Why are many religions exclusive?

Hi shlooper, Thank you for starting this discussion. Many religions are exclusive, and it usually dates back to the beginning of that particular religion. There are many small groups within Christianity itself, that believe that you have to be baptised in their particular church. There may also be similar factions in other world religions. These people are absolutely convinced that they alone are right, whether it's the born-again fundamentalist Christian, the Mormon, the followers of Islam or of some smaller group. Those at the head of those churches have no intention of losing the power that they have over their followers, and that's why it will be difficult to change. It will happen eventually of course, even now you see some of them losing followers. The younger people growing up today may not be so easy to fool, but they have these teachings inbred into them when they are young and so far only a comparative few have been able to break the yoke. The belief that Israel is God's chosen people is a good example of the concept of being exclusive. We all know that a good parent does not have favourites, yet many think it perfectly acceptable that God would. I do see some hope in that there are people out there who are saying that we are all one, and that we have to accept the fact that God loves all, and there is no one true religion. I don't know how long it will take for us to see the truth, and tell those in authority that we've had enough of this nonsense, but I do believe the day will come. I believe too that it will bring the long hoped for peace. Blessings.

There are quite a few and unfortunately many of them can be linked directly to violence and murder to prove their point. It is really sad that they choose to believe in such hypocrisy but it is their life and that is what they choose. I just wish they would leave me alone in the process of their own choices.

Not all. Judaism is one of the few which does not evangelize and does not threaten you with hell. In fact, Judaism believes that all men will be judged not according to their religion but by how they lived their lives.

Let me first say that I respect all religious beliefs while believing that religion is basically a brainwashing method, a complete hogwash to keep ordinary people under the leadership and spell of some very extraordinarily clever men. Its like eternally dangling the carrot of heaven in front of our eyes, taking advantage of the inherent greed in human nature. And the worst part is that we inculcate the same blind faith in our children too and so in a way humanity is doomed due to religion. You will find how true this is when even under the major religions, you will find numerous sub-sects with their own leaders and band of followers who are always trying to prove each other wrong. The only way to overcome this is to forget about religion and look inward towards the spirit. Awakening the spirit is the only way of connecting to God and for that, the first step would be to accept and recognize that all humans are same and equal and each soul is but a part of the greater universe.

I think that a lot of religions try to put all those kinds of labels on them because they all think that they are right. Religion is all about making you feel like a bad person so that you will feel like the preacher, priest, etc is higher. This leaves you feeling dependent on them, and you are in need the whole time.

Think about it this way: if one person was raised to think believe that the sky is purple that person will go on to belive the sky is purple. If another person was raised to believe that the sky is blue they will also go on to believe that the sky is blue. When people are raised a certain way, they believe in that and its hard for those people to believe or think of something in another way. Especially religion. When a child is baptized and is sat down by the parents and is taught that Jesus is our Lord and Saviour that child will only know of Jesus and will only believe in him. It goes that way with all religions. People go on to think that whatever they were raised up believe is right and everything else is wrong. Its how people are. They do not want to hear or educate themselves about other religions because then when they hear the truth that other religions may be right and theirs is "wrong" then they will start to panic. Again, its how people are. And btw. Islamic people do not get baptized, thats more of a Christian thing.

Good question! I would say it is human nature to make a religion exclusive. Take for example, a ritual based on a belief in a religion. The first question that arises is that 'why should we do this ritual?' to which the answer is 'this is for such and such a reason'. Then the next question automatically arises - 'What about people that don't do this?' which is not fairly answered because people don't know what the answer is. So to make a person do something, people tend to claim that others are sinners. Human brain works in such a way that it thinks that if one religion is true then all others are false. This is because people can't understand what happens to those that don't follow their practices. If it does not matter whether they follow or not follow their rituals or spiritual practices, then automatically nobody would follow any rituals and this would mean a lot of economically difficult situations for the priests and such others whole primary job is doing rituals for others. I guess this is done to avoid a lot of unemployment .. just kidding.

It's the ignorance of people, and their ego's wanting to be recognized.