What has your religion done for Humanity ?

Question

After all if God allowed your religion to flourish, it must have expected something in return for the humanity

Please tell me as Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, sikh... what is the gift of your religion to the Humanity ??

Thanks and good wishes

And Yes Atheists are also invited..what atheism has done for the humanity

Thanks Julia, serene and oyvey223
that is certainly a good point u made

It like Islam gave a special architecture teqnique, a sort of astrology/astronomy and christians presented lot of inventions and discoveries.

Answer 1

Hinduism represent an ancient civilization not known either to draw a boundary between the faithful and the faithless, the blessed and the damned, or to engage in heresy hunting and its counterpart, persecution of other faiths. J. Abbe Dubois, (1765-1848) French missionary, has said that India is:

"the only nation perhaps in the universe which has never sunk into barbarism, and which...may deserve to fix the attention of the philosopher."

(source: Colonial Indology: Sociopolitics of the Ancient Indian Past - By Dilip K. Chakrabarti p. 87

It does not believe in concepts of proselytization, heresy hunting, Holy wars, proclamation of chosen people or a jealous God. Hinduism is an inclusive faith which provides for every form of religious experience and belief; there can by no heresy or Kufr in Hinduism.

"The Bhagavad Gita, with a clear grasp of the historical, warns us against taking away the psychological comfort of people by unsettling their faith."

According to the Bhagavad Gita, even those who worship other gods (anyadevatah), ancestral deities, elemental powers, if they do so with faith, then their faith is justified, for the Divine accepts every form conceived by the worshipper.

Man is not born as a sinner in Hinduism. "Each soul is potentially divine."

Freedom was born in India. Doubt, the mother of freedom, was born with the Rig Veda, the most sacred scripture of the Hindus which has the following:

What are words, and what are mortal thoughts!
Who is there who truly knows and who can say,|
Whence this unfathomed world
And from what cause!

Freedom of the mind created the wondrous world of the intellect — the world of Hindu rishis, philosophers, poets and dramatists.

India has had an unrivalled tradition of religious freedom and tolerance. That tradition was born of the consciousness that truth can never be the monopoly of any one sect or creed.

Infinite tolerance is the hallmark of Hinduism. The first statement of tolerance in Hinduism comes from the Rig Veda and the Bhagavad Gita:

"Let good thoughts come to us from all sides" or "The truth is one but the wise call it by many names" or Lord Krishna saying that "Whoever invokes a deity by whatever name, it is Me he invokes"

(source: Ayodhya and After - By Koenraad Elst Voice of India SKU: INBK2650 p.238).

The Rishis (sages) realized that each man had to work out his own salvation and that everyone's own spiritual experience is vital to the attainment of the ultimate state of the soul's evolution. A blind obedience to authority is the surest prescription for spiritual paralysis.

Hinduism allows absolute freedom to the rational mind of man. Hinduism never demands any undue restraint upon the freedom of human reason, the freedom of thought, feeling and will of man. Dogmatism, on the other hand, stifles mental elasticity and turns people into "psychological antiques." In Hinduism, the attitude of freedom and generosity to other faiths is bound up with the conviction that the religious life has its source and certainty in the eternal deeps of man's soul.

(source: Eastern Religions & Western Thought - By S. Radhakrishnan p. 288).

Tolerance: This basic feature of Hindu religion which separates it from revealed religions believing in the finality of their revelations as a fundamental doctrine. While Lord Krishna says in the Gita:

Ye yathaa maam prapadyante
Taamstathaiva bhajaamyaham.


Hindus were the first to discover that truth had many facets. They, therefore, never committed the error of imagining, as some people did, that they knew the ultimate truth, and that no further enquiry was required.

The genius of Hinduism is assimilative. Puritanism is alien to its life and thought. It never opposed scientific enquiry.

The distinguishing feature of Hinduism is pluralism combined with freedom of choice. Further, Hinduism recognizes no intermediary or prophet as standing between man and God. It has none of baggage of exclusivism expressed through a prophetic medium.

Freedom of choice – distinguishes pluralistic Hinduism from other Semitic religions. In the Hindu tradition, one is free to choose, question and reject. A Hindu faces no dire consequences even if he rejects the Vedas as false.

Secularism is a practice of extremely long standing in India – going back to the Vedic times. Secularism evolved in Europe as as a humanistic movement which had at its goal the removal of religious authority from the affairs of the state. The idea of a secular form of government – with priestly authority separated from the affairs of the state – is a relatively recent development in Europe.

Samuel Huntington of the Clash of Civilizations fame writes, "Only in Hindu civilization were religion and politics so distinctly separated. "

The history of religions illustrates the tragic effect of intolerant and exclusive faiths. God has no special favorites. God as a jealous one and there will be no peace in the religious world.

The enormous freedom of mind and beliefs , to chose, to reject, to seek ,to grow and respect to all and yet follow own Dharma (Code of life)...........

Hinduism has always been gracious to the followers of non-Hindu religions, and respectful of the gods, scriptures and customs of others. The tolerance and openness of Hinduism has been historically unprecedented among the wider community of world religions, universally acclaimed, and very well attested.

