Baxter D. Wall: How do different religions interpret the beliefs of others?
Religious beliefs seem almost entirely based on where you grow up and live. Just a random coincidence that you happened to be born to this or that parent in this or that region of the world. For Christianity I guess there is the whole 12 tribe deal, from what I can remember, probably mistaken. How do the major religions answer this question of “Why are we correct in our beliefs and those other billion people across the globe are completely mistaken?”
Answers and Views:
Answer by imrod
Everyone has to face this very same question. None of us agree 100% with each other. Atheists are not united in their explanation of origins. Just a couple decades ago there was heated debate between the steady-state theorists and the big-bangers. Each of us thinks our own position (beliefs) are correct or else we would change them. This should not surprise us.
Despite the fact that all those people have experienced all the same religious experiences as them, they’ll write them off as either the work of evil or just false religions.
Then they wonder how atheists can so easily write off their religious experiences.
Answer by John D is back1) It is not random in anyway. I grew up in Albania, Islam and atheism represent the beliefs of the majority there, and I am a Christian.
2) Personally, I judge the contents of a religion based on its teachings. I have personally considered several religions, the most well known of which is Islam, and rejected them because I was not satisfied with what they taught.
3) I feel spiritually satisfied with my own faith. I cannot claim to have studied all religions, but I felt unfulfilled by the contents of other religions I looked into. As a matter of fact, I felt a strong distaste to the teachings of some.
Answer by DavidIf you believe in philosophy and objective truth than you can at least deduce that if there is a God, there is only one God and that he has the characteristics of the judeo-christian God. But, yes a lot of it has to do with upbringing that breeds close-mindedness toward other religious claims. Many people however, do break free from that.Answer by harmonograph
The very definition of religion means that all other beliefs must be delusional.Answer by David N
Most of the different religions interpret other beliefs from their own point of view. This includes using their own definitions of terms that may have an entirely different meaning in another belief system.
One of the most notable exceptions is Hinduism. Hinduism is different because it incorporates every belief system that it encounters into itself.
That’s just talking about RELIGIONS…
Some INDIVIDUALS can be a bit more flexible.
My religion doesn’t concern itself with other religions. There are no writings stating “we are the only correct ones and everyone else is wrong”. It’s not even insinuated. What my religion does do is let us know how our gods expect us to live. Honesty, Courageous, Self-Reliant, among other things.Answer by aeiou_i
Different religions are like different people. It is in our nature to prevail over another person, another tribe, another society… in order for us as individuals to pass our genes to the next generation. For example, if there is only one life-saving glass of water and three persons, each individual will go for it upon the other two.
The identity of a religion is based on the level of social development and resources. As a society changes along resources, the same spiritual reflection – religion, transcends in that society. That is how animism transcends into polytheism, polytheism into monotheism, monotheism into God-I Am… This pattern is correlative to individual maturing.
To be correct and the others be wrong, is a simplified way of seeing it. The belief in a religion is the belief that a certain founder of it experienced God in a way we should follow his-her vision of what to do to make a better world; we who are on a lower spiritual level belonging to society which we feel being integral part of. This experience is the same every individual experiences, but the society along its limited resources, differs… By rule, a more developed society overruns a less developed one.
The nature of Christianity and Islam is to be dominant. These are God-Father religions which are reflection of critically developed and conquering societies, Gods who have fought each other. The dominant God, which by rule is the God of Thunder, Sun or War, has excluded other Gods (now demons) and is the ruler. “I am your only father”, he says. The society is much stronger with one head. The individual who has been given the love of many, is becoming an individual who can give its one love to many.
Buddhism, for example, is considered the spiritually most advanced religion. It is also a philosophy rather than religion, which means that the border between what is spiritual and what is rational fades on s certain level of maturity. Buddhism does not find any religion to be opposed to others. It is only the people who are opposed, just like they are opposed to their neighbors.
Answer by RicardoPoorly.
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