How about we find the similarities in all Religions?

Question

Does your religion teach tolerance?
Does your religion accept that others have different beliefs?
Do the members in your religion help other faiths survive?
Is the purpose of your religion understanding of the truth?
Can a person attend your church without being of you faith?

Answer 1

my religion teaches tollerance and empathy for others
my religion does not want to change anyone , infact they welcome other faiths to their services ( people often have my religion as a second religion )
my religion respects that in essence all religions give hope
the purpose of my religion is a little different in matters of truth... truth is what makes sense to us ... even in our teachings it asks that if it does not fit with your own logic then to discard it
all are welcome

Answer 2

Yes, good idea. Let's look at the similarities between religions...

1) They all believe in invisible magic friends or some kind of supernatural being, usually several of them.
2) They all believe they are right and everybody else is wrong. Or if they think that others are part of the same "path", they still think theirs is the most inclusive and therefore most right.
3) They tend to breed intolerance because they heighten in-group thinking.
4) Most of them (even Buddhism) has a history of oppression and violence.
5) They make claims of absolute truth without a shred of real evidence and promote faith over reason.
6) While they may claim tolerance, it usually only extends to the point that they think others might be converted.
7) They tend to use emotional manipulation of human insecurities to promote themselves.

Answer 3

Most religions teach self-improvement.
I'm not sure there is One Truth. That idea is too extreme to be true, from a logical standpoint. Every culture and society on the planet has an idea about how the primate spirit works and what it does. Why would any one idea be the One True Faith that makes all others False and Paths to Damnation? Too extreme to logically be true. Find what works best for you and don't be afraid to adapt yourself to changing situations. The Law of the Jungle, after all, is Adapt or Die.

Answer 4

My faith in God (I don't like the term "religion") teaches that we love others as Christ loved us. We can "accept others" because we are to love one another, regardless of their beliefs. We will all be accountable for that "belief". "Religion" isn't what helps faith survive. It's your belief in something greater than yourself. For me, it's living in my faith, and my belief in Christ. The understanding of Truth is revealed unto you if you ask and humble yourself to the Truth. Anyone can attend my Church, and would be welcomed with open arms whether you believe as we do or not, or inspite of what you believe. We are taught to love the person regardless of the sin. We hate the sin, but love the sinner. That goes for all of us.

Answer 5

My religion teaches and belives that there is truth in all religions and the God is displeased with our bickering about it. the exact code from the Mormons is
"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous and in doing good to ALL MEN; indeed, we may say tha we follow the admonition of Paul-We belive all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is ANYTHING VIRUOUS, LOVELY, or of GOOD REPORT or PRAISEWORTH, we SEEK after these things" Joseph Smith.
Yes we invite everyone to come and bring all your good and see if we can add to it. We also study other religions so we can see eye to eye with everyone we can. (Mormons)

Answer 6

Yes to all questions since I'm roman catholic. The similarity in all religion is to be known by you through observation. Study about it.

Answer 7

this is my experience of CoE whilst being an atheist, i went to a school where we went to church every morning;
church of england..a relitively mild mannered religion in country parishes, not agressivly believing in god. can solve things with a cup of tea.

1. kind of, protestant in general has its bad apples. pretty homophobic but thats to do with the bible.
2. yes, but trys to ignore it
3. yes, they do charities in 3rd world, but they still try to convert not that aggressively as such
4. sure.

Answer 8

no on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd questions

Answer 9

all?

Answer 10

every major religion teaches us that there is only one God [Allah (swt)]. This is very prominent similarity among the almost all major religions. Here are the some following prooves. but unfortunately, people are not follow the concept of God according to their religion except Muslims. Muslims trictly follow that there is only one God (Allah) swt.

