Is any religion better than any other? Can any faith guarantee mental and spiritual uplift?

[Indian Iconoclast]

Recently on a social media webpage, I saw a heated love/hate debate and frantic appeals by two followers of different faiths to their opposers to shun their faith and embrace the one that was being offered.

Let us name them here as X a Hindu and Y a Muslim.

I too was a participant in that debate. Call me Z here. I have no religion whatever to follow, practice and preach. I am an average human being and carry with me all positive and negative mental attributes a human being normally is born with and strengthens some and weakens some as his life ages.

I am reproducing below extracts from that true conversation and want to hear from the members from this forum their viewpoints.

X: Brother Y, Hinduism is the better religion than Islam, please convert and we will be brothers forever.

Y: I want you and all Hindus from India to convert and become Muslims. Then there will be no reason for wars between two neighbours divided on religion.

Z: X! Do not tell a person that your religion is better than his.

The Christians and Muslims have been saying to the people of the world the same thing that you are telling to Y.

The fact is no religion is actually true and perfect.

If it were so. then becoming a religious convert or embracing a religion would have made a human being devoid of all negative instincts like hate, anger, lust, greed and malice. And unfortunately, today or in the past, never ever has the human race got itself rid entirely from these negative attributes!

 

[sayak83]

Recently on a social media webpage, I saw a heated love/hate debate and frantic appeals by two followers of different faiths to their opposers to shun their faith and embrace the one that was being offered.

Let us name them here as X a Hindu and Y a Muslim.

I too was a participant in that debate. Call me Z here. I have no religion whatever to follow, practice and preach. I am an average human being and carry with be all positive and negative mental attributes a human being normally is born with and strengthens some and weakens some as his life ages.

I am reproducing below extracts from that true conversation and want to hear from the members from this forum their viewpoints.

X: Brother Y, Hinduism is the better religion than Islam, please convert and we will be brothers forever.

Y: I want you and all Hindus from India to convert and become Muslims. Then there will be no reason for wars between two neighbours divided on religion.

Z: X! Do not tell a person that your religion is better than his.

The Christians and Muslims have been saying to the people of the world the same thing that you are telling to Y.

The fact is no religion is actually true and perfect.

If it were so. then becoming a religious convert or embracing a religion would have made a human being devoid of all negative instincts like hate, anger, lust, greed and malice. And unfortunately, today or in the past, never ever has the human race got itself rid entirely from these negative attributes!

It is somewhat unfortunate that a Hindu debater is asking another debater to convert. Deciding one's religious (or irreligious) calling is an internal matter and its not possible to claim that following one religion(or non-religious ideology) is unquestionably better for all persons in comparison to following another. I consider it more important to see how one follows a religion or ideology rather than what is being followed.

How is Delhi doing? Must be very hot now.

 

[sun rise]

To me no religion is better or worse than any other religion. They can all be paths to the Divine or they can be used to practice evil.

 

[LuisDantas]

Religion is what people make of it. They are quite clearly very unequal when it comes to their merits and even specific indications.

Some are very worthwhile. Others are all-out damaging, sometimes direly so. Most are somewhere in between, and how much so will depend a lot on how wise the practicioners are.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Religion is a way of life and can incorporate beliefs or not. Jack LaLanne the "Godfather of fitness" worked out for 2 hours every morning and constantly worked to encourage people to incorporate juicers into their diets. In his old age he still worked out with huge weights and would swim for an hour or two. In addition to his faith in God and in marriage he believed in staying healthy through diet and exercise. All of this was part of his religion, some of it belief and some of it practical.

No, I think there is no way to guarantee happiness and health for yourself or for future generations; but you can believe that happiness and health will happen. You can hope for it, and you can work towards it and prepare for it.

 

[sayak83]

Religion is what people make of it. They are quite clearly very unequal when it comes to their merits and even specific indications.

Some are very worthwhile. Others are all-out damaging, sometimes direly so. Most are somewhere in between, and how much so will depend a lot on how wise the practicioners are.

I would say that it's harder for a religious practitioner to go wrong in some faith (or secular) traditions than in others. Here going wrong implies practices that cause avoidable suffering to others and oneself. So

Easier to go wrong
Marxism, Islam, Objectivism, OT Judaism, Nihilism

Middling
Hinduism, Christianity, Socialism, Modern Judaism, Confucianism, New Age religions, Existential Relativism, Metaphysical Naturalism

Harder to go wrong
Liberal Humanism, Buddhism, Jainism, Stoicism, Epicureanism, Deism

Mostly subjective analysis based on my exposure to the ideas, as far as that goes.

