Why so many religions?

Jim

Jim

New Member
World Religions

You will not believe just how many different beliefs there are. I knew there were many, but I had no idea there was THAT many.

So what is your thoughts? Why so many faiths?

There is also a section on extremeism and various secret societies.

Do you think stuff like this comes about from people's desire to be different, yet, part of something? It seems quite childish that grown adults take part in stuff like this with handshakes and passwords.

So why so many faiths and beliefs?
 
Because faiths and beliefs are cultural phenomenons.

Cultures developed their own faiths at the same time borrowing from others around them.

These different faiths gave cultures their own idenity which they guarded fiercely. Think, "my gods are better than your gods".
 
But I would like to ask theists: How did you arrive at the conclusion that your faith (whatever demonination you belong to) was the correct one?

My signature below was discussed at a psycology lesson last week. I have also noticed that a few Christians on this site mentioned they were converted by Christians at some point in their lives. Did this occur during a traumatic time? If so, would your belief have been different if you had been approached by a different denomination? For example: In reality you were approached and converted by a Roman Catholic. Would your current faith have been different had you been approached by Jehova's Witnesses?

DV also has a point in that religion and deities are culture-dependant. Was Christianity among the Aztecs or the Mayans until the first missionaries carried the word and began converting them?

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]"It is an interesting and demonstrable fact, that all children are atheists and were religion not inculcated into their minds, they would remain so." Ernestine Rose
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Can it be surmised that if a child born to Christian parents was raised by Bhuddists, that child would most likely be a Bhuddist?

If you feel like participating, why did you arrive at the conclusion that your current faith is correct therefore superior to all others?
 
It seems many Christians claim they had an "empty hole" inside them, and upon finding Christianity, that hole was filled. That may be something to keep in mind when asking your questions.

Aztecs and Mayans did not believe in Christianity prior to the arrival of Christian missionaries. They had their own independant belief systems.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Can it be surmised that if a child born to Christian parents was raised by Bhuddists, that child would most likely be a Bhuddist?
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I would say, tentatively, yes. Buddhism may not have been the best choice. It is an open minded religion and accepts beliefs from other theologies. Depending on the age of the child, they may not have understood Christianity to any pertinent extent, so being in the company of Buddhists, the child would most likely absorb Buddhism.

The importance lies with the parents however. Will the parents be open-minded and show their children many different world views or only the ones they themselves subscribe to? How many Christian parents show their children the positive aspects of other religions and not just the negative?

Myself, I am a stepfather. I personally take offense when my daughter puts down religions, including Christianity. Why? Because she has no BASIS for it. She hasn't done any research into WHY she disagrees with a certain aspect of religion. I help her to investigate and understand the realities of the situation. She has many Muslim friends so she is getting a good, all around education. When she is old enough and mature enough, I am confident that she will make an educated decision about which belief system to subscribe to.

Most children, however, are not so fortunate. Their parents are dug in to their own beliefs and force feed them upon their children and don't allow them to research other religions. The main reason is FEAR. Fear of learning there is more to the world than just a specific religious system, the one they grew up in.

When I considered myself Christian, I believed I was RIGHT in my religious choice. It all seemed to make sense. There was nothing to fear from hard questions because Faith answered everything. Faith is the spackel that covers up the cracks in religious foundations. It covers up the cracks, but it never addresses them. Before you know it, you've got more spackel then concrete. It took a lot of time and instrospection to tear that old foundation down and create a newer, stronger one. This one based on reason and proof.

Just my two cents.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Faith is the spackel that covers up the cracks in religious foundations. It covers up the cracks, but it never addresses them. Before you know it, you've got more spackel then concrete.
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What cracks do you see? Wouldn't that be the answer as to why there are so many different religions? Because separate from what is right and wrong, each person is going to see their own cracks?

(probably good to quote you Dark Virtue before going off on that series of questions )
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[b said:
Quote[/b] (Genesis1315 @ Oct. 11 2004,8:11)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Faith is the spackel that covers up the cracks in religious foundations. It covers up the cracks, but it never addresses them. Before you know it, you've got more spackel then concrete.
Click to expand...

What cracks do you see? Wouldn't that be the answer as to why there are so many different religions? Because separate from what is right and wrong, each person is going to see their own cracks?

(probably good to quote you Dark Virtue before going off on that series of questions )
tounge.gif
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There are plenty of cracks that I see.

Just look at any of my posts
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[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Wouldn't that be the answer as to why there are so many different religions? Because separate from what is right and wrong, each person is going to see their own cracks?
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I don't see how that addresses the issue of many different religions.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (TheJfreak @ Oct. 11 2004,8:25)]spackel
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I apologize, I misspelled spackle.

