When asked if he was a Hindu, Ghandi replied "Aye, and I am a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and Jew"
-wikipedia
Does this statement hold true for you as well?
2006-08-13 07:54:09 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
No. In fact, it is categorically impossible to be all of those things. It is because at least three of those religions--Christianity, Islam, and Judaism--have tenets that say that the followers must worship and acknowledge one true God...and they are not all the same God. (Yes, the God of the Old Testament is the same for Jews and Christians, but the son of God, Christ, changed all that for Christians. God is still God, but the Savior is "required.")
I understand where Ghandi was coming from. That is, I understand the sentiment. But, sorry to say--since I admire things about Ghandi--he was profoundly mistaken and utterly misinformed. One cannot be a Christian AND be anything else. One is a Christian or is not. One accepts Christ or does not. There is no middle way, no in-between.
Does the statement hold true for me? No. I am a Christian. There is no way to be anything else. I used to believe that "all religions were essentially the same" until I was given the gift of faith and learned, then, the essential difference of Christianity.
In any event, Ghandi was hoping to create peace among people of different religions by his statement--and he was also talking about himself, sort of. I mean, he was a Hindu. But he thought contention over religion was destroying peace. It was in India, for sure...and it does appear that way all over the world.
His mistake, though, was to assume that peace was somehow inherently better than strife. Neither is inherently better, but neither is inherently worse. This would take pages to explain fully, and I am not going to take pages. So, I will leave you with that thought, which you may explore if you wish.
2006-08-13 08:03:35 · answer #1 · answered by Gestalt 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I do believe that Gandhi was a better Christian than many I know. He believed the Bible and he lived it out. Gandhi may have meant that he agreed with the Hindu,Christian, Muslim, and Buddhist each to some extent.
While most religions have some truths that we can all agree on. . . I think the best I could do according to my understanding right now is to say that I am a Jew and a Christian as I believe all that the Jews believe in the Old Testament and of course the New Testament.
2006-08-13 15:11:59 · answer #2 · answered by cathyhewed1946 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Absolutley-- a friend of mine took a class in college taught by Elie Weisel (Nobel Peace Prize winner, Holocaust survivor, author of "Night") and he told my friend, "Steven, God is too big for there to be only one way to find him." I think that there is truth in all religions and it is up to us to find our own way to reach God.
I also like Ghandi's quote: "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
2006-08-13 15:00:21 · answer #3 · answered by Hugo Reyes 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, definitely! :) Nice to notice that you have discovered his wise words. All religions contain wisdom, truth and beauty in some form. Their wisdom comes from the same source, I believe.
2006-08-13 15:01:54 · answer #4 · answered by BonAqua Identity 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sort of. I am a truth seeker. I will always be such. Any man that finds his "truth" is no longer seeking and spends the rest of his life trying to defend his "truth".
2006-08-13 15:00:37 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