Hey, perhaps it's about that time...?

Question

... to stop fighting over which religion is right, and just come to an agreement? It seems that fighting about it leads to more fighting. If we could get all religions to come to an agreement, would that end the fighting?

I know I'm not including everything here, but this is one of the many problems with the world that I think would slow the disagreements down a bit. No?

Keep in mind, I have a very vast knowledge of religions and their origins, particularly Christianity and Paganism.

I'm Pagan.

Answer 1

I agree. To really do that, the religious books must be exposed and denied.

Answer 2

I'm sorry, but I feel too comfortable fighting about something that isn't too personal to me. It prevents me from fighting about stuff that actually hurts me. Ok, I'm selfish and I hate change. It's a gradual process, and it's not easy to get EVERYONE to shut up. One person keeps on talking, and then everyone else starts to join in. You can't just make everyone come to an agreement. What the hell do we agree to? What religious aspects would we keep and what would we discard? Out of the THOUSANDS of religions out there, how do you reach a compromise? It's not simply two sides fighting. It's a billion sides or something. Humans are not advanced enough to figure that out. It's like trying to condense the entire history of religion into a tissue box. Impossible.

Answer 3

I grew up believing that I would see the day that people would live and let live. More than half of my life is passed and I'm having doubts that it will ever come. But I still have a little hope that it will happen---and I'm not alone. All I can do is to foster tolerance in my little corner of the world. Who knows? Maybe if there are enough of us that do this I may be able to see it in my lifetime!

Answer 4

You ignore the thing that makes religion significant in peoples lives--faith. People have faith in what their religion teaches them about god.
For instance, I'm a Christian and in the Bible Jesus says: "I am the way, the truth, the life, no one comes to the Father but by me." And in Acts Paul says: "Salvation is found in no one else, (referring to Christ) for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
The exclusivity of Christ is THE major tenant of Christianity but you are asking Christians to give this up, no longer have faith in Christ, and, for all intents and purposes, destroy Christianity altogether so we can "agree" with all other religions? And after we do this what are we supposed to believe then? Anything? Nothing?
Which god do we believe in? In spite of what you may think, the religions of the earth do not all worship the same god. These religions have diametrically opposing views of who God is, what he does, how he functions, his personality, what he demands (if anything) of his followers. So, how are we going to agree on which idea of god to follow?
I don't expect, by any stretch of the imagination, that everyone on earth is going to become a Christian. That is a decision that is strictly between them and God. I, however, am not going to give up Christ in order to promote a vacant, vacuous, pointless faith in who knows what just to get people to agree about religion.
It isn't religion that causes fighting--it's people. When you can change human nature then you will stop the fighting. Unfortunately, that will never happen this side of eternity.

Answer 5

I believe that at the core, religions are different cultural languages for one universal truth. It is only the superficial adherants that butt heads and fight over dogma and which part of the elephant they have their hand on.
In that last bit I am refering to the Buddhist parable of the blind men grasping the elephant. Each one describes the elephant differently because one has hold of the trunk, another the leg and the third has the tail. None of them have the vision to see that they are experiencing different aspects of a single entity.

Answer 6

You are very right. Unfortunately, the only way to achieve that is to drop religion as an outdated model for society, and let it be something purely personal. But most people don't want that; they want the whole society molded to fit their beliefs. (e.g. Sabbath, Sharia Law, Anti-abortion, Anti-euthanasia, anti-evolution teaching).

read Sam Harris: The end of Faith.

Answer 7

Great idea. The problem is it would probably involve letting go of all of our collective superstitions; that's not likely to happen. People need to believe in something greater than themselves (who knows why). We'll never be free of war nor will we ever mature as a species until we give up our gods.

Answer 8

You think very well and applaud your effort. Sadly, though, I must advise for you not to get your hopes up: humans naturally love conflict. It is just built into our nature.

If there were more people in the world with your mentality, the world would be much better off...

Answer 9

I wish it were possible. Even though I'm an atheist, I try and respect all religions. Unfortunately every one has it's own share of fundies, who just twist their religion to try and justify their own hatred and intolerance. We should all try and get along.

Answer 10

"Can't we all just get along?"

well, no, we can't. never have, never will.

Your question "would that end alot of the fighting if we stopped arguing?"
of course it would.

But the human heart is desperately wicked, in constant struggle with itself and this boils over into relationships with others.

god bless