And if you don't know what spackle is, it is, "used for a powder mixed with water to form a paste and used as a filler for cracks in a surface before painting"
 
Let's pick a different religion then, other than Christianity. If we want to see why there are so many, let's break one down and see where it goes. Would that not answer the question?
 
There's no need to pick ANY religion in particular for this discussion.

All religions and faith based systems share basic traits.

I think Jim is more interested in why there are so many religions out there, not necessarily the hows and whys of any one in particular.
 
The thing I'm trying to get at is this:

Christians think their handle on the truth is the ONLY truth. They believe wholeheartedly that they are the unconditionally correct and proper religion and belief.

The problem? EVERY religion professes the EXACT same thing.

Can I point you to all the different sects which have their own traditions, beliefs and versions of the 'Revealed Truth'? There are simply so many of them. Christianity is one more (Or several more, to be exact) religion(s) attempting the 'hearts and minds' battle for non-believers.

I have heard of many stories from Christians claiming they were saved by a preacher or a fellow Christian during times of stress. So what? What if they had been Bhuddist? Or Jewish? Or Islamic? Would that have affected you faith today? Many would say no, but I doubt this would hold true in practise.

My signature suggests that a non-theist rejects all religions in the same way a theist rejects all religions BUT their own. The thing is, I fail to see why any religion happens to have any superiority. All preach the same tiresome refrain: Serve MY God(s) or suffer eternal damnation. (Notice the punishment always waits till AFTER life before the righteous punishment kicks in?)

I'm sorry, but I have seen faith only in those born into that faith, or having it instilled during times of crisis. Precious few pick religion on a logical basis. Has anyone here chosen Christianity on thier own (i.e without being influenced through family or Christians)? If so, what made you choose it?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Jim @ Oct. 13 2004,8:10)]The thing I'm trying to get at is this:

Christians think their handle on the truth is the ONLY truth. They believe wholeheartedly that they are the unconditionally correct and proper religion and belief.

The problem? EVERY religion professes the EXACT same thing.

Can I point you to all the different sects which have their own traditions, beliefs and versions of the 'Revealed Truth'? There are simply so many of them. Christianity is one more (Or several more, to be exact) religion(s) attempting the 'hearts and minds' battle for non-believers.

I have heard of many stories from Christians claiming they were saved by a preacher or a fellow Christian during times of stress. So what? What if they had been Bhuddist? Or Jewish? Or Islamic? Would that have affected you faith today? Many would say no, but I doubt this would hold true in practise.

My signature suggests that a non-theist rejects all religions in the same way a theist rejects all religions BUT their own. The thing is, I fail to see why any religion happens to have any superiority. All preach the same tiresome refrain: Serve MY God(s) or suffer eternal damnation. (Notice the punishment always waits till AFTER life before the righteous punishment kicks in?)

I'm sorry, but I have seen faith only in those born into that faith, or having it instilled during times of crisis. Precious few pick religion on a logical basis. Has anyone here chosen Christianity on thier own (i.e without being influenced through family or Christians)? If so, what made you choose it?
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I have asked this question many times...never got a very good answer though. This is one of the main reasons why I lost faith in god.
 
It is said that once upon a time a king gathered a few men who were born blind. They were asked to describe an elephant, but each one was presented with only a certain part of it. To one was presented the head of the elephant, to another the trunk, to another its ears, to another the leg, the body, the tail, tuft of the tail, etc. The one who was presented with the head said: "The elephant is like a pot!" The one who was presented the trunk answered, "The elephant is like a hose". The one who touched only the ears thought that the elephant was a fan, the others said that it was a pillar, a wall, a rope, a brush, etc. Then they quarreled among themselves, each thinking that he was the only one right and the others were wrong. The obvious truth is that the elephant is a unity of many parts, a unity that they could not grasp in their ignorance.

The following is from: http://www.religioustolerance.org

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]The developing abilities of proto-humans were a double-edge sword:

On the one hand, they aided their chances of surviving in a cruel and unpredictable world. They helped each successive generation of proto-humans to build upon the knowledge base of their ancestors.

This increased mental ability led to a terrifying piece of knowledge: personal mortality. For the first time, individual animals on earth became aware that their life was transient; they would die at some point in their future. This knowledge produced an intolerable emotional drain.



