Basic Similarities??

[Burn_Phoenix]

It is my understanding that most of todays major religions share the same intrinsic values/teachings (i.e. do not steal, do not kill and treat others as you would wish to be treated etc)?

I fail to see why there is so much religious strife and heinous acts carried out in the name of any religion when the basics are identical, surely people can see the similarities and just get along? We are free to believe what we want; but are all religions just different roads to the same destination?

My point being that it doesn't matter what a person believes, if it makes them a better person then who cares what others believe is 'right' or 'wrong' it is obvious that that particular belief is what's right for them?

I would appreciate your thoughts on any or all of the above as this is my first step on a religious comparative study and any feedback would be very welcome.

 

[earlwooters]

Do you not know? All "religions" teach or say they teach these things, but do not require their followers to adhere to them. How many Christians turn the other cheek, or give away their wealth to follow the teachings of Jesus? How many rich Christians believe they can squeeze through the eye of the needle? How many Muslims claim Islam is the religion of peace, then wage "holy wars" against those of other faiths. How many Hindu's believe in the poverty ridden caste system, that keeps the rich, rich, and the poor, poor. You must be a young person. Religions are created by those who aim to and do profit from them. The most profitable worldwide enterprise is religion. It's called MONEY. If you want a comparative study of religion, follow the money.

 

[MissAlice]

Be interesting to know what causes people of said teachings to make as much as strife as they do. Actions often speak louder than words imo. Tis ashame people of "moral" upbringing do not practice what they're taught.

 

[fallingblood]

Do you not know? All "religions" teach or say they teach these things, but do not require their followers to adhere to them. How many Christians turn the other cheek, or give away their wealth to follow the teachings of Jesus? How many rich Christians believe they can squeeze through the eye of the needle? How many Muslims claim Islam is the religion of peace, then wage "holy wars" against those of other faiths. How many Hindu's believe in the poverty ridden caste system, that keeps the rich, rich, and the poor, poor. You must be a young person. Religions are created by those who aim to and do profit from them. The most profitable worldwide enterprise is religion. It's called MONEY. If you want a comparative study of religion, follow the money.

So, basically you have done no research. How did the founders of Christianity aim to make money? How were they going to profit? They didn't. They were killed as enemies of the state. What about Judaism? How did they profit? The statement that religions are created in order to make a profit is beyond an ignorant statement.

The rest of your post is just more ignorance. You are taking a very small percentage of these religions and pretending they are what the entire religion stands for. That is just asinine.

 

[fallingblood]

Be interesting to know what causes people of said teachings to make as much as strife as they do. Actions often speak louder than words imo. Tis ashame people of "moral" upbringing do not practice what they're taught.

You can't judge the whole by a small minority. That simply does not work.

As for why some do not fully follow their religion. It is human nature. Regardless of religious orientation or non-religious orientation, you find people who are immoral. Who cause strife. Who do evil. It has very little to do with religion.

 

[England my lionheart]

What do you expect ,religion was created by Humans

 

[MissAlice]

You can't judge the whole by a small minority. That simply does not work.

As for why some do not fully follow their religion. It is human nature. Regardless of religious orientation or non-religious orientation, you find people who are immoral. Who cause strife. Who do evil. It has very little to do with religion.

I do not assume the majority does it but to say that it has little to do with religion does not work for me. For centuries people have been fighting for their moral authority of god. If one can recall the crusades, war between the protestants and catholics, etc. Yes it is human nature but religion does play a good role in many of these matters. I call it tribalism while other people may call it jihad, holy war, or the crusades. Religion has played a good part for centuries and was and still is a good propaganda for political affairs otherwise people wouldn't buy into it.

 

[Yeshe Dawa]

We are free to believe what we want; but are all religions just different roads to the same destination?

Hi Burn Phoenix!

To do the good
To refrain from the evil
To purify one's mind
This is the teaching of all Awakened Ones

Peace and blessings

Yeshe
:flower2:

 

[earlwooters]

So, basically you have done no research. How did the founders of Christianity aim to make money? How were they going to profit? They didn't. They were killed as enemies of the state. What about Judaism? How did they profit? The statement that religions are created in order to make a profit is beyond an ignorant statement.

The rest of your post is just more ignorance. You are taking a very small percentage of these religions and pretending they are what the entire religion stands for. That is just asinine.

Jesus was the poorest of the poor. The Catholic church is the richest of the rich (minus the money they are paying out for priestly indescretions). The Catholic Church is the largest Christian Church. No small percentage there.

 

[TheKnight]

It is my understanding that most of todays major religions share the same intrinsic values/teachings (i.e. do not steal, do not kill and treat others as you would wish to be treated etc)?

I fail to see why there is so much religious strife and heinous acts carried out in the name of any religion when the basics are identical, surely people can see the similarities and just get along? We are free to believe what we want; but are all religions just different roads to the same destination?

My point being that it doesn't matter what a person believes, if it makes them a better person then who cares what others believe is 'right' or 'wrong' it is obvious that that particular belief is what's right for them?

I would appreciate your thoughts on any or all of the above as this is my first step on a religious comparative study and any feedback would be very welcome.

Unfortunately the ignorant run their mouths without end to satiate their foolishness.

