If all religions are same, someone should tell the religious

A Meditation

Photons' light fantastic through ethereal strands of glass
Myriads of electrons fly through logic gates as fast

Creative genius' best intent to try to change the world
Gave gifts to human purpose so that knowledge could emerge

The precious gift is squandered now by endless aching screeds
And anguished cries of pain and fear that mark our unmet needs

Palestinians and Jews fighting over the same piece of territory. There is no right or wrong here, merely winners and losers. It is a recapitulation of the history of human beings.

Hello Daniel in the Lion's Den,

Like you, the Isreali-Palestinian conflict also gives me a headache. A two aspirin headache. The Palestinian Hamas-Palestinian PLO conflict gives me a three aspirin headache.

The West Bank Palestinians seem to have more "room" unlike the Gazan Palestinians in their living conditions.

I don't know if and when the Gaza Hamas and West Bank PLO can reconcile on their differences. Gaza to be permanently seperated as a state is not an economically viable given the land area and population. If it becomes and independent state, it would be an aid recipient, aid dependent state just to get its infrastructure up again. And likely to a migrant labour exporting country also reliant on foreign remittances by Gazans working overseas. Most likely too, as now, educated Gazans would seek to migrate overseas for better job and life oopporutnities if they can.

I am sometimes alienated from my own goverment for its domestic policies as do Arabs in their own countries. The interesting thing is, like the Arab governments, my government seem happier if the population vents their anger against Israel in demonsrations rather than at them. They let the demonstrations goes on and laud it as "freedom of expression" but whack you with police water cannons and clubs if you demonstrate against them, calling the demonstrations against public order, peace and stability. The Indonesian government is better in accepting, tolerating demonstrations against them.

Yes, it would seem the only Arabic people who have any nationalistic motivation are the Palestinians who have no country. Once you have your own country, all your nationalism is vented against your own government who failed to live up to your expectations. And sometimes against foreign states whom you think is, or really is trying, or have stolen part of your country by. force.

Thankfully, most such territorial disputes are referred by states to the ICJ for legal resolution, save a few contended by armed conflicts before or now, including Kashmir and the Palestinian territories.

Susan:

But then, I don't have a list of the "names" of American settlers who once thought it was their Christian as well as American destiny to occpy the lands previously roamed by "savage" Indians.
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Interesting. You write as if this were ancient history. However, the government continued to take Indian lands through the seventies, and did so again recently.

The lifespan of the average Gazan is 73, of the average American Indian 58. The UN considers the Indians to be among the world's "poorest developing nations," average income under 7,000 for a family of four. Unlike Gazans, they do not have enough to eat, go to bed hungry. They have no doctors for miles, inadequate health care, sewage, etc. They are dying. A "Shadow Report" went to the UN on the Apartheid condition of the United States, and it is true Apartheid. They are still being genocided (180,000,000 killed) and confined to reservations. Oddly, nothing is heard from you or anyone else about their condition, their land, etc.

http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/3258/81/

Have you ever been to a reservation? I have. Have you ever been to Haiti? The poorest rural area in Haiti looks better than most reservations. The US, 2010.

DITLD,

Last on this: IN my last post, I did not mean to suggest that the Palestinians were in any way responsible for the way they are treated by other ME nations. Prejudice and discrimination tell about the bigots, not the victims.

DITLD:

The only Arabic people who seem to have any nationalistic motivation are the Palestinians who have no country. It's ironic, isn't it? What do you think of this observation?
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Palestinians are loathed and despised everywhere they go in the ME. What they say, except is SA and Egypt about the Palestinians is almost the same everywhere.
In Egypt they have always been second class; now they cannot attend public schools. In Jordan, where they are the majority, they are still second class.

IN Saudi Arabia they are considered "unclean," impure, dirty, untouchable, as it were.

There is a lot of history, a lot of manipulation by Syria and Iran. And, then, there is the matter of how they were treated historically by the Turks, the Egyptians, the Syrians, etc. In the meantime, they developed there own patriarch with some very,very wealthy and powerful families. The politicians are, in some cases, drawn from among them. In others they are at odds. Then there is Hamas, more complicated, more affiliated with Hezbollah, with Al Qaeda.