The classical, traditional Hinduism that had been responsible for the continuous development of thousands of years of sophisticated culture, architecture, music, philosophy, ritual and theology.

In India, for thousands of years, one type of worship or way of realization of God never infringed upon other gods. It was because of this reason that the Indian mindset was moulded/shaped by the rishis [great teachers] who presented a worldview of lokah samasta sukhino vabantu and proclaimed the unity and oneness of God. That is why there are four authoritative texts of the Hindus—Vedas, adhering to the message of monism/Advaitam/unitarianism or the strong foundation of monotheism. Hence, each Veda proclaimed the message of monotheism of first degree without any obscurity: Rig Veda proclaims pranjanam Brahma; Yajur Veda highlights aham Brahmasmi; Sama Veda announces tatvamasi; and Atharva Veda confirms ayammathma Brahma.

Hindu prayer starts with

"Sarve bhavantu sukhinh , sarve bhavantu niramyah"

(let all of us be content, let all of us be healthy"), with motto "vasudhaiv kutumbkam" (whole earth is one family).

What else a religion itself can do for humanity ......besides being humane and giving ample lattitude to growth of mind and intellect according to one's own capacity!

Answer 2

Plenty.

For starters, it pushed the idea that men and women are equal -- something that was unheard-of in much of the world at that time.

Over the centuries it has been the patron of art, science, medicine, and literature. Without this religion, the great classic works of the Renaissance would never have survived to our time, for our benefit and enjoyment.

My religion has also served as the biggest provider of humanitarian aid and service the world has ever seen.

It has fed, given water to, housed, healed, counseled, and educated more people than any other organization you'll find.

It has also propagated teachings which, if followed, are guaranteed to avert things like murder and theft and war and racism and sexually transmitted diseases. (Whether we choose follow those teachings or not is another matter.)

I'm speaking, of course, about the Roman Catholic Church.

Answer 3

A lot of religions have flourished because if followed properly and with sincerety all direct mankind to lead simpler lives which won't end in self-destruction and destruction of our environment.

Vaisnavism teaches:
1. You are not the body, you are an eternal spirit soul - purpose - don't misidentify yourself with gross material nature and wrongly try to satisfy your material needs - it won't be possible and at the very least it won't last very long.

2. Use sex for the right purpose - within marriage and then only for begetting God conscious offspring rather than continuing your lust within marriage and breeding like rabbits with no opportunity to educate them all in the way of truth - why? - sex within marriage minimises disease and controlling your lust enhances your opportunities of serving God and humanity.

3. It encourages a more natural lifestyle - simple living/high thinking. We don't need all the modern conveniences to live a fuller life - the happiest people on earth presently are not those from the developed/rich nations as one survey pointed out.

4.It doesn't teach a hodge-podge of ideas from different religions and faiths (including humanism and science) - it doesn't ask for blind following but instead encourages intelligent enquiry and application.

5. Most importantly my religion blows away all the modern day teachers and gurus who mislead people and fleece them off their hard earned money - it has given them a simple prayer free of charge which can help them to rebuild their relationship with God. None of this business of some mystic teachings, secret mantras for a price, impossible physical postures, hodge-podge of religious and modern educational material which doesn't make any sense etc.

What is this religion: it is Vaisnavism - the original root of Hinduism - the original religion of mankind - the eternal duty of mankind.

Answer 4

Atheists are the only ones with enough sense to tell people they are living in a dream world by following religion. I think most atheists believe this:
"If you want to believe in fair tales, fine, go right ahead. But don't think you are completely right about everything. Don't think you are morally superior to everyone else. And really don't think you can use 'god' as an excuse to rape, pillage, plunder and brainwash."
And that's just my opinion.

Answer 5

I'm Jewish. We invented the seven day week. We invented monotheism. The first followers of Jesus were Jews, so we created Christianity. We make up one fifth of one percent of the world's population, but we've around 20% of Nobel prizes.

Answer 6

My religion is merely one statement. What goes around comes around. Some call it karma, some call it the golden rule.

What has it done for humanity? It's individual, but people haven't had their rights infringed upon by me.

I think more people should move away from organized cults and just follow karma/the golden rule/what goes around comes around.

Answer 7

Christianity teaches people to "Love your neighbour as you love yourself" Christians try to help others as much as possible and do what is right. Because of our beliefs our actions will be better for humanity.
There are many famous Christians who BECAUSE OF THEIR RELIGION have helped people. Mother Teresa helped many people throughout the world. Martin Luther King's protests worked because he followed the bible and did them peacefully.
It is because of religion that people help humanity. Without we do not need to help others. All God wants in return is praise and for us to acknowledge him and follow him.

Answer 8

I've just started my religion so I can't say just yet. In a week or two go to myspaces on msn and look for Emperor John. You can be my disciples. Cheers folks

Answer 9

started most of the wars for the past 2000 years

Answer 10

Religion has done nothing................but Jesus did it all..........John 3:16 For God so loved the WORLD that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in HIM shall not perish but have everlasting life

Answer 11

I think it wasn't God who let religion to flourish...It was the faith...this capacity that we, humans, have to believe in God.