Are All Religions One?

[Erebos]

Something that came up on the thread about all gods being One was whether all religions are the same at the core, and are paths do the same place. How do you feel about this?

My personal feeling is that religions are like languages in that they are arbitrary systems unique to certain groups of people, yet each one is a different way of expressing the same deeper concepts. Like languages, religions can influence each other, as English is comes from German and French, while French comes from Latin and German comes from earlier Saxon languages. Christianity comes from Judaism and Mediterranean mystery cults, Islam builds on both Judaism and Christianity, ancient Greek religion comes from the Near East and Egypt, and so on. I like the language analogy because different religions can express the same ideas through a different cultural sign/symbolic system like French and English can express the same ideas very differently.

[Phoenix Blue]

Are all religions one? Nope. I don't think all religions even espouse the same message, not when you look at, say, the history of the Middle Eastern religions and their exclusivity versus the more accommodating views of the Far Eastern religions.

[mouseytalons]

Are all religions one? Nope. I don't think all religions even espouse the same message, not when you look at, say, the history of the Middle Eastern religions and their exclusivity versus the more accommodating views of the Far Eastern religions.

Are all religions one? Nope. I agree with you here. I have sen that some religions share parts of the same message. Some religions are very exclusive, I agree with this. I also agree may religions are more accomodating.
Some religions do share parts of the same message. For an example; Christianity, Judaism, and Islam ,(in my opinion) are 3 seemingly have nothing to do with the same message, however, they all preach a single god that demands his exclusive worship, all point to Abraham as the father of their religion (2 claim Issac, as their brother, while the other claims Ishmael as their founder). Abraham was the father of both founders, howerver they did not share mothers.
I have found many religions are much more accomodating. I have found most religions have their rules, commandments, etc., but some are far more lenient than others. Some are far more accepting of other faiths, gender identities, and lifestyles than others.
I do believe despite the vast differences, that all eventually lead us to the same core, True Spirituality. The Journey is what we call religion, helping lead us to true spiritual discovery, provided, despite some teachings (which forbid spiritual questioning), that we question, and explore the answers.
These are all just my opinions and beliefs, I pray it helps. I also hope that this is not offending.
Blessings.

[Euronymous]

Not a chance.

The differing gods and practices of the various religions in the world lead to very different things. I just can't see how they can all be the same.

[Moon_reaper]

All religions are not the same, but they can have similarities with each other.

[Shanti]

Religion in itself is man made.
So no.

Paths, beliefs, IMO are not all the same either as I believe we dont all come from the same spiritual thread on the same fabric. Their are many realms out there and IMO we can come from any of them. No one is better than another. They are just different.

Thats how I believe all paths are real. For some a heaven does exist. For others it doesn't. Not all from the same realm. Not all planning on going to the same realm when we are free once again.

[Astucity]

I do not feel that all religions are the same, however, I remember when I was 7 or 8, I asked my mother if heaven was real.

She said yes and asked me what I thought.

I said that I believed that if you believe in heaven, you'll go there, but, if you believe something else, that's where you'll end up.

She said that was a very nice thought. Lol.

I do believe though that all paths lead to the same place, it's just doing what you feel comfortable with in getting there.

[Fiamma]

Something that came up on the thread about all gods being One was whether all religions are the same at the core, and are paths do the same place. How do you feel about this?

No. If they were all the same, well...they would be all the same. It wouldn't matter what religion anyone picked, and no one would agonize over having to leave a religion that was wrong for them or trying to find the right one.

[Shaedema]

To an extent I believe that they are the same-I believe that they each come from a single source they each carry a piece of the whole that they came from. That being said I certainly don't view them as the same. Each is a culture's/race's/people's interpretation of what that piece says. And since that means religions are different the destinations are different as well. At least from the believer's perspective. A Christian will go to their heaven and yet see me in their hell. While I'm pretty sure that I will end up in some warm environment...I'm still not sure where everyone else will end up. :bigredgri

[mouseytalons]

I found a relatively good definition of the word religion on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion. This should help with the distinction between religion and spirituality.
In my experience religion will make me run the opposite direction.
A cool definition of spirituality is found on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/spirituality.
In my experience will draw me closer to the true realities of the universe.

[Ariste]

No, I think all religions are only the same in that they are all bullshit. I think each person should have their own spirituality and anyone that lets a book or another person dictate their beliefs is truly missing out.

[Gaudior]

I don't believe all religions are one. Though, I suppose you could say they all share the same thing, and that is looking for God or the Divine in some way, whichever way that may be.