 

[Akivah]

I am reproducing below extracts from that true conversation and want to hear from the members from this forum their viewpoints.

X: Brother Y, Hinduism is the better religion than Islam, please convert and we will be brothers forever.

Y: I want you and all Hindus from India to convert and become Muslims. Then there will be no reason for wars between two neighbors divided on religion.

It's a silly debate point, it's like arguing which person is better.

Also, both posters have the same inconsistency, which is that their (and all) religions' have made war between different sects of the same religion. So their premise that if everyone were the same religion, that no war would occur is false.

 

[metis]

I think that pretty much all religions are probably honest attempts to find, define, and understand God(s), but probably all fall well short in doing so. However, even with these shortcomings, these religions do have positive effects on societies, although there's obviously some serious negatives as well.

 

[Sunstone]

Religions typically serve more than one purpose, and not all religions serve the same set of purposes. They are basically conglomerates of different purposes. A mix of purposes might, for instance, be a religion that attempted to define, support, and protect the social order while also building a sense of community, and allowing for mystical insight, among other things. No religion, so far as I know, is in the sole business of providing "mental and spiritual" uplift, let alone guaranteeing it. Perhaps the closest one gets to that is Zen Buddhism or possibly philosophical Taoism.

 

[crowfeather]

The best religion is no religion. No religion is the worst religion of all.
Inside the paradox lies the Truth.
Balance.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

Is any religion better than any other? Can any faith guarantee mental and spiritual uplift?

Nope. Do what is best for you.

 

[Vinayaka]

Each religion, or variety of non-religion is the best for those particular adherents at any particular moment in time. If not, they'd switch.

 

[arthra]

Your first question ("Is any religion better than any other? Can any faith guarantee mental and spiritual uplift?) I think is a fair one. In my belief all the major religions having appeared at various times and under various circumstances have made important contributions and have offered uplifting teachings for their times. People of course over time have sometimes exploited religion for their own purposes as a class and sought to use religion to dominate or control others... When this has occurred a new revelation or if you will a kind of Divine response occurs exposing these errors. I'm thinking here of well known examples... such as the exposure of the Brahmins by Siddartha Gautama the Buddha and the exposure of the Pharisees by Jesus Christ.

.....The fact is no religion is actually true and perfect. If it were so. then becoming a religious convert or embracing a religion would have made a human being devoid of all negative instincts like hate, anger, lust, greed and malice. And unfortunately, today or in the past, never ever has the human race got itself rid entirely from these negative attributes!

My response to the above is that religion is revealed for the conditions of the time it is revealed... as conditions change new revelations are manifest... so no one religion is "perfect" for all time... So considering the needs of humanity at the time these revelations appeared is a key to understanding their potency and appropriate teachings for the times and conditions of people.

 

[Indian Iconoclast]

Arthra says and I quote:

" People of course over time have sometimes exploited religion for their own purposes as a class and sought to use religion to dominate or control others... When this has occurred a new revelation or if you will a kind of Divine response occurs exposing these errors. I'm thinking here of well-known examples... such as the exposure of the Brahmins by Siddartha Gautama the Buddha and the exposure of the Pharisees by Jesus Christ."

and:

"My response to the above is that religion is revealed for the conditions of the time it is revealed... as conditions change new revelations are manifest... so no one religion is "perfect" for all time.."

This response from Arthra, reminds me of a person to person dialogue at Bombay in September 1973 at the Asiatic Society auditorium, with an Iranian theologist and preacher Mr, Shoghi Affendi. He had answered my questions in Persian as I had addressed to him in in that language.

He had said that God's messages will be manifest to the humans of the world in future times when the world starts getting endangered due to religion-based calamities.

That is what Krishna says in the Geeta that I shall arrive as an Avatar on this earth whenever the Dharma (religion or religious order) gets weakened.

5000 years or so has passed and in India where Krishna had said these lines (declaring himself as God which I personally do not accept) and nothing ahs changed in that nation's religious mindset that believed then and believes still, that a man is distinct and revered by the virtue of his being born in a higher caste (a Brahmin and a Kshatriya) due to his piety in his past lives and into a lower caste (a Dalit, a Shudra) because of his sins in his past lives. A lower caste Hindu is still subjected to insults and social oppressions by and large, despite the constitution that prohibits casteism. The greedy and characterless politicians that have ruled the nation since its independence in 1947, have kept that caste identity and discrimination alive even now because of getting sectarian and parochial support from the caste-divided nation during the Parliamentary and the Legislative Assembly polls and has made all governmental job selection subject to reservations on this caste identity. A man gets his appointment to and promotions in his governmental duties, not because of his education. expertise and experience but because he carries to a lower caste identity. This has and will continue to be a barrier to India's progress.