More than anything, many Arabs want us (the US) out of the Middle East. With Saudi Arabia, the UAE, England (British Petroleum) angling for an Iran invasion, things will get much, much worse. And Nejad knows. He is aware of who the players are. Read Tehran Times. Use google documents to see what SA has been up to.

We cannot keep doing this. And we cannot keep up this game with the Saudis. It is all very complicated. But, for instance, when one says that radical Islam is the biggest threat to democracy, one would do well to ask who helped create the monster.

And there is Israel. Betwixt and between. With all kinds of domestic problems and confusion. Its own. Many things have to change, but as long as it remains a war zone, they cannot. And now that more information is getting in from the outside, things will get worse. It is interesting to see how they pulled back with IRan once the Brits started in. They've got a thing about BP, especially, Netanyahu, but maybe you know that.

DanielintheLionsDen:

You are over-generalizing. There is terror in Saudi Arabia, more now than ever, that Iraq is down. I could go on and on. Unfortunately, our news distorts endlessly. In the case, of Israel, never was it stated that prior to Gaza, more than 1,000 Israelis had been killed by rockets, terror attacks, etc.

The news said no Israelis had been killed, that the rockets were "homemade," amateurish. They never went to Sderot. They lied, lied, lied. You can look at the videos. I'm not making a case here, refuse to, but you must go beyond the Times, etc., or you will ask questions like you did. MOst Americans simply do not know, cannot imagine.

JUst an aside: Do you know where Iraq burn victims are treated?

Read widely and read well. Horrible things have happened on both sides in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. But, did you know, and no one denies this, that Gaza was leafleted for days in advance, that Israel offered to come in and help the Gazans get out? Do you know what the head of Hamas has pledged himself to? Do you know about terror in Egypt? Do you know that Egypt is still shooting fleeing Sudanese in the back?

I'm not accusing. It's just that there are heavy, heavy, interests at work in the media. Much of what you don't know about Italy is due to Berlusconi and his long reach. There are few, if any, free, independent, responsible, investigative journalists. People who simply seek the truth. There were a couple in Italy. The mafia killed them.

Jihadist

I have a couple of questions for you. But before asking, I would like to say that the whold Israeli / Palestinean conflict gives me a migraine headache, and in general, I recoil from thinking about it, much less arguing about it.

Question number 1
The Palestinian people were separated into to 2 geographical areas, the West Bank, and Gaza. Now, there are two rival governments in control of these areas. I fear that these two areas are now permanently separted politically, and will never again be ruled by a single government. What do you think about this?

Queston number 2, more of a comment:
The people in most Arab countries seem passive and alienated from thier own governments, with little or no expression of nationalism. The only Arabic people who seem to have any nationalistic motivation are the Palestinians who have no country. It's ironic, isn't it? What do you think of this observation?

Susan,

Addendum:

The Palestinians do claim Quoranic possession of Israel. In the Quoran they read, the word Jerusalem has been injected, as it were. In fact, it has been translated so that "Jerusalem" occurs in most languages, EXCEPT the original Arabic.

The religious is always the political--that is part of where you confusion lies. (Even the Buddhists have internal politics.) The Dome of the Rock was built over the Temple Mount, and the fact that its significance for Jews is ignored by the media is disgusting, unacceptable. It is of inestimable importance in Judaism. I just went to a funeral where the bulk of the Rabbi's presentation referred to it. Observant Jews pray twice a day facing the Temple Mount. Twice a day.

When Moshe Dayan stood at the Temple Mount, the whole Diaspora stood with him. But Golda Meier said, "This is not the time." When will the time be? The Mufti says there is not Temple MOunt. Of course, many Palestinians know better, but who has the power?

And what does it mean that the MOsque is built over the Temple MOunt? How about Jews building a Synagogue on top of the Church of the Nativity?

