Religion : the true intent..

Agree to statement about choosing one's religion wisely. But I believe that most of the time thats not the case. Religious teachings are imprinted in our minds from the very beginning and this does has a deep impact on our way of living. I believe religion is something which is imposed on us at birth, so deep that we even sometimes believe ourselves to be its ambassadors. Very often do we see people change from one religion to another, but I believe this change too is catalyzed either by force or lack of knowledge about ones' own religion and the one he is changing to. Many times people are lured into changing their religion to some other. This needs to be stopped. There is good and bad in every religion. Its on us, whether we can extract the nectar out of it or blindly follow them without bothering the effect it may have on society.

Hi Grapto I'm sorry if I had in any way portrayed that kind of attitude. When I advocate secularity, believe me I'm not religious at all. I just wanted to say that there is good in every religion. Here's a theory of mine. A dynamic change can be brought in the world if even a little amount of that good is advocated. I someone decides to convert, he is overlooking that good and the opportunity in it. And I'm sure every religion has some ugly side as well, and when exposed to it, will you again go searching for some other one. Every religion is equally good. Its just the interpretation of its teachings that may be at fault. Trust me, you can make thousand meanings from a single phrase. So you don't move from one religion to another but just from one good to another. Parents don't turn their back on their children if they turn out bad. But rather they try to bring the good in them so powerful that it overshadows that bad. The teachings in your religion are as good as in any other but its the ones' preaching them who may be wrong. 'Its not the student who is good or bad but its the teacher that is'. Hope you get what I want to convey. Feel free to educate me..

himzey, you have a very demeaning attitude to those of use who've changed their religion. Well I was raised vaguely Christian, my parents aren't very religious. I'm sure many people change their religion because they see serious problems with their original religion.

I agree that some religious texts may not be all 'good-good' sorts. There may be some sections that might have crept in or might have been altered deliberately to protect the interest of few individuals. But it doesn't mean we neglect the good they contain. If we form a combined for of all religions by adapting the good of every religion and then no poor child will sleep empty stomach. The question is on us too. No religion teaches to look down on others. If someone is not willing to share a piece of bread or is so ignorant and so blind following his religion that he looks down on other's beliefs (be it personal or religious), then how can he reach his eternal destiny.

Hi Grapto Now I can assure you that those texts were purposely poisoned by hatred to act against a particular branch of society. It isn't God that wrote those religious texts. Those were written in the name of God by mortals like you and me. It reflects the mentality of a certain class of people which was responsible to carry out the proceedings of religion in certain civilizations. But if you look at any other religious text you'll find that every other religion in some way or other teaches some kind of discrimination. No religion is perfect. Thats what the intent of this discussion is.. "to extract the good from every religion". Those religious texts were written thousands of years ago when slavery was culture, other cults and civilizations were treated as enemies and the discriminated and slaved had no voice of their own neither some one dared to speak for them. That hatred and discrimination was transformed as teaching in most of our religious texts. Every society had its own contribution to make and the result was the continuation of the hatred we received as a heritage from our ancestors. But today we talk about equality, secularity and other virtues. Blindly following something written thousands of years back or excerpting something from it just to show them the mirror isn't going to help us either.

himzey, speaking of unbelievers, "His similitude is that of a dog: if you attack him, he lolls out his tongue, or if you leave him alone, he (still) lolls out this tongue." - The Koran 7:176. Doesn't this teach Muslims to look down on unbelievers? What about the notorious passage that advocates wife beating? Then there's that bit in a Hadith that says that trees and rocks will cry out to Muslims, "There is a Jew behind me, come and kill him." Doesn't Hinduism teach people to look down on the lower casts? I'm sure there are many more examples, depending on how nit-picky you want to get.

Hi Urban I'd suggest you go through my discussion once again...

Why? all the best urban

Cause I think you misunderstood something .. I was trying to make a point about peace and order and a religion's contribution to it..

Wow.. I didn't know that.. Yeah thats correct religious teachings were twisted and presented in such a way to fulfill the lust of power of a few individuals who are the so called 'agents of Religion'. This was where the situations started deteriorating.

But allegations themselves make it clear that there's something fishy going on. Many temples too have enormous wealth gathered by donations from the devotees. And rather than organizing some charity work, most of the priests just think about expanding the temple premises.

barehugs, was there ever peace before 2000 years ago? I don't think so. Probably even back in the stone age there were lots of wars but it was small groups cavemen with clubs and arrows. Even chimps fight wars!

Live and let live. We are blessed that we can all live under one roof. While thats not the case with most the other species where there's only one law- "Survival of the fittest".

Hmm Inequality in society is becoming a major concerns for some countries. Even in US, movements like "Occupy Wall Street" convey that citizens aren't getting what they deserve. You know what I think.. there should be a system centered at farming and irrigation activities.. after-all food is the basic need we all are fighting for..

The same here. Just another type of battle. The rich survivve and the poor die.

Every religion teaches that people should live in peace and harmony. Wouldn't it be great if every one out there will understand it too. Specially those agents of certain religions who are engaged in a meaningless fight of 'whose religion is the greatest'; willing to kill each other in the name of religion.