In any case, I think that the problems you see are the result of a general human obsession with the self and the willingness to exploit whatever possible to gratify the self. Religion is powerful and intimate, thus it is a greater tool to exploit for self-gratification. For this reason, many actions are committed in the name of religion, whether sincere or for self-service, because it is easy to do so and the affect is extreme.

 

[fallingblood]

Jesus was the poorest of the poor. The Catholic church is the richest of the rich (minus the money they are paying out for priestly indescretions). The Catholic Church is the largest Christian Church. No small percentage there.

Do you have any sources to show that the Catholic Church is the richest of the rich? I highly doubt it. Yes, there are some ministers that do make a lot; however, that is a very small minority. Even the Catholic Church as a whole is not this rich enterprise.

Plus, that is simply ignoring the reasons why most people go into the ministry. It isn't because they plan on getting rich. If they wanted to do that, they would have taken the time and money it costs to go to school and have become something else.

As for the Catholic Church being the largest Christian church, you also have to realize that that is partly due to them being one of the major religions in many third world countries, in very poor places. They aren't making much from that.

And then, it is only the largest Christian church because it has so many adherents. How many of them are the richest of the rich? No, you're only even assuming that the leadership is the richest of the rich, and again, that is a very small minority.

 

[idea]

It is my understanding that most of todays major religions share the same intrinsic values/teachings (i.e. do not steal, do not kill and treat others as you would wish to be treated etc)?

a list of similarities can be found here:
Illustrations of the Tao

I believe we all share the same values due to the teachings of our conscience - and that our conscience is the light of God, and gives direct teachings from God to all mankind.

I fail to see why there is so much religious strife and heinous acts carried out in the name of any religion when the basics are identical, surely people can see the similarities and just get along? We are free to believe what we want; but are all religions just different roads to the same destination?

wolves in sheep's clothing - evil deeds are often justified under the guise of righteous crusades. it is human nature to rationalize/justify ourselves in whatever we do rather than repent / actually admit our wrongs....

our carnal self seeks power/riches/pleasure - many rationalize these shallow pursuits by claiming we seek riches in order to clothe the poor / power to free the captive - only the carnal self is often too weak to relinquish the noble end goal, - power once gained is hard to part with, riches hard to actually give away - individual lusts conquer, and the love of materialism wins out over love for fellow beings - rationalizations of the imperfect nature of all of us are then used to justify selfish hoarding over giving to "heretics"... the poor and needy are labeled as "sinful heretics" by those who are unable to conquer the carnal self...

My point being that it doesn't matter what a person believes, if it makes them a better person then who cares what others believe is 'right' or 'wrong' it is obvious that that particular belief is what's right for them?

I would appreciate your thoughts on any or all of the above as this is my first step on a religious comparative study and any feedback would be very welcome.

the difference between "in theory" and "in practice" my friend. we are all filled with noble ideologies indeed - yet - how much have you personally given to the poor?

 

[earlwooters]

Human obsession and the willingness to exploit? Actions committed in the name of religion? Surely the good and moral people who follow these different religions would not allow their leaders to exploit them in such a way. Are they so ignorant or so trusting?

 

[idea]

Human obsession and the willingness to exploit? Actions committed in the name of religion? Surely the good and moral people who follow these different religions would not allow their leaders to exploit them in such a way. Are they so ignorant or so trusting?

trusting. one of the similarities in all the beliefs is to step out of the rat race... the greatest among you shall be your servant, to be meek, teachable, submissive - to stop trying to be ahead of others, and instead become one with them, united in heart and mind. this endeavor requires the disciple to learn how to trust - it is a beautiful thing to experience trust/faith within a protected group ... but for those who understand the beauties of trust/faith - but put it into the wrong group, can be disastrous.

 

[fallingblood]

Human obsession and the willingness to exploit? Actions committed in the name of religion? Surely the good and moral people who follow these different religions would not allow their leaders to exploit them in such a way. Are they so ignorant or so trusting?

Human obsession and willingness to exploit are human characteristics, and not religious characteristics, thus moot here.

Actions committed in the name of religion. Surely, you would actually research them a little more instead of just making a statement that only show intolerance. When a religion condemns those actions, yet people still do them (regardless of religion or non-religion) it should be safe to assume those are human characteristics and not religious characteristics. If you actually looked at the majority of those actions with an open mind, instead of one that just wants to demonize, you would see a deeper motivation. That what is happening is not in the name of religion, but religion is being used as just one more scapegoat. By trying to generalize and simply state that they are religious problems is a great injustice, because it will never help solve the problem. it will only allow it to continue as the real motivation is not being addressed.

It is a great shame that so many people just instantly blame religion and not actually look at the real motivators. It helps nothing, and just allows the problem to continue indefinitely.

 

[Rhizomatic]

Saying that most major religions share basic commonalities requires glossing over some extraordinarily vital differences. Saying "don't kill" because of a deontological ethic that demands obedience to the will of God is very different than saying "don't kill" because of a teleological ethic designed to reduce the suffering of sentient beings.

Though, tbh, looking at history it seems that inter-religious strife doesn't stem from differences in religion; it stems from the same material and psychological roots of all human conflict. Religion, like any form of culture historically understood as identity, just serves to delineate teams for these conflicts that would generally occur with or without it.