And then there is the Cave of the Patriarchs. Also, important to us. Yet when Arafat besieged the Church of the Nativitiy, we in the US heard not one word about the Cave, which was desecrated, despite its importance to Islam. But from the media, nothing. It was the Church of the Nativity. For which JEWS DIED. And a Jew also died removing Torah Scrolls from the Cave. But so what. Who cares.

WE exist, Susan. The Tanakh exists. The Talmud. I am. The Jewish problem.

At any rate, all I have ever asked is that before you make either sweeping generalizations about Askenazim and Sephardim, "smart Jews," a discourse you do not understand, check, please. No offense, but the Reformed Jews you may know on the Upper West Side are not the be all and end all of Judaism or Jews. NO offense, but they are not. NOt at all.

Susan,

Part I

I should have been more specific. THe "settlements" are not identical nor are the groups that populate them. Moreover, they have been enticed by the government to live where they do. And Netanyahu has only stopped against his will and the will of the majority. He would stop wholeheartedly if he could get a commitment to discussions with Abbas. (But what about Hamas?)

Much has changed following Israel's unilateral 2005 withdrawal from Gaza. As you know, the PA insisted that all the residences, schools, hospitals be demolished. Gaza was left empty. Abbas then went to his parliament decrying the standard of living of the Israelis. Interestingly the Druze, Ismali Shiite Muslims (some would quibble about the label), who serve in the IDF, on the police force, etc., refused to help with this settlement removal. Did you know that? The Druze insisted that Gaza would be used to launch rockets, train terrorists, etc. Of course, as you know (or did you)that is exactly what happened. And was it not readily predictable? (Why, else, would Abbas insist that all the infrastructure be removed?) What he could not foresee is the Hamas victory and the complete hell hole Gaza became. And yet, there has been almost no coverage of this in the mainstream media.

MOre than 8,000 rockets were fired into Sderot. The last a few months ago. For reasons, no one knows, the mainstream media reported that no Israelis had been killed (LOL). I cannot understand that. The Israelis I know refused to believe it, but it is true, and the Israeli government, I think, cooperated with the West in perpetrating this fraud..

ONe "settler" woman committed suicide during the demolitions. There were other suicides after the settlement was emptied. The BBC and other media actually insisted that this was an act, a way of gaining sympathy for the Israelis. Again, my Israeli friends refused to believe that the BBC would report such a thing. And the American media? Impossible.

A woman incinerates herself as an act?! Ridiculous. Fortunately for me, my closest friend, a Pakistani, tapes BBC broadcasts, which are much more openly antisemitic, anti-Israeli than what we see here, and I mailed them to my Israeli friends. Who brought them to the University. Whose famous history professor uploaded them. Etc.

Things have changed. Israel knows a bit more about Western attitudes and antisemitism. Not nearly enough, since the government keeps it from the people, even Netanyahu's. But the Israelis know. They also know now, years after, the government threw out all the "settlers," some of whom still don't have permanent homes, are in a state of anomie, etc., and in return Israel get rockets in Sderot, Haifa, etc. Dismemberment and death. The last to hit Sderot was fired a couple of months ago.

Continues below

Part II

Here are three links. The last frame of the first will show you Hamas/Al Quaeda troops training in Gaza.

The second is a very mild video of Sderot under attack. I have not included the bloodier videos with corpses, limbs, blood everywhere--from Sderot, Haifa, Carmel. As you can see, most of the people here are not Orthodox or Haredi. They are as secular as you and I.

The third is an address to the UN Committee responsible for the Goldstone report. Israelis hadn't seen it, I have been told. But, of course, it raises question. All right, so whatever happens to Israelis doesn't matter. What about Kasmir? Seventy-five per cent of it is now in Pakistani hands. It is used for gun-running, drug running, and much, much worse. And Sudan, which the speaker mentions? Remember Sudanese Muslims and Christians who have made it across Egypt without getting shot in the back are in Israel. And remember the difficulties their presence causes with Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews).

