Is it easier to become a good Christian, good Hindu, good Muslim....?

I think it's easier to become a good person, period. Without regard for religion. I happen to be an atheist, so I may be biased in this light. Those who proudly profess to be of one religion or another, are simply being a bit egotistic, in my view. It is that pride that goes before the fall, so to speak. If one tries to be a good person, regardless of what religion they belong to, then that should count far more than being a good Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, etc. But of course that may be difficult to do since most religions put some further constraints on what it takes to be a good member of that religion. For example, it isn't nearly enough for a Jehova's Witness to be a good person, it also requires going door to door to spread their particular beliefs. And curiously, that can make those people "less good" people in the eyes of those of other religions who wish they would stop annoying them. So the question you pose is a difficult one to answer, because it depends not only on the particular religion you are talking about, but also on your particular definition of "good human" vs. good Hindu, Muslim, Jehova's Witness, etc.! Just what is a good human? Just what is a good Christian? I don't think you can ever get just one "good" answer because everyone has a different view, and there are so many variations/sects within just one religion that each would put their own spin on things. Just my two cents. :-)

Hello Achilles, The moment I got to see this post I was drawn to respond. An interesting topic and I shall try my very best to explain my beliefs and perception through my very limited wisdom. I accept that many can or would disagree with me just as people invariably have a difference of opinion about religious discussions. Let me begin by saying that to a Christian or a Muslim I am a Hindu, to a Hindu I am a Brahmin, to a Brahmin I am a barendra, to a barenfra my gothra is important, and after verifying my caste, sub-caste, religion, idols that I worship, then my family, my education, income that I earn, my proper native place, whether I belong to the same zilla, the same hometown and after the endless list of comparisons a person may not be able to accept me as a friend if I am not a good human being, or if even he is a die-hard fanatic about these issues and do accept me initially he might have to repent heavily if he becomes my friend 'cause I am not a good human. Religion; for that matter any religion practiced anywhere in the world should be seen as a mere Path. The road which helps a person to reach his "Goal". Unfortunately many were able to manipulate and maneuver the path for their own vested interests. History recounts many examples of such. Let me put it in another way, say, you are friends with some guys who are fond of playing cards and gambling, now whenever you guys meet the discussions and conversation would invariably be about the same thing. Religion is also like a "Sangh" a companionship about a group of people who come together to share their thoughts, beliefs, problems of their day-to day life and call upon God under one roof which some might prefer to call a Temple or a Mosque or a Church. But if the said Temple or mosque or Church doesn't teach tolerance about others, if they don't instill in their followers about love and compassion instead if they nurture ill about others if they are doing everything evil under the name of Lord it carries no meaning and it is no religion. To be a good human-being is of utmost importance, and to become one your country to which you belong, the place where you stay, the color of your skin, the race from where you descend, the God you worship, the religion you chose to follow doesn't matter when you are truly a Good Human-being. I must arrest my thoughts here now as I might sound I am preaching or have I already been? Bodhi!

How do you define a 'good human' achilles? Idealistically as a person who does not hurt others, is as helpful to others as possible, is totally selfless , loves all his fellowmen as his ownself etcetc...is service oriented, charitable and leads a blemishsless life with only the good of people at heart. A good CHrisitian or a good Hindu or a good Muslim is one who follows the principles of the religion to a 't'. Now, I am an average human being , an average Hindu, who goes about my duty without hurting others, without exploiting others.I view everyone with a benevolent eye.THat is all. How will I get closer to God? I broadly follow what is given in the text and here too I follow certain things in a diluted manner. I find your question to be extremely difficult because I am just a speck in the UNiverse.I do not know how I can get close to God. I pray and thank Him with all my heart everyday for the life He has given me.That is all. I find that being a good Hindu and a good human being are the same because religion defintely teaches us to be good human beings if we really think of the substance and not go only by the form.[b][/b]

hai achiless iam moslem..i think it`s not easier for me to be a good moslem but i always obey all rules in my religion and all the instruction from our holy books (AlQuran)

I'm a Christian, and I believe that the word "good" is relative. So what does it mean when one says he/she is a "good" person. As a Christian, I believe that to be "good" is to be righteous. In the purest way, God is good. And when God dwells in you, He makes you "good" because he makes you righteous. He makes you righteous without you having to work for it... it's a gift he gives to you. So then does it mean that if God does not dwell in you, then you can't be "good"? I say yes. I believe that many people can display goodness in things they do, even if they are not Christian and don't have God dwelling in them. In the same way, some Christians can display non-goodness even though they have God dwelling in them. So what I'm saying is that if you define being "good" as being righteous, then there shouldn't be a distinction between being a good human and being a good Christian.

it depends if the person is practising the religion by heart or as we say just 'for show'. even if the person practices with diligence but is not really thinking of God but for the people's high opinion of him/her then the effort would be useless. i think, even if the person does not completely abide by the 'rules' of the religion (since i don't know how to call them) as long as they know and conduct what is moral and right then they may not be very good with regards to practising the religion but they could be good humans.