Concept of God in Islam:
The most concise definition of God in Islam is given in the four verses of Surah Ikhlas which is Chapter 112 of the Qur’an:

"Say: He is Allah,
The One and Only.
"Allah, the Eternal, Absolute.
"He begets not, nor is He begotten.
And there is none like unto Him."
[Al-Qur’an 112:1-4]
The word ‘Assamad’ is difficult to translate. It means ‘absolute existence’, which can be attributed only to Allah (swt), all other existence being temporal or conditional. It also means that Allah (swt) is not dependant on any person or thing, but all persons and things are dependant on Him.

Concept of God in Christianity
The First Commandment is that God is One
The Bible does not support the Christian belief in trinity at all. One of the scribes once asked Jesus (pbuh) as to which was the first commandment of all, to which Jesus (pbuh) merely repeated what Moses (pbuh) had said earlier:
"Shama Israelu Adonai Ila Hayno Adonai Ikhad."
This is a Hebrew quotation, which means:
"Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord." [The Bible, Mark 12:29]
It is striking that the basic teachings of the Church such as Trinity and vicarious atonement find no mention in the Bible. In fact, various verses of the Bible point to Jesus’ (pbuh) actual mission, which was to fulfill the law revealed to Prophet Moses (pbuh). Indeed Jesus (pbuh) rejected any suggestions that attributed divinity to him, and explained his miracles as the power of the One True God.
Jesus (pbuh) thus reiterated the message of monotheism that was given by all earlier prophets of Almighty God.
NOTE: All quotations of the Bible are taken from the King James Version.

Consider the following incident mentioned in the Bible:
"And behold, one came and said unto him, ‘Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?’
And he said unto him, ‘Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.’ "[The Bible, Mathew 19:16-17]

Jesus (pbuh) did not say that to have the eternal life of paradise, man should believe in him as Almighty God or worship him as God, or believe that Jesus (pbuh) would die for his sins. On the contrary he said that the path to salvation was through keeping the commandments. It is indeed striking to note the difference between the words of Jesus Christ (pbuh) and the Christian dogma of salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus (pbuh).

Concept of God in Jewdism
CONCEPT OF GOD IN OLD TESTAMENT: God is One
The following verse from the book of Deuteronomy contains an exhortation from Moses (pbuh):
"Shama Israelu Adonai Ila Hayno Adna Ikhad". It is a Hebrew quotation which means: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord" [The Bible, Deuteronomy 6:4]

Unity of God in the Book of Isaiah:
The following verses are from the Book of Isaiah:
*"I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour." [The Bible, Isaiah 43:11]

* "I am Lord, and there is none else, there is no God besides me."
[The Bible, Isaiah 45:5]

* "I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me." [The Bible, Isaiah 46:9]

Old Testament condemns idol worship
Old Testament condemns idol worship in the following verses:
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:"
"Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God."[The Bible, Exodus 20:3-5]

A similar message is repeated in the book of Deuteronomy:
"Thou shalt have none other gods before me."
"Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that in the earth beneath, or that is in the water beneath the earth."
"Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God." [The Bible, Deuteronomy 5:7-9]

Concept of God according to Hindu Scriptures:

UPANISHADS:
The Upanishads are considered sacred scriptures by the Hindus.

The following verses from the Upanishads refer to the Concept of God:

"Ekam evadvitiyam"
"He is One only without a second."
[Chandogya Upanishad 6:2:1]1

"Na casya kascij janita na cadhipah."
"Of Him there are neither parents nor lord."
[Svetasvatara Upanishad 6:9]2

"Na tasya pratima asti"
"There is no likeness of Him."
[Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:19]3

The following verses from the Upanishad allude to the inability of man to imagine God in a particular form:

"Na samdrse tisthati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canainam."

"His form is not to be seen; no one sees Him with the eye."
[Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:20]4

THE VEDAS
Vedas are considered the most sacred of all the Hindu scriptures. There are four principal Vedas: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda and Atharvaveda.

Yajurveda
The following verses from the Yajurveda echo a similar concept of God:

"na tasya pratima asti
"There is no image of Him."
[Yajurveda 32:3]5

"shudhama poapvidham"
"He is bodyless and pure."
[Yajurveda 40:8]6

"Andhatama pravishanti ye asambhuti mupaste"
"They enter darkness, those who worship the natural elements" (Air, Water, Fire, etc.). "They sink deeper in darkness, those who worship sambhuti."
[Yajurveda 40:9]7

Sambhuti means created things, for example table, chair, idol, etc.

