Which religions is best for me?

Question

I am looking for a religion to live my life by. I've only given consideration to the BIG three: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. But have problems with all three. Can you shed some light on these problems:

Judaism-- seems a little too exclusive and stuck on heritage...i hear i have to jump through hoops to convert into the religion but had my mom been Jewish I'd be accepted w/out question. that sounds a little racist.

Christianity--I'm into monotheism, and the Trinity concept seems to go against that. As I understand it, God, Son (Jesus) and Holy Ghost are all God...just in three different forms? Christianity anthropomorphizes God too much for comfort.

Islam-is too strict. living happily in America almost seems impossibe if u want to be a good muslim. plus, Muslims are always under attack by the other two religions...i don't want to join a religion and feel i have to defend it...that went out with the Great Prophets...lol

Answer 1

You should go with Islam by virtue of the fact that it's the least popular...In all the Bible stories the ostracized people were always the good ones (ahem, Jesus on that cross)....Good is never the popular option, u know.

Answer 2

Your problem with Judaism seems to be with the organization, the religion itself rather than what it believes. If you believe Judaism is true, you can follow the tenets of that religion even if you don't join the "club."

Christians are often criticized by other monotheists for the Trinity, but Christianity is no less monotheistic. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all God expressing himself in different ways to us. I also have to disagree that Christianity anthropomorphizes God-- while it's true that God became man in the form of Jesus, God himself is far greater than this. The old bearded man is a product of pop culture, not Biblical teachings. The Bible shows God to be the all powerful, all knowing, all loving creator of the universe, who could just as easily reveal himself as a rock or a tree as a human. Jesus was human merely because God was trying to reach humans.

Islam is strict because of the interpretations that have since been made of the Koran, and many of these are arbitrary. If you follow the actual Koran, in my opinion, it is not so strict. Mohammed himself said that the spirit of his teachings is more important than their literal meaning-- when he says to begin fasting at sunrise, this is a guideline, and he does not intend for Muslims to sit, watching the sun and begin the fast at the moment the sun rises.

You say that Muslims are always under attack from the other two religions, but this you will find everywhere. No matter what you believe, you will have to, from time to time, defend it. You can decline to then, of course, but there are always those who will challenge your beliefs, no matter what you belief.

Answer 3

I would suggest you read the books of those faiths before you ask others to choose for you. I was in the same situation, and my parents let me choose from my own free will on which religion to choose. I read books from almost every major faith: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Shintoism, Taoism, Budhism, Bahaism, even satanism and wiccanism.

After reading these, I came to a conclusion on my own to choose my faith. Only through reading the faith's books can you decide for yourself.

I chose Islam, btw, and don't believe what you see or hear from the media. I live a normal life in the US, just the same as anyone from any other faith. Although bigots and prejudice people do raise problems here, that's no reason not to be a Muslim. It's the reward of teaching them about love and peace that makes Islam all worth while. Most are only judging Islam from what they've heard, rather than what they've learned on their own.

Even if you choose not to be a Muslim, you will still make it to heaven. We believe that Jews and Christians will also go to heaven with us too, because we all worship the same God. Even those who have no religion will make it to heaven, if they do good deeds and spread peace. My faith teaches, that even those who have an ounce of good in their hearts will be rewarded in the hereafter, regardless of their faith or belief. Yes, that means that every person of the world, regardless of their religion will go to heaven, as long as they do good deads for their fellow mankind and choose peace over violence.

Salaam (Peace), brother.

Answer 4

"Christianity--I'm into monotheism, and the Trinity concept seems to go against that. As I understand it, God, Son (Jesus) and Holy Ghost are all God...just in three different forms?"

The concept of the Trinity, one God who has revealed Himself to mankind in three persons, goes beyond our limited human understanding. But then again, if we could understand God, then he would be just a "god", you know?

"Christianity anthropomorphizes God too much for comfort."

Don't confuse recognizing the teaching in the Bible that tells us that God is a personal God and that WE are created in His image with making God out to be like a man.

Christians recognize that we have some of the attributes of God in an imperfect and finite sense. That's a whole lot different from saying that God is like us.

But as to your question, you can choose to be a member of Judaism of Islam, but you cannot "choose" to be a true Christian. Jesus said that no one could come to Him unless the Father drew them. It is God who chooses us, we don't get to choose Him.

Still, the mystery of salvation is almost as great as the mystery of the concept of the Trinity. If you are seeking God then it could very well be that this is a response on your part to His calling you to Him.

Answer 5

Hi Honey! OK, I am not preacher, a priest, minister or etc. but I can tell you what I would do if I were you. If I were you I would do a long soul search and decide what is important in your life and were you stand on your personal opinions and what your views are. Then, if you need more information, find someone from each religion and discuss how you feel with them. Each and every person has to find out for themselves what is meant for them.