Oh, and, how about Cyprus? Half of it stolen from Turkey in a bloody war in which we sided with the Turks. But things are changing. Keep an eye on Cyprus. During his June visit, the Pope was subject to watching endless demonstrations by Greek Cypriots (who now have a new BFF, Israel). The Pope's response: "All Christians must unite." Well, I mean, he had to say something. But, it has been forty years. I could go on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ5CtzTQXPs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkZebJAd_68

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhWgZu6tcZU&NR=1

The majority of Israelis want a secular Israel. I think there are places where the very religious have too much influence. However, they were used, of course. And they are among Netanyahu's constituents.
But, you see, now there is the flotilla. Unlike the media, which has been critical of the government, the people feel attacked, and have pulled closer together.

I don't know how much you really know about Israel, Lebanon, the Lebanese Christians (video at a later date). Are you aware that the majority of Israelis are Arabs, Turks, Iranians, Latinos, other North Africans, Africans? Are you aware that the Askenazim are the most "liberal" of these groups?

At any rate, this is a long discussion. NOt really appropriate for this thread. However, there are errors, sweeping generalizations, untruths (eg. Americans do not distinguish Askenazim from Sephardim and they go to the same synagogues) that, as a journalist, I know you would like addressed.

I want this horror to end. I do not want to see anymore suffering of either Israelis or Palestinians. If I knew how to stop it, I would.

I would also like to return to Tehran, with the other one million Jews in exile from Iran.

In similar fashion, a great many Muslims believe that the Palestinians have a religiously as well as culturally and politically justified right to occupy land that is sacred to them and that Allah presumably wants them to own.

- SJ

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Actually, it is the right to the home, the land you own before you are displaced forcibly or left it out of fear or for your own safety. It is more a land ownership rights issue even if God never promised Palestine to the Palestinians.

No civil law, no secular law has helped Palestinians to restore, or failed to restore their rightly ownership to their home and land. No surprise they would resort to Suras pertaining fighting transgressors and occupiers of home and land.

References to Suras, acting in line with Suras, issuing new fatwas, comes in when civil law, secular governance fails to deliver, fails to be seen as just. There is also no legitimate or credible state institutions, governance and leadership for Palestinians for them and internationally.

The Palestinian territories is not a full state. It is still akin to a group of people fighting for their liberation and self-determination. This state of conflict only keep throwing up martial types as leaders espousing commitment to fight until its opponents are crushed.

Secular Arafat/PLO blew it. Leading to the rise of Hamas.

As far as I know, as demonstrated by their behavior, all of the settlers in Israel believe they have a right to occupy every piece of land supposedly granted by the God of the Bible to the Israelites. I said "certain Jews" because I do not want to suggest that all Jews, or all Israelis, feel this way. That the Israeli government is held hostage by the settlers and the haredim (who are not identical) is unquestionable. That the settlers and the ultra-right rabbis are motivated by religious as well as political and security considerations is also unquestionable, unless you don't believe what they write and say or pay attention to what they do. What does a list of individual names have to do with this?

In similar fashion, a great many Muslims believe that the Palestinians have a religiously as well as culturally and politically justified right to occupy land that is sacred to them and that Allah presumably wants them to own. And no, I haven't taken a census in Gaza or Iran so I don't have a list of their names handy.

But then, I don't have a list of the "names" of American settlers who once thought it was their Christian as well as American destiny to occpy the lands previously roamed by "savage" Indians. Nevertheless, their actions speak for themslves, as do the actions of right-wing Jewish settlers and Hamas.

Authoress: "If religions were all essentially alike, religion could never have been the source of conflict"

This assertion is obviously false. First of all, two entities can be essentially alike but with small differences. It is not at all unusual for conflict to arise over small or even meaningless differences.

Second, two entities can be essentially alike but not recognized as such for any number of causes. Thus conflict can arise out of blindness to the essential sameness.

scripture aside,

donot you see the challenge and conflict around you ,around the clock?

Posted by: mono1

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Assalam alaikum,

"Do you not see the challenge and conflict around you, around the clock?" sounds like a Sura in the Qur'an questioning, reminding, challenging one. :)

My teasing you, joshing you on that aside, yes, differences and conflicts at every levels and of different levels - between spouses, siblings, friends, co-workers, states on everything from not putting the cap back on the toothpaste to what to do about the environment to terriroties to interpretations on Suras.