During their evolution from proto-human to full human, they developed questions about themselves and their environment:
What controlled the seasonal cycles of nature -- the daily motion of the sun; the motion of the stars, the passing of the seasons, etc.
What controlled their environment -- what or who caused floods, rains, dry spells, storms, etc?
What controls fertility -- of the tribe, its domesticated animals, and its crops.
What system of morality is needed to best promote the stability of the tribe?
And above all: what happens to a person after they die?



Living in a pre-scientific society, people had no way to resolve these questions. Even today, with all of our scientific advances, we still debate about the second last question, and still have no way of reaching an consensus on the last. But the need for answers (particularly to the last question) were so important that some response was required, even if they were merely based on hunches. Some people within the tribe started to invent answers based on their personal guesses. Thus developed:
The first religious belief system,
The first priesthood,
The first set of rituals to appease the Goddess,
Other rituals to control fertility and other aspects of the environment,
A set of behavioral expectations for members of the tribe, and
A set of moral truths to govern human behavior.

These formed an oral tradition which was disseminated among the members of the tribe and was taught to future generations. Much later, when writing was developed, the beliefs were generally recorded in written form. A major loss of flexibility resulted. Oral traditions can evolve over time; written documents tend to be more permanent.

Unfortunately, because these belief systems were based on hunches, the various religions which developed in different areas of the world were all different. Their teachings were in conflict with each other. Because the followers of most religions considered their beliefs to be derived directly from God, they cannot be easily changed. Thus, inter-religious compromise is difficult or impossible. Also, because religious texts are often ambiguous, divisions developed within religions. Different denominations, schools, or traditions have derived different meanings from the same religious texts. Thus were laid the foundations for millennia of inter-religious and intra-religious conflict.

The first organized religions appear to have been based on fertility. They were focused on the worship of the great Earth Goddess. Religion evolved to include male Gods who were gradually given increased importance by the priests. This development may have been caused by developing knowledge of the male's involvement in the process of reproduction.

Today, most people follow either:
A monotheistic religion, in which a single male god is worshipped, or
A henotheistic religion -- a religion which recognizes a single main deity, but which recognizes other gods and goddesses, heroes, or saints as facets or manifestations or aspects of that supreme God.

Most religions teach that they were directly revealed by their deity/deities to humanity, and are unrelated to other world religions. However there is considerable historical evidence from ancient times that religions in the area from India to the Middle East shared many religious beliefs. One example of this are:
The many passages in the Hebrew Scriptures which contain concepts or passages taken from Egyptian, Babylonian and other nearby Pagan religions.
Many of the events in the life of Jesus as recorded in the Christian Scriptures (New Testament) appear to have been derived from earlier Hinduism and other Pagan religious sources.



Religions were originally based on the particular beliefs of their founders and prophets. Thus, there were few points of similarity among the various spiritual paths:
In terms of their belief about supernatural being(s), various faith traditions have taught Agnosticism, Animism, Atheism, Deism, Duotheism, Henotheism, Monism, Monotheism, Panentheism, Pantheism, Polytheism, Trinitarianism, and probably a few that we have missed. It is obvious from these conflicting ideas about deities that almost all religions are just plain wrong.
Few agreements exist among the world's religions about religious beliefs, sacred ritual, organizational structure, optimum family structure, personal sexual behavior, etc.
Religions' traditional teachings in the area of science differ greatly from each other and from the findings of scientists. Examples are: how the universe was formed, where rainbows came from; the world-wide flood; talking animals; the sun standing still in the sky; the cause of epilepsy, deafness, blindness, and mental illnesses; demonic possession, etc.
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Perhaps I was too strong in my last post.

Instead, let me ask one simple question, to any who are interested:

What made you choose Christianity?
 
I have heard the elephant metaphor before.. Christians claim that Jesus is the fifth man that can see..but there is no way to substantiate the claim.
 
To the repeated posts that all religions say the same thing....Can anyone show me another religions that guarantees 100% salvation to everyone through belief in 1 diety? I was never able to find it in my previous searches and would love to know if there are any others our there.
 
Does Christianity guarantee 100% salvation to everyone through belief?

Isn't Christianity itself unsure about the answer? That's why you have the belief camp, the works camp and the faith through works camp.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Genesis1315 @ Oct. 13 2004,9:32)]But this is what God's word says

Romans 1:16
John 3:16-17
Romans 10:9-10
2 Timothy 3:15
1 Peter 1:9
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You can't talk about guarantees and then talk about god's word...it's a double standard.
 
Gen, you know as well as I do, that ALL Christians don't agree on topics such as this.

While you believe in Salvation through Faith, there are those Christians that believe in Salvation through Works. And those that believe in a combination of both.

Why don't you tell me. Why are there Christians that believe in salvation through different means? Why don't all Christians agree?
 
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