Only God is good, as is written all the best urban

I think its easier to be a good member of any religion than it is to be a good person and being a good person is what should matter the most in any religion.

All the religions of the world without exception exhort their followers to live in peace, to shun violence at all costs, to treat all men,women and children with utmost respect, to have love for all the created beings whether they are human, animal or plant, to have brotherhood feelings for all humans and last but not the least to have respect for all religions and never to force ones religion on others or denigrate others religion.Today what has happened is that people have started blindly following their religion without going into the deeper aspects of it with the result that they tend to become violent at the drop of a hat.These people follow only the external aspects of their religion and its rituals and its fundamentals but ignore its real meaning.That is why there is so much strife in the name of religion and to add fuel to the fire the religious clerics who lead the people in prayer exhort their followers to defend their religion with whatever means as though they were defending a kingdom.Even though they may be practising all the rituals of teir religion such people are farthest from god because their minds and hearts are filled with hatred fo others.They believe only in their own religion and call others infidels.Such persons are living in a delusion and making others also to live in delusion.On the contrary if there is a person who does not follow any particular religion but believes in helping others with kindness out of the goodness of his heart, he will be more favourable to God than the other people who follow their religion but don`t follow its basic tenets.

If you are a true follower of a religion, you shouldn't say you're a christian, muslim or hindu. You must be say that you're a human being. That's what religions try to put in our minds - 'Be Humane'. But now-a-days people say that they are true followers and do all sorts of things which his/her religion has declared a sin! We kill ourselves in the name of religion. But all the religions say killing is sin. Then you're not a true follower of the religion. You're just following some ****** beasts who suck innocent lives for their self improvement!!!

All religions wreak of rituals. Most follow only rituals and think that a place in heaven is guaranteed. How wrong they are. I would not put these under the category of 'good human beings'. Yet there are others who follow rituals and at the same time live a sinless life. There is yet another category who do not follow any religion but perhaps lead a good life. This category however is hard to come by as we all need props to remind us when we tend to go astray and religion does that. I would certainly vote for those who believe in religion and lead a sinless life but not encourage rituals having a history which are mostly man made haviong a commercial flavour.

For me, is it easier to become a good human. I said this because religions are confusing. I would say that those people involved in religions, followed and abide all the rules in that religion is also good, but sometimes those rules are not being followed by the people even if that rules are for the people. So, what is the use of having yourself involve in that religions if the rules are not being followed by the people. I see some people who does not have any religion at all but they are just a good human. They don't have rules to follow or they don't have any religion at all but they are good human than those people who have religions. Another thing is we have different religions here on earth. Some people who are christian might thought that the muslim religion is not good because there are laws in koran to have many wives are not a sin while in christian, they believe to have many wives are sin and some christian would think that the rules of Buddha is not good because Buddhist don't believe in heaven or hell, and so on. Religions are just an organization that people have the same idea and principles. They believe in one God but they have different rules in each religion they believe, so if a christian do what he practices to be a good christian might not be good to other religions because they have different law from christian religion.

It depends on how we define good Christian. There are some who would take religion lightly. Some think that once you have faith in God, you are already saved but that's is not so. And sad to say that others already think about being a good Christian that way.

it is very easier to become anyone of any caste thou i agree with earlier comment however we humans should not forget not be human being it should be being a human to love to hate we human are the only life being who can speak think do as we want to why not live together love each other as one community known as human's

I don't see Any religion as easy. it all depends on What you believe and how you close you want your relationship with The Supreme Being to be.I don't think a person Has top practice any religion To be a good person. I see religion as a element to a person's life but not the reason they are good or bad. Religion is a choice. Once you find the correct religion , meaning the religion that fits you , your views on life and make your life richer, then following it is easy. i think if you Have to struggle to be Whatever, you Have to make yourself uncomfortable All the time , then it isn't the correct religion for you to follow.

In the Christian religion, we are told by Jesus Christ, our Savior, to love our enemies and do good to those who despitefully use us. We are also told by God to love our neighbors as ourselves. Most people would ask, "How can I love my enemies? How do you love someone you don't even know? But love in these cases means to treat them well. If we all did this, we would be good citizens. If Christ is living in us, these things should be no problem. I can't speak for other religions. I don't know what is required of them.

That's a good question... I can't really speak for other religions since I don't know it well enough yet, but i think it is difficult for a lot of people to even become a good human.

How can one be a good human, following???? Doesn't one need to be able to stand on their own two feet??? You want that for your children. God does as well. Last time I checked, God didn't belong to any religion. Religion is man's attempt to understand God. Maybe it's time for all religions to come together and compare notes. The result would be to come closer to God.

I believe becoming a good person is not difficult at all. It is doing the right things and all times. Being better at a certain religion can be quite a challenge as although one may be faithful to their religion they try to hard to do things perhaps they are unsure of and or just do not believe in and the mistakes can flow in, at least in the eyes of the so called true followers. Personally when one becomes a person they do their best and are very content, what else can we ask for.

I believe being a good person is what god is looking for in us and testing all of us to see how we deal with it...but the real question should be is he proud of us or does he think we was a mistake?