{{
`${userDetail.user.displayName}${userDetail.user.cachedBungieGlobalDisplayNameCode ? `#${standardizeBungieGlobalCode(userDetail.user.cachedBungieGlobalDisplayNameCode)}` : ""}`}}
{{getUserClans()}}
Edited by SSG ACM:
11/24/2015 3:49:43 AM
110
Aren't All Religions Basically the Same?
There is a very old and famous fable of either Buddhist or Jain origin that has been used through the centuries to illustrate what is thought to be a fundamental truth about the religions of mankind: "Several blind men were led into a rajah's (king's) courtyard, where they encountered an elephant. One felt a tusk and concluded that an elephant is like a spear. Another touched a leg and thought that an elephant is like a tree. Yet another bumped into the side of the beast and thought that it is like a wall, and so on. The rajah heard the activity, came out on his balcony and told the blind men that they were each encountering only one small part of the magnificent whole."
The lesson, by analogy of course, is that the different religious traditions of the world are all stumbling upon only one particular aspect of ultimate reality and are blind to the total picture, but all the religious hands are touching the same essential truth.
It is easy to see the appeal of this unifying approach to the broad spectrum of religious beliefs. After all, exclusive claims to religious truth are seen by many to be the root of so much violence and suffering in the world as believers in one tradition fight those of other traditions (sometimes for centuries). If at their core all religions are the same or each is heading toward the same end, then there is no real reason for conflict or quarrel.
Ironically, this fable has built into it an element that is not highlighted in the traditional interpretations but may be the most important issue in the story: How do the blind men discover the truth about their encounter with the elephant? It is revealed to them from above. The rajah steps out on his balcony and from his transcendent perspective and, with his intact sense of sight, communicates to those below the full picture of their experience. The more profound real-world question that emerges from the fable is where is our "Rajah" who can see all and can reveal to us the truth that is not accessible from our limited perspective?
Unless there is some word from above to tell us that all religions are basically the same, there is no good reason to conclude they are because the evidence is stacked heavily against it. Although one can identify common beliefs and practices, some of the differences among the traditions are stark
and irreconcilable.
Compare for instance, Mormonism, Buddhism, and Christianity on the critical question of what is ultimately real. Mormon scripture teaches that ultimate reality is material or physical and that even God and spirits are material objects whose constituent matter has existed for all eternity. Mahayana Buddhists believe that ultimate reality is emptiness (sunyata) or being-less-ness (nisvabhava); that is, no gods, no matter, no spirit, no self. Christians, by contrast, see ultimate reality in God, who is an eternal, personal, triune being, who created all there is, both physical and nonphysical from nothing. By any measure, these are dramatic differences.
The conflicting ideas are multiplied once other issues are addressed. What is a human being? Why do we exist? What is good? Why is there pain and suffering? Where is history going? How do I reach salvation or enlightenment? Given the deep divergence on such timeless questions, it is completely legitimate to wonder if the essential unity of all religions is really just a noble wish or a pious hope. Indeed, without a word from the "Rajah" to tell us that the contradictions among the great faiths can be overcome, the notion that all religions are the same seems utterly untenable.
Another irony about the fable presented here is that there is excellent reason to believe that there really is a Rajah who has spoken to mankind and has given us the transcendent perspective we need to know the truth.
Jesus Christ is a radical figure in the history of the great religious traditions in that He is the [b]only[/b] leader who claimed to be the one eternal God in human flesh. He knows the beginning from the end and knows the deepest religious yearnings of
all people. He said definitively that there is only one God and only one source of salvation: Jesus Christ Himself. Moreover (and this is very important), Jesus did not leave us with "blind faith" as the only means to know that His claims are true. Rather, He established the truth of His claims objectively through His glorious resurrection from the dead-the central miracle of human history.
-
[i] *puts on a holiday disposition* [/i] Yes they are the same in their deepest roots. Unfortunately there will be no "rajah" to tell everyone the truth. Instead we must all remove the blindfolds and see the truth for ourselves.
-
1 ReplyEdited by The Negative One: 8/9/2015 1:11:07 AMAren't a lot of religions derivative of earlier texts?
-
1 ReplyThe traveller is a god we can see
-
1 ReplyThey're all the same, because none of them exist
-
8 RepliesAnyone who says "no" is an uneducated idiot. Fundamentally they are the same. All of them revolve around the premise of "Treat others better than you treat yourself". All of them have a "Do good and be rewarded" system. The end. Prove me wrong.
-
Odin says no.
-
1 ReplyI detest you; you have cultivated a hate inside of me for that cool profile picture you use.....dirty syphilitic monster....
-
2 RepliesWho the heck is necro-bumping all my threads?
-
Yep, but Christians are the stupidest mother-blam!-ers on the planet
-
Have you ever heard of the Baha'i Faith? It sounds a lot like what you are talking about with partial revelation and stuffs.
-
2 RepliesSWIGGITY ∧_∧ (￣3￣) ⊂ ⊂ ) ( ( ( (_(＿) Swooty ∧_∧ (￣3￣) ( Ｕ つ ) ) ) (＿)_) I'm ∧_∧ (￣3￣) ⊂_へ つ (＿)｜ 彡 (＿) Coming ∧_∧ ( -_- )っ (っ