[Æon Flux]

In the sense that they all require you to have faith without proof, yes. They are all the same.

In the basic message. Some are and some aren't.

Some are focused on pleasing deities, some are focused on becoming a generally better person, some are focused on melting away your ego and yourself, some are focused on retaining your soul intact for eternity.
Most of them take the assumption that you're sinful by nature though, and a lot of them take the assumption they are the only true way.

Islam, Judaism and Christianity are all three branches of the Abrahamic religion. They have the same basis, they only prescribe to different main prophets, Judaism's main prophet is still to come. The only religion of the three that actually have historical support for their main player, so to speak, is Islam.

They are usually based in the same fears, but facets of different cultures. All in all I think it's, more or less, a lot more they have in common than others want to believe.

And, as previously stated, spirituality and religion is not the same thing. The dogmatic messages of religion tends to be extremely similar.

In general the basic gist is the same, it's just been adapted differently in different cultures. Some things work for some people, others doesn't. One interesting thing is the conversion of the Norse countries and how they, when they were eventually converted into Christian nations held on to it much shorter than many others. A lot of them are now atheistic in nature, or have reverted back to the old believes. The holidays such as Christmas and Easter is not celebrated as religious holidays so much as it is celebrated as festivals. Christmas is a time to feats of food and spirits, to get some light in the unrelenting darkness. Easter is for celebrating the return of spring. Midsummer is still a celebration in Sweden.

I'd say that what religion is, is dogma. The flavor of the dogma is dependent on the culture it is in, and not all flavors will work well in a different culture.

[mouseytalons]

In the sense that they all require you to have faith without proof, yes. They are all the same.

In the basic message. Some are and some aren't.

Some are focused on pleasing deities, some are focused on becoming a generally better person, some are focused on melting away your ego and yourself, some are focused on retaining your soul intact for eternity.
Most of them take the assumption that you're sinful by nature though, and a lot of them take the assumption they are the only true way.

Islam, Judaism and Christianity are all three branches of the Abrahamic religion. They have the same basis, they only prescribe to different main prophets, Judaism's main prophet is still to come. The only religion of the three that actually have historical support for their main player, so to speak, is Islam.

They are usually based in the same fears, but facets of different cultures. All in all I think it's, more or less, a lot more they have in common than others want to believe.

And, as previously stated, spirituality and religion is not the same thing. The dogmatic messages of religion tends to be extremely similar.

In general the basic gist is the same, it's just been adapted differently in different cultures. Some things work for some people, others doesn't. One interesting thing is the conversion of the Norse countries and how they, when they were eventually converted into Christian nations held on to it much shorter than many others. A lot of them are now atheistic in nature, or have reverted back to the old believes. The holidays such as Christmas and Easter is not celebrated as religious holidays so much as it is celebrated as festivals. Christmas is a time to feats of food and spirits, to get some light in the unrelenting darkness. Easter is for celebrating the return of spring. Midsummer is still a celebration in Sweden.

I'd say that what religion is, is dogma. The flavor of the dogma is dependent on the culture it is in, and not all flavors will work well in a different culture.

I agree that religion and spirituality are NOT the same thing. I am just amazed at how many people readily get this fact confused, by believing that they are. My question: Did the schools quit teaching the public how to use a dictionary or thesaurus?
I also agree that religion is (as you say) dogma. It is man-made rules, traditions, and philosophies.
Spirituality (to me) is the constant search for the unseen world and it's wonders.

[Greenwolf]

Something that came up on the thread about all gods being One was whether all religions are the same at the core, and are paths do the same place. How do you feel about this?

My personal feeling is that religions are like languages in that they are arbitrary systems unique to certain groups of people, yet each one is a different way of expressing the same deeper concepts. Like languages, religions can influence each other, as English is comes from German and French, while French comes from Latin and German comes from earlier Saxon languages. Christianity comes from Judaism and Mediterranean mystery cults, Islam builds on both Judaism and Christianity, ancient Greek religion comes from the Near East and Egypt, and so on. I like the language analogy because different religions can express the same ideas through a different cultural sign/symbolic system like French and English can express the same ideas very differently.

I love your posts Erebos! I think all religions come from the same source like all people come from the same relative ancestory if you go back far enough however no two people are the same not even identical twins and no two views on the same religion are exactly the same even with two devout believers so even though the core, the essence, the ancestery if you go back far enough comes from the same bloodline so to speak no two religions are the same. This is because as has been said religion is man made. We tell our stories to our children and our friends to explain and work out how we veiw the dieties how they bring meaning to us. This same stories don't work for different people the same story doesn't even work for the same person all the time; look at how many of us have changed religions and how our belief structures have changed as we grow and learn. We adapt what works and discard what doesn't. The best part of growing is changing the best part of changing is growing people grow at different rates and in different ways which is why like dress sizes or shoes one size doesn't fit all or even most.