I share you view that having one God, one set of laws for all is a goal, an objective, ideal to iron out differences among man for one set of law, one set of rules for peace and reducing chaos and conflicts.

However, you do know of Suras which recognise human nature and the chaos man is capable of creating himself. You also know well Suras in the Qur'an reminding us of different tribes and nations; urging us to know one another; acknwoledgement of different beliefs; exhorting to you your belief and to me mine for tolerance and respect; to sue for peace, to pursue justness, to lead a moral and ethical life etc.

There are certainly and obviously challenges in addressing differences leading to conflicts on any given matter. And one never, and should not forget the Sura on public consultations for consensus for the common good.

There's the United Nations, its affiliated and sister agencies which has forged or are formulating by consensus a common standard, a common law from Law of the Sea to the environment. What is more Islamic than that for the common good and wellbeing of all mankind regardless of race and religion?

Wassalam

farnaz_mansouri2 wants to know "Who, specifically, what are the names of these "certain Jews"? ...who think they have an absolute right to occupy a every piece of land granted them by God of the Bible, pretend that this is a purely political and not a religious issue."
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Point well taken, farnaz. These uber-Zionists don't distinguish between political and religious motivation.

Posted by: tojby_2000
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I think you may have misunderstood my question. I meant it literally. I would like to know to whom Susan refers.

"If religions were all essentially alike, religion could never have been the source of conflict it has been throughout human history."
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Religion is not the source of human conflict, our basic tribal nature is, the fact that some tribes have seized upon religion as a justification for acting on atavistic tribal xenophobia notwithstanding.

farnaz_mansouri2 wants to know "Who, specifically, what are the names of these "certain Jews"? ...who think they have an absolute right to occupy a every piece of land granted them by God of the Bible, pretend that this is a purely political and not a religious issue."
__________________________________________________________

Point well taken, farnaz. These uber-Zionists don't distinguish between political and religious motivation.

At the core all religions have one thing in common. A belief in a whole slew of unnatural phenomenon. Each slew may differ from religion to religion, in some cases even overlap. Discussing these religions and trying to make sense of them is just as fruitful and as stupid as to comparing and contrasting Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice" against Alexander Dumas's "Count of Monte Cristo".

When discussing the religions, I cannot get past these superstitious beliefs in the organizing documents (scriptures). Be it be the virgin birth and resurrection of Christians, Parting of the Waters and the Joshua being swallowed by a fish of Judaism, The flying horse or talking bones of Islam, or the many a superstitious beliefs of Hinduism, Jainism, & Buddhism from monster heads swallowing the moon & the Sun to the sweat (or the semen) of an ape swallowed by fish giving rise to a fully grown man. Any memes (all religions are indeed memes) that are based on all these silly theses deserve no respect and have really nothing to teach the 21st century humanity. I sincerely wish and hope that they are all relegated to the dust heap as the humanity as done with Alchemistry, Thorism, Zeusism and thousands of such other memes.

SUSAN JACOBY:

Part I

Roth: "As a believing Jew, he must certainly view the breakdown in this century of moral order and the erosion of spiritual values in terms of the inadequacy of Christianity as a sustaining force for the good."

Roth was far from alone in this view. It was shared by some Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and, of course, other Jews.

More Roth--Christians and Muslims and, less often, Hindus, do tell their neighbors all the time that they are wrong.
Endlessly.

Roth--Judaism holds that the Lord has a covenant with all peoples, that it is not for Jews to question this or that religion. I, being who I am, have tested adherence to this "edict" on more than one occasion. In fact, I have done my damnedest, devised all kinds of stratagems, to get Orthodox Jews, including Israelis, to be critical of Christianity, Hinduism, and/or Islam, depending on my mood. Could not for losing. "You cannot say that" was what I have heard again and again. (I haven't given up, though.)

More on Roth--You ought to read what being Jewish meant to Roth, if you haven't already. Then you may begin to understand just how killing racism in America can be.