I don't know about Judaism or Islam but I do know some about Christianity and if you want I would share my views with you on that. Just e-mail me at [e-mail] with something in relation to this and I will give you my im name and we can talk if you want.
Good Luck and I hope you find what you are looking for. Best wishes!!

Answer 6

Well, if your going to pick one out of the three don't because choosing a religion is not a choose of oh I got to, its a case of if you belief that is right. So get the holy books of the three and read them what ever you think is the most logical and wisest one is the one for you. If you have problems with all them of them there no reason why you can't believe in some of the teaching from one book and then another. I had a girlfriend who believed in the asian gods / beleifs (sp) but still visited church to pray on a sunday.

Answer 7

a lot of ppl misunderstand the concept of trinity. there's lots of examples to illustrate this.

bend ur index finger. u can see the 3 parts of the finger -GOd the Father,GOd the Son and GOd the Holy spirit. but one finger-One GOd.

all 3 are equally powerful and cant' exist w/o the other just like time.

for time u have -past, present and future.it's kind of hard to separate them but it's under time.(one GOd)

humans are limited in their understanding so we can't put the infinite GOd in a box

Hope this will clear the concept of trinity.

For those seeking GOd,i would say why not take a neutral position and ask the CREATOR who made you (all 3 religions would agree God is the creator) to guide you to the right path.

God will be found by those who earnestly seek him.

Good luck and GOd bless!

Answer 8

Christianity is the completion of the Covenant relationship with the creator that was started with the Jews. Jesus, the founder of Christianity, claims to be the promised Jewish Messiah. Because the Jews rejected Jesus Christ, God has opened the door to any person who will accept Jesus to have a personal relationship with God. We accept God as he has revealed himself to us. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem and look forward to the day when they recognize their Messiah.

Judaism is what is left of the Laws handed down by Moses after God's chosen people have rejected their own promised messiah. They are still waiting for their messiah, and the Bible says they are partially blinded (that Jesus really is their messiah) until the fullness of the Gentiles (non-Jews) have responded to the messiah. So their rejection of Jesus means salvation for the whole world. But God will not forget them and will open their eyes during the tribulation period and they will be saved.

Islam was the result of Abraham and Sarah trying to fulfill God's promise of a son by having sex with the maidservant, instead of waiting for God's promised child from his wife Sarah. God had already promised Abraham that his seed would become a great multitude. The bondservant and her child were forced out of the camp of Abraham after God's promised child was born. Islam is the result of the bondservant's descendents feeling rejected by Abraham's God. Along came a natural born fighter named Mohammed and Islam was born. God said the children of the bondservant (man's way) would always be at odds against the child of the promise (God's way). They are still fighting against God's chosen people and the true God and they are going to lose.

Answer 9

Hmmm.... I guess you don't even need to check into being a member of the Chuch of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints...(Mormon)...

we believe that God is the Father, Jesus is His Son (and also God in the Old Testament)... and then you have the Holy Spirit...

but we have MORE yet!!! *GriN* ... WE are ALL Spirit children of God... and we used to live with Him in Heaven...

we just came here to earth to receive the gift of a body... and to be tested to see if we would do all that God commands us to do...

Hmmm... oh... and .... We have a LIVING Prophet on the earth today!!!

ok... had enough? if not.. you can read about us... and you can see our Scriptures at:

http://scriptures.lds.org/

or you can just listen.. or watch video from links at the home page:

http://lds.org/

Answer 10

The question arises only when you desperately want to join one. Your question reflects your knowledge of various religions. I would rather suggest you to further study what all these religions want to accomplish in long run, to which destination these religions are trying to drive, what social goals they have ?
Is it not possible to live a peaceful and happy life without belonging to any religion ? Humanity, brotherhood, kindness, forgiving, respecting others, committing no crime, not causing trouble to others, helping others, earning living by lawful means , all such virtues, no religion can refute. All these good habits / virtues can be practiced / cultivated without belonging to any religion. One not so good thing about established religions is that their compulsion of outdated / useless / rituals and rites which are irrelevant in current age. They offer only package deal and expect loyalty which means closing your eyes and switching your brain off. My point is take good part from every religion and practice it. Why to worry about / stick to a branded religion ? Get the contents and throw away the container.

Answer 11

Muslims are always under attack by the other two religions, huh? Wow, that's news to me! I guess you haven't heard about the 9-ll attacks or the other terrorist attacks against this country, or perhaps what they think about us "infidels". I suppose you also forgot that the Jews were targeted during Hitler's reign. I guess you didn't hear about all of the Christians who were killed during the reign of many Jewish, Roman & Pagan leaders in world history.

This is a bogus question. Figure it out yourself.