of mass revelation, a claim no other religion [at least no major religion] makes. If it weren't true it would be hard to sneak that into history and would be foolish to claim in the first place. The wisest thing to do is to claim that miracles happened that nobody alive witnessed and thus can't be proven false, as the other religions did.
But within Judaism and Torah it is CLEAR that there are different paths to Hashem and different approaches and ways of thinking. The Vilna Gaon had his way and the Baal Shem Tov had his. Some scoff at Chasidus because we have no record of the Baal Shem Tov being a Talmid Chochom. However, no record doesn't mean that he wasn't. And many of those who followed his path were gedolei olam almost unsurpassed in their knowledge and understanding of the Torah. Just learn through the Teshuvos of the Imrei Noam of Dzikov, the Divrei Chaim of Tzanz, the Avnei Nezer of Sochochov and many many more and this will become clear. Within the world of Chasidus many different approaches to Avodas Hashem were taken and many different hashkafos were adopted. So too in the orbit of those who followed the Gaon. Then there is the Hirschian school and many other groups and communities that developed over time. If we only live among those who believe EXACTLY what we believe it might create a situation where we become very narrow minded and look down on others who think differently.
It is hard for someone grew up in Alon Shvut to relate to a person from Bnei Brak and vice versa precisely because they grew up where they grew up and were only exposed to one way of thinking. This creates divisiveness in Klal Yisrael. As I have written about in the past, language both shapes a mindset and is a reflection of a certain mindset. If one speaks to people from different hashkafic places, even though the language might be Hebrew, it is a different Hebrew. Just like if you speak with a Jew from Scarsdale and a Jew from Boro Park who both daven three times a day and learn the same Talmud Bavli [from the same Artscroll gemara], they will be speaking almost a different language.
The solution - Open up our minds. Hashem is broad and there are a broad range of options to connect to Him. At the same time, there is nothing wrong with believing that certain attitudes are incorrect or at least mostly incorrect. Some truths are relative while some are not. Hashem has a different task for different people. Reuven's truth is that he should be a kollel man in Lakewood while Shimon's truth is that he should work the Land Of Israel in Ofrah. But the truth of Har Sinai and our basic tradition is non-negotiable and absolute.
And maybe it wouldn't be so terrible if we stopped having segregated neighborhoods..... or maybe the price is too steep because then our children [and ourselves] will be negatively influenced by those who are less passionate and less observant than we are. I see both sides and both have pros and cons.