The Yajurveda contains the following prayer:
"Lead us to the good path and remove the sin that makes us stray and wander."
[Yajurveda 40:16]8


Atharvaveda
The Atharvaveda praises God in Book 20, hymn 58 and verse 3:

"Dev maha osi"
"God is verily great"
[Atharvaveda 20:58:3]9

Rigveda

The oldest of all the vedas is Rigveda. It is also the one considered most sacred by the Hindus. The Rigveda states in Book 1, hymn 164 and verse 46:
"Sages (learned Priests) call one God by many names."
[Rigveda 1:164:46]

The Rigveda gives several different attributes to Almighty God. Many of these are mentioned in Rigveda Book 2 hymn 1.

Among the various attributes of God, one of the beautiful attributes mentioned in the Rigveda Book II hymn 1 verse 3, is Brahma. Brahma means ‘The Creator’. Translated into Arabic it means Khaaliq. Muslims can have no objection if Almighty God is referred to as Khaaliq or ‘Creator’ or Brahma. However if it is said that Brahma is Almighty God who has four heads with each head having a crown, Muslims take strong exception to it.

Describing Almighty God in anthropomorphic terms also goes against the following verse of Yajurveda:

"Na tasya Pratima asti"
"There is no image of Him."
[Yajurveda 32:3]

Another beautiful attribute of God mentioned in the Rigveda Book II hymn 1 verse 3 is Vishnu. Vishnu means ‘The Sustainer’. Translated into Arabic it means Rabb. Again, Muslims can have no objection if Almighty God is referred to as Rabb or 'Sustainer' or Vishnu. But the popular image of

9[Atharveda Samhita vol 2 William Dwight Whitney page 910]

Vishnu among Hindus, is that of a God who has four arms, with one of the right arms holding the Chakra, i.e. a discus and one of the left arms holding a ‘conch shell’, or riding a bird or reclining on a snake couch. Muslims can never accept any image of God. As mentioned earlier this also goes against Svetasvatara Upanishad Chapter 4 verse 19.

"Na tasya pratima asti"
"There is no likeness of Him"

The following verse from the Rigveda Book 8, hymn 1, verse 1 refer to the Unity and Glory of the Supreme Being:

"Ma cid anyad vi sansata sakhayo ma rishanyata"
"O friends, do not worship anybody but Him, the Divine One. Praise Him alone."
[Rigveda 8:1:1]10

"Devasya samituk parishtutih"
"Verily, great is the glory of the Divine Creator."
[Rigveda 5:1:81]11

Brahma Sutra of Hinduism:

The Brahma Sutra of Hinduism is:

"Ekam Brahm, dvitiya naste neh na naste kinchan"

"There is only one God, not the second; not at all, not at all, not in the least bit."

BUT THERE IS NO CONCEPT OF GOD IN BUDHISM
Buddha was silent about the existence or non-existence of God. It may be that since India was drowned in idol worship and anthropomorphism that a sudden step to monotheism would have been drastic and hence Buddha may have chosen to remain silent on the issue of God. He did not deny the existence of God. Buddha was once asked by a disciple whether God exists? He refused to reply. When pressed, he said that if you are suffering from a stomach ache would you concentrate on relieving the pain or studying the prescription of the physician. "It is not my business or yours to find out whether there is God – our business is to remove the sufferings of the world".

Buddhism provided Dhamma or the ‘impersonal law’ in place of God. However this could not satisfy the craving of human beings and the religion of self-help had to be converted into a religion of promise and hope. The Hinayana sect could not hold out any promise of external help to the people. The Mahayana sect taught that Buddha’s watchful and compassionate eyes are on all miserable beings, thus making a God out of Buddha. Many scholars consider the evolution of God within Buddhism as an effect of Hinduism.