How long did it take you two to gain an understanding of every religion?

Hi Grapto Our assertions here are based on the day to day experiences with people from all other religions.

It makes me think they are so insecure that they Must have Everybody around them to think the Same way they do . And it makes me sad that they feel they have to sell their G-d like a vacuum cleaner!All I can do is say no thanks to the polite and yes I rather go to hell thank you to the rude and move on.

Its just like politics with members from one group going around asking other group's members to join their side. And when they come home satisfied that they were able to convince a few, they discover that half their own side switched.

Very often we find these salesmen trying to sell their religious insurance policy. Like they are the ones who are responsible for world peace. One thing which I don't like at all is forcing some to convert. Let forcing aside, I hate the very idea of asking someone to convert.

Very correct. Its an individual's choice whether or not he wants to follow some religion. There is urgent need of a mechanism which creates a sort of coordination, positive interaction and harmony among the advocates of different religions.

Don't know about that.. but if its the case then that's an example of ignorance of a few which leads the whole religion to shame. The best we can do is not letting those people be the representatives of their religion.

himzey, a lot of Christians think that the anti-Christ will try to unify all religions.

Religions are full of excerpts from the life of great men guiding individuals what should be done and what not when stuck in some kind of situation. They remind and direct us to what our 'dharma' is.. Thanks for the appreciation but I know we got a lot to learn from our elders and their experiences.

Hi Graptopetalum You are correct in one way but making a blunt statement that 'some religions are wrong and preaching violence, and they should stop doing this' isn't going to change the situations. They are being fueled by religious extremists who are feeding on ignorance, innocence and money of those uneducated followers. Even those religious texts have been manipulated to suite the needs of those few extremists. I wanted to refer those teachings which advocate peace and harmony. To find an in-between path where people wouldn't be looked down upon cause their religious teachings advocate violence or be forced to suppress their feelings about their religion. I know there are some segments present in almost all religions which direct people to violence. But its the individual's choice to follow or not to follow. One inner conscience should be strong enough to tell him what should he follow and what message should he convey to others. Education is very important.

I know Grapto and its very sad to watch.. Right now the extremists are having a deep influence in every Muslim's life. Even the one's living abroad aren't that educated about their religion and are easily poisoned by those Extremists teachers who in the name of following their religion advocate religious intolerance. Its sad that even being so educated, few people easily get provoked in the name of 'Jihad'. I understand how you feel but still, it doesn't give us the right to put fingers on somebody.

himzey, look at the news! It's full of stories about Muslims being violent. Recently, a Muslim family (well a husband, second wife in a polygamous marriage and their son) in Canada killed the man's first wife and his three daughters (born to the second wife). See what's been happening in Syria lately! Read the Koran, it's full of passages telling Muslims to fight and persecute various people, there's even a verse advocating wife beating! The violent Muslims for the most part are fundamentalists, those who try to follow the scriptures closely. You can't just dismiss them as "extremists" (you could argue that the peaceful Ishmalies are "extremists") and think that more education will help, some are very educated (Taliban comes from a word for "student").

Ofcourse dear.. there are many. But those will be visible to only those who are willing to shed the cocoon of ignorance and spread their wings out..

Yeah I intended to do so.. Looking at the complete picture here gives you an idea about what the idea would have been behind the creation of the word religion. Leading a righteous life, maintaining the peace and harmony in society and every other virtue..

Agree with you. But still one can't follow everything written. Religion is such a vast thing there may even be many contradictions in the texts itself. When we try to look at a broader image of it we find that every one here is trying to advocate the same thing but just in a slightly different flavor and with some differences in priorities.

As you mentioned, its very necessary to pick the right and useful thing from a bunch. There are few sections in our religious texts which may in some way refer to adopt violent means to handle a problem but I believe those have been manipulated to suit the desires of a few individuals. Besides it also depends on ones' perspective and point of view, what one sees correct. The dare to question has an important role to play too.

Yes, things may have been manipulated in the texts. But it is still part of the religions you talk about. And when you start to picking what you want of of them, you start to create a new religion. Just like how there are many forms of Christianity. So when you start talking about religions true intent you have to talk about everything they say and consider that is part of the religion instead of dismissing it. Like I said, create your own that is peaceful but don't claim what the values are of a religion(s) when you don't take in all the information. For all we know the peaceful parts could've been the manipulation by man instead of the violent parts.

Hi blue..!! Thats right. It resembles the saying in my discussion..

There has been lot of misinterpretation and manipulation of what our religious texts meant. People should be aware of the current state of society before advocating what was written in their religious texts hundreds or thousands of years ago. They need to accept that situations don't remain the same ever and they can't just blindly follow everything. What might seem to be a solution now may sound bizarre hundreds of years later. They need to understand that there's always a choice.

Thats right. We need to have some mutual understanding and cooperation between people from different religions so that we can form a society which includes good from all the religious teachings, where people of different religions would leave their differences behind and come together for the good of mankind.