I do not claim that what I believe is "right" and "true" for everyone. Everyone is entitled to their own belief. I just think it is wrong to impose that belief on someone else.
The first place that we are probably "bumping heads" is where it comes to the use of the word "impose". The definition of the word goes as follows:
*** The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 ***
Impose \Im*pose"\, v. i.
To practice tricks or deception.
[1913 Webster]
{To impose on} or {To impose upon},
(a) to pass or put a trick on; to delude; to cheat; to
defraud. "He imposes on himself, and mistakes words for
things." --Locke.
(b) to place an unwelcome burden or obligation on (another
person); as, she imposed on her friend to drive her
daughter to school.
(c) to take unfair advantage of (a person, a friendship); as,
he imposed on his friendship with The Mayor to gain
business.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
Now I don't see how someone is passing a trick on, placing an unwelcome burdon on, or taking unfair advantage of somene if they claim that their beliefs are right or that other people's beliefs are wrong. Especially if "everyone is entitled to their own belief", even if that belief is that their beliefs are right and other beliefs that are contrary are wrong. Now, something can be said for someone trying to phisically force another into believing the same beliefs that they hold to or using deception for the same cause. Thankfully, that is not the case here.
In greek mythology you have a mortal born son of Zeus and a right hand man of Zeus, Hades, who disagreed with Zeus about how to rule the mortals and was hence sent to rule the Underworld. In Christianity there is a mortal born son of god and a right hand man of god, Lucifer, who disagreed with god as to how to rule the humans and was sent to rule over Hell. There are similar stories in Native American tales, Wiccan tales (many pantheons), Egyptian tales and so on and so forth.
One major difference between Greek mythologies and religions is that while Greek mythologies are based on ficticious charachters that have no historical validity, most major religions are based on people whose historical existence has been validated ( Islam= Muhammed [570-632 a.d.] Christianity= Jesus Christ [4b.c-0 to 30-33 a.d.] Buddhism= Guatama Buddha [563-483 b.c.]. Unlike Hercules who was half divine, In Christianity, Jesus existed before His incarnation, Is just as divine as His father, and had a completley different purpose and moral in life. I will assume that you reffered to lucifer as a "right hand man of god" in a metaphorical sense so I will not address that issue, but what needs to be clarified is that nowhere in Christian doctrine or Biblical scripture does lucifer disagree with god on "how to rule the humans, but rather wanted to gain a higher position than God out of shere pride (Ezek. 28:17 Isa. 14:13-14). This happened before humans were created. Lucifer was cast to the earth, not hell (Rev. 12:9). Lucifer will end up in hell at the "final judgement" (Rev. 20:10). His rule extends to the air, this world, and demons, not hell (2 Cor. 4:4, Eph. 2:2, Matt. 9:34, Mark 3:22, John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11). Generalizing two things to point out similarities does not prove that they are the same thing. I can state that a radio and a television are similar because because they both entertain but that doesn't mean that they are essentially the same thing. I can't turn a radio on and expect to watch my favorite telivision show on a screen. On top of that when you look at the basic components of what they are made of and how they work, their differences become very appearant and it is very clear that while, yes, they both entertain, they are not the same thing.
With all these similarites why is it impossible to think that the same divine presence is at work everywhere and just percieved differently by different cultures because it was easier for some to understand when put a certain way?
Christianity answers this question with the Biblical account in Acts ch.2. What happens is that before, God's message was only to the Isrealites. When God gave the gift of "tongues" the very same message was given in different languages so that people of different cultures could hear the same message and understand it. Notice that the message never changed and neither did it's perception. Have you ever played the "telephone game"? The object of the game is to say something in someone's ear and have that very same thing repeated in another person's ear without it changing. If it changes, then it is usually because the perception of the original message was changed. It is not the same message if it changed. I can not use different words and communicate the same intended message to you. It violates the basics of linguistic and communicative philosophy.
Hence everyone's beliefs are valid whether they are taken from different religions or not.
There is something in philosophy called "First Principles" which are considered the foundation of knowledge. One of these "First Principles" is called the "Principle of Noncontradiction" which states that "Opposites can not be the same. For the one who affirms that 'Opposites can both be true' does not hold that the opposite of this statement is true. Not only is there opposing beliefs in the examples you gave earlier which I have pointed out, but even more obvious is our opposing beliefs on this subject. Simply put, they can not both be valid or true. Now if someone were to come up with something that opposes both of our beliefs, than both of our beliefs could be invalid and wrong, but all three beliefs could not be valid or true at the same time.
[I may put a certain name to an entity and worship them a certain way that may be the same entity that you call by a different name and worship in a different way./QUOTE]
Most religions prescribe a certain way of worship and does not allow any other kind of worship. For example, in Islam, one must bow only to the east. In the Bible, the isrealites were commanded not to worship God in any other way than the one prescribed in the Biblical scriptures (Deut 12:30-32)
Sincerely,
SoliDeoGloria