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You write, "Not those who, wanting to placate certain Jews who think they have an absolute right to occupy a every piece of land granted them by God of the Bible, pretend that this is a purely political and not a religious issue."

Who, specifically, what are the names of these "certain Jews"?

Part II
Are religions the same? Religions are radically different. Although I'm not a Reconstructionist, I greatly appreciate the highly influential work of Mordechai Kaplan, who, through an anthropological lens, saw religions as historical-cultural responses and formations.

Difference is the key to understanding religion, not that religions do not share some common concerns. Moreover, grasping the differences is key to tolerance. Words like "Abrahamic" serve to mush together Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, setting aside the plurality within the three as much as they do the radical--at the root--differences among those mega-systems. It also excludes Hinudism, Paganism, etc., suggesting they have nothing in common with the "Abrahamics" (yuck), an exclusion which may have satisfied the former pope, but does nothing for me. Respect and grasp the differences, as much as you can.

I think that courses in Religious Studies (perhaps not comparative religion) are useful and constructive for all the reasons Dennett suggests. At a Catholic University, where I taught awhile ago, we offered Religious Studies courses, which were quite popular because, they were, in all honesty, wonderful, taught by talented faculty. One semester, a brilliant Latina, taking her second course with me, wished to do a research paper comparing and contrasting one branch of Hasidic Judaism with Evangelical Christianity. (She had taken Religious Studies.) Knowing that she was brilliant, I said nothing, awaiting her proposal. It was an amazing plan, and, in the end, we published the paper.

to jihadist
salam

please read surat 2 verse 251.
surat 2 verse 33-37

this life is none but a huge challenge and conflict (hopefully i,m useing the right termnology)
on the macro level as well as the micro level,

it take diferent forms and shapes but it boil down to one huge continues(till the day of judgement )challenge and conflict,

the name of the game and the contented gemmeni is truthhood vs falsehood.

you know father adam and mother eve were habitated in the most peacefull place ever(jana)

you know they were not sent to this planet earth to live and kiss each other good by and die?

life is a huge test.
and in order to pass the test you need to carry the truth,
truth vs false is writen in the dictionary of mankind since page one.

you know since day one on this planet earth mankind is challengeing and conflicting his felow mankind (remmber the 2 sons of adam),.

scripture aside,
donot you see the challenge and conflict around you ,around the clock?

I think that, way way back, when proto-humans started asking why things happened on a regular basis - but couldn't explain them - that we first developed the concept of a Deity. It was a way of explaining the unexplainable, or ensuring that a particular phenomenon would repeat itself if it were good, or not if it were bad. If you go out of your cave to hunt for meat, wouldn't it make sense to have someone dress up like a deer, dance around, and "call" the herd to you? Or to guarantee good weather, you would do a dance to keep the rain away? So, yes, you might say that all Human religions stem from a particular source.

In the Pagan community, there is a saying that "all Gods are one God, and all Goddesses are one Goddess." While all are aspects of the Unknowable Divine can be construed as one, the pathways to finding the Divine differ greatly. But, if you boil religions down to their ultimate roots, we're still out there trying to call the deer to us, keep away the predators, and make sure that the sun comes up the next morning.

Religion on a folk level, is cultural, and while there may be many human aspects of religion that are similar, the cultural variations are quite different, and this cultural variation is one of the main sources of conflict between religions, even religions that may seem very similar.

On a theological level, where committees of Priests seek to codify and legalize a system of religious thought, there can be vast differences between religions, since it is the theologian's job, to devise an answer and a reason for every single issue problem or question that anyone may ever think of or encounter in all of human existence, and since these theological legalities are mostly arbitrary, they can be very different from one religion to another, even if the religions may seem very similar.

For people that muse about their own religious experience, from an intellectual or philosophical perspective, there may be many similarities and even agreement; I think that this is what people must mean when they say that religions are all the same, or that many paths lead to the summit of the mountain.