So my brother Arthra, when will the divine revelations manifest? The time runs short.

 

[Adamski]

Recently on a social media webpage, I saw a heated love/hate debate and frantic appeals by two followers of different faiths to their opposers to shun their faith and embrace the one that was being offered.

Let us name them here as X a Hindu and Y a Muslim.

I too was a participant in that debate. Call me Z here. I have no religion whatever to follow, practice and preach. I am an average human being and carry with me all positive and negative mental attributes a human being normally is born with and strengthens some and weakens some as his life ages.

I am reproducing below extracts from that true conversation and want to hear from the members from this forum their viewpoints.

X: Brother Y, Hinduism is the better religion than Islam, please convert and we will be brothers forever.

Y: I want you and all Hindus from India to convert and become Muslims. Then there will be no reason for wars between two neighbours divided on religion.

Z: X! Do not tell a person that your religion is better than his.

The Christians and Muslims have been saying to the people of the world the same thing that you are telling to Y.

The fact is no religion is actually true and perfect.

If it were so. then becoming a religious convert or embracing a religion would have made a human being devoid of all negative instincts like hate, anger, lust, greed and malice. And unfortunately, today or in the past, never ever has the human race got itself rid entirely from these negative attributes!

Well yes the Roman Catholic Church is the only true faith because Jesus is God and he founded the Catholic Church. All other religions are false or incomplete

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

How many other religions have you actually studied? How do you know they're incomplete?

What a narrow outlook...

 

[LukeS]

Better than this, that etc... what is the measure of good?

In the secular sense, defiend as overall well being, different religions will have for different people, in various ways, for x amount of time etc.

Say a homosexual may become liberal Christian priest, and stay in a relationship. Ask a psychologist and they might say that would be better than being a guilty Catholic.

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

Well yes the Roman Catholic Church is the only true faith because Jesus is God and he founded the Catholic Church.

"The Roman Catholic Church is the only true faith because [Catholic doctrine] and [Catholic doctrine]".

All other religions are false or incomplete

You do realise that your Church borrowed/plagiarised heavily from some of these false religions, don't you?

Also, without resorting to Catholic doctrine, how do you know they're false or incomplete?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

People project themselves onto their version of their religion. Religions are merely one more way for an individual to express who they already are. Hence, all religions have sinners and saints. This in itself should show that no religion provides some kind of path or teaching that is objectively better than other religion. Hence, humanism - a more evolved, honest, and realistic approach.

 

[arthra]

A man gets his appointment to and promotions in his governmental duties, not because of his education. expertise and experience but because he carries to a lower caste identity. This has and will continue to be a barrier to India's progress.
So my brother Arthra, when will the divine revelations manifest? The time runs short.

Thanks for your fine response to my earlier post..and I must apologize for the tardiness of my reply...

While I have many Hindu friends in the US especially Southern California I must confess to no personal experience of your country.. I had the impression though that caste privileges in your country were illegal.. naturally and along with that there have been as I understand it attempts to ameliorate the condition of people who find themselves deprived of opportunities due to caste prejudices... as this summary of the wikepedia article suggests:

Since 1950, the country has enacted many laws and social initiatives to protect and improve the socioeconomic conditions of its lower caste population. These caste classifications for college admission quotas, job reservations and other affirmative action initiatives, according to the Supreme Court of India, are based on heredity and are not changeable.[16][a] Discrimination against lower castes is illegal in India under Article 15 of its constitution, and India tracks violence against Dalits nationwide.[17]

From:

Caste system in India - Wikipedia

Mujan Momen in his book "Hinduism and the Baha'i Faith" quotes the Vishnu Purana as suggesting that caste system will not be observed in the Kali Yuga...

"The observance of caste, order, and institutes will not prevail in the Kali Yuga; ..."

Vishnu Purana 6:1.

Hinduism and the Bahá'í Faith

I'll have to check this out as my copy was donated some time ago..... but this end of caste may correspond to the appearance as you may know with the appearance of the Kalkin avatara...