Is it wrong for a religion to borrow bits and pieces from other religions and call it their own?

Question

If a religion sets itself apart from another by opting for a fairly unique set of tenets, how valid is the religion's belief system if it borrows ideology from, often, the "wrong" religion? How much "borrowed" content would be required to invalidate a religion all together? If you have any examples, please provide them.

Answer 1

All religions have quite a few things in common.
Most believe that there is one supreme being, a Creator, no matter what name they choose to call Him.
Several have their own commandments & though they may not be exactly the same, the sentiment is close.

I cannot say that there is such a thing as a "wrong" religion, or that any particular religion has borrowed from another.

Answer 2

Whether or not it's wrong is something you have to answer for yourself. The best example of one religion borrowing from another is Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Judaism is the oldest of the 3. From Judaism we have the Old Testament. From there we get Christianity through Jesus Christ. When Christianity was founded, they didn't just ignore Judaism. They accepted what was there before, took the Old Testament, and then added new beliefs and the New Testament. By the time Islam came along 600 years later the Prophet acknowledged both Judaism and Christianity. They acknowledge it is all the same God, it is all the same message. The spin that Muslims put on it is that there version is the final and purest form of the word of God.

The 3 great religions originating in the middle east all believe in the same God, the God of Abraham. It does not invalidate them. If anything it reinforces them. They are all ankowledging only the one God. Instead of looking to invalidate them the view should be trying to find the similarities in the religions to reduce the conflict that rages between the three. We need to focus on the similarities and not who borrowed what.

Answer 3

Firstly we have to look at what religion SHOULD be all about versus what it is all too commonly used for.

Religion (at least Organized Religion) SHOULD be a tool whereby people learn the TRUTH about God, about becoming a more spiritually developed being, about the real nature of the seen and unseen aspects of this universe in which we live.

What it is commonly used for is a tool to mind-control people and ensure obedience to a set of rules that do not always come from God - in other words Dogma.

So really religions SHOULD have identical goals, to search out and to teach the TRUTH. So how is it a problem if one religion sees the truth similarly to another? TRUTH is TRUTH, whatever wrapper it may come in.

Unfortunately organized religion has a history of being used to separate people, by labelling one religion as "right" and others a "wrong". By saying that one religion has an exclusive line to God and only they possess the TRUTH.

This is divisive and has been responsible for many wars and persecutions throughout mankind's history. I am sure that God does not want anyone to be killed or persecuted in His Name.

We would be much better off on this planet if all religions could agree, and if the focus could be more on teaching people to develop a personal relationship with God without needing the trappings and ceremonies common to religious organizations.

Answer 4

All religions come from one, universal religion. That is why all religions and scripts are very similar. However, the religion is meant as a guide only and not as something that has to be forced on someone to practice. True religion comes from within, and not from the imposition of others. So it is not wrong to borrow from other religions as there was nothing that was actually unknown before and therefore borrow. Thus, nothing in fact, was borrowed in the first place.

Answer 5

Most religions have evolved, even those whose origins seem quite sudden (Judaism with the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai, Christianity with Paul's interpretations, Islam with Mohammed's angelic recitationof the Koran, Buddhism with the Buddha's teachings)

Naturally, there will be parallels amongst them and theological emphases change as culture's needs change.

How much borrowed content invalidates a religion? I DON'T KNOW! Ask the zillions of sects/churches within Christianity why they exist. I'm not sure it can be judged invalid or valid.

Answer 6

Ask yourself why you're doing this. If you are doing it for selfish reasons, like adopting one religion because it allows you to engage in activities that, in your heart, you really feel are wrong, then no. But, if you are doing it based on the reflection of your true beliefs, that's not a problem at all. Your religion doesn't make you. You make your religion and at the end of the day, the only one responsible for your relationship with God is you. Take some time to evaluate the values in your life and what is most important to you. Have faith that your choice of worship is good enough for Him.

Answer 7

I see nothing wrong with it. In fact, I challenge anyone to find a religion that does NOT borrow bits and pieces from other religions.

For example, Christianity borrows greatly from Judaism. Islam borrows from Christianity and Judaism. I don't know enough religious history to know what Judaism borrows from but I am sure it does.

Answer 8

Sometimes it makes no difference. If the Religions that are borrowed from are Wrong in their Thinking to begin with, then this " New" Religion is not going to get anything Right. Afterall 2 Wrongs dont make a Right....right?

Answer 9

You miss the point. Releigion is a set of stautes and dictates placed toward creating social order and discipline. Humanity has never evolved. It merely revolves, pockets of power and posterity move from east and west and in reverse. To prosper as a people we must continually strive to adapt mores and morals to modern day living. Morality is the foundationstone of every civilised society. The modern family has been destructured in the west. we are moving to depopulation, whereby we learn to live and love rather than procreation as a means to ally loneliness and further the cause of a global people that were rejected and damned to hell by their infuriated and hapless creator at the outset.
To be religious is to be able to adher to a discipline, a set of values, in an ever changing and constantly confusing world.

Answer 10

As far as I can see all the Abrahamic religions take bits from each other, which is not so surprising and troubling, but Christianity takes all its festival from paganism, and yet sought to wipe out pagan faith.
Islam actively sought to remove paganism, but I don't think it took on the pagan traditions in the same way (Mohammed spoke out against the paganism of the time as it was common practice to murder newborn girls - bit ironic, considering what happens to women and girls in countries that follow Sharia law these days) - I have heard Sikhism as taking the best of Hinduism and of Islam and creating something else (quite hard to see that if you read a little, maybe you have to read a lot to understand).
Christianity seems to be the worst culprit, with different types of the faith everywhere, from your Amish and Mormons to Quakers and other free thinkers.
A friend of mine calls the habit of individuals of only believing what suits them, and living accordingly as 'pick 'n' mix' religion. It really annoys me when people do this, as it is neither indoctrination OR free thinking!