The only problem is, that if someone feels this way about their own religion, they are cast out, and accused of heresy, apostasy and blasphemy. People who are really, really into the cultural and theological aspects of their religion, and unable to cope with the existence of other valid religious views, do not gladly identify themselves with these other groups, whom they see as competetors to be be beaten, vanguished, or destroyed, and whom they usually do not tolerate.

religion is not only the bigst challenge in this universe but the bigst conflict .

Posted by: mono1

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I'm not so sure WWI and WWII, the biggest conflict of the last century, is due to religous conflict. Nor am I too sure the Thai domestic Red Shirt-Yellow Shirt conflict is due to religion.

You are talking about frissons based on religious interpretations and differences sharpened and manipulated by political interest into religious flavoured conflicts?

Ah, how do we know other beings in other habitable worlds in the universe have religons and religious conflicts when we have not even set foot on Mars?

The biggest challenge in the universe is to find intelligent lifeforms. God knows there is none on earth.

Mono1 ...

... exhibit A in a study of religious mania, under the header, "don't let this happen to you" ...

(try again, with typo's corrected)

To the Moslems, the Catholics and the Protestants seem just the same. To the Japanese, the Moslems and the Christians seem just the same.

I think that in any number of religious formulations, there is a very weird similarity, but if I try and point it out to people, they just get mad.

To the Moslems, the Catholics and the Protestants seem just the same. To the Japanese, the Moslems and the Christians seem just the same.

I think that in any number of religious formulations, there is a very weird similarity, but if try and point it to people, the just get mad.

Asking if all religions are the same is like asking if all political/governing systems are the same.

Susan is absolutely correct here. Her answer is much more clear than the annoyingly vague answers provided by people like Jack Moline.

The United States is dominated generally by Christians and so I tend to discuss and argue religion generally with Christians of varying perspectives. However, on occasion I have found myself in discussions, conversations, arguments, and debates with Jews and Muslims as well. This week’s “On Faith” topic gives me the perfect opportunity to examine a surprising realization: Are all religions the same?

I have a great deal of respect for the Dalai Lama and for historian Karen Armstrong. It is understandable for these them to want to believe that all religions are essentially the same and for everyone in the world to abandon all conflicts and work together in peace and harmony for the good of all humankind. That sounds nice, but it obviously isn’t true.

You can read the rest of my response to this topic:
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-8928-Philadelphia-Atheism-Examiner~y2010m7d7-On-Faith-Are-all-religions-the-same

I will be responding to every issue posted in the 'On Faith' section. If you would like to be notified when my new response is up, please subscribe.

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

Aummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Amennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn..

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PEACE, PAZ, SHALOM, SALAAM, AHIMSA, ZHINGYU..
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..... Credit "JJ" http://onwapo.com

Of course religions are different. If they weren't how could it be that some believe in a single god, some in multiple gods and some others no gods at all. All religion is, is a system. A system of various beliefs that people have direct down differnt paths.

oneness of the creator.

there is one creator,
there is one creator god,
there is one religion of the creator god.

one more religion is a conflict
one less religion is a conflict
no religion is a conflict.

for so the creator god love the world he sent just one religion no more no less.

for good or for bad?
religion is not only the bigst challenge in this universe but the bigst conflict .

I only disagree with the last paragraph, and I'll try not to be naive about it. I think we can teach "about religion" in the public schools (may they survive and re-thrive), including about the core (not fringe) differences. Only there must be a simultaneous curriculum, and it's a curriculum of practice.

It would be something like: "How to Disagree Vigorously, Respectfully, Absolutely and Still be Friends." It would be a curriculum of non-violent communication (Marshall Rosenberg), Appreciative Inquiry (David Cooperrider) and Dialogue (several authors, including David Bohm).

We very much need that curriculum, AND to teach about the overlaps and the differences.

Religious instinct universal and necessary

As a whole mankind can never get rid of the need for some kind of religious self-identification: who am I, where did I come from, why am I responsible, what does my life mean, how will I face death? Religion is about the meaning of Being, about the meaning of the universe and our place in it.

But although the questions are universal but the answers are not. So religions are not all the same.

(My God! I agree with Susan Jacoby.)