Hope that makes sense! :hahugh:

[Greenwolf]

I agree that religion and spirituality are NOT the same thing. I am just amazed at how many people readily get this fact confused, by believing that they are. My question: Did the schools quit teaching the public how to use a dictionary or thesaurus?
I also agree that religion is (as you say) dogma. It is man-made rules, traditions, and philosophies.
Spirituality (to me) is the constant search for the unseen world and it's wonders.

Yes to all of the above! :toofless:

[mouseytalons]

Yes to all of the above! :toofless:

Thank You. I thought I was the only one seeing this trend.

[~*Sacred*~]

I don't think all religions are one, because religions very in many degrees. However I think all religions try to strive for the same basic meanings.

[Sundragon]

No, they're not. This isn't because Deity is not One...which I believe, as a monist and a panentheist, It is...but because every religion is a singular cultural expression of the spiritual impulse. This culture can be smallish (like we Pagans) or vast (like Christianity) but the common denominator is that religion serves the needs of a certain group.

People seek religion because it provides an anchor for their natural spiritual impulse. Religion offers a metaphysical understanding of reality, a cosmology of spirit and a way in which to interpret spiritual experiences that allows them to be made more sensible.

For me, religion is an aesthetic, a sensibility. My aesthetic is Pagan, Wiccan specifically in that I resonate with the manner in which Deity is perceived within the Wiccan framework...loosely. I am also influenced by Taosim, Buddhism, Hinduism and Esoteric Christianity and each of these has contributed to my spiritual perception. My connection to Wicca is nearly impossible to articulate because it is a sensibility that has nothing to do with logic or proof.

I think all religions, because they are merely lenses through which we attempt to perceive the ineffable, are wrong. They are all wrong because no single cultural millieu can possibly contain the fullness of Deity. They are tools, superstructures that can allow one to safely experience the Divine in a way sensible to one's culture and time. But because they are superstructures of belief the can also be very limiting.

Eventually I belive the goal is to transcend religion altogether, to move beyond the need for forms and to experience the Divine directly. Even if one chooses a faith at this point, it is in the knowledge that it its all a play with no one actor being any more 'real' than another and with all actors sharing the same essential essence.

This is the heart of esoteric religion.


)o( Blessed Be,

Sundragon

[NightEve]

This is what I personally believe, but I will quote an author to demonstrate it as I am not as eloquent,

”All of the religions of the world are like individual pearls. Each of them formed around a different grain of sand, in different waters, under different conditions. But if you ask me which is the true pearl, I will tell you that none of them are the one true pearl. Instead, the truth is the thread that runs through, holding them together as a necklace, and that is the one truth you seek.”

[DiscordianKitten]

I think all gods and all religions are one in the same sense that all children in a family are one. They may perhaps have had the same origins at some point, but they are each unique

[herbal_legends]

:uhhuhuh: They're all aiming for the same thing in their own unique ways.
Many paths for one truth.

[Proteus]

If we started at the same place we can surely take different paths. Rome was a long time ago. All religions are different and there are as many religions as people.

[Umbress]

This is what I personally believe, but I will quote an author to demonstrate it as I am not as eloquent,

”All of the religions of the world are like individual pearls. Each of them formed around a different grain of sand, in different waters, under different conditions. But if you ask me which is the true pearl, I will tell you that none of them are the one true pearl. Instead, the truth is the thread that runs through, holding them together as a necklace, and that is the one truth you seek.”


Beautifully said

Each pearl is different as is each religion and each person with in that religion, and even those who are not part of any religion or path. All beings are different but we are all connected by a thread of truth

[antiquitas]

I do believe that all religions come from the same original shared human ability of abstract thought. There may be no 'original religion', but there certainly was a shared belief in our earliest ancestors of some sort of 'other life'....
Just as all humans now exhibit different characteristics from millennia of separation and yet are all still human, so to are evolved religions at their core the same.

[MoonChild78]

So to me and totally IMO its like this:

A Whopper, A Big Mac and a Double Cheeseburger are similar but are essentially still meat on a bun.

That's what I think of religion and where it ends up. :thumbsup:

It's all kinda the same but then very different in other ways but in the end, we still are praying to god even though we call it something different.

[Kern]

No, and Ive never understood the little bumper stickers and paraphernalia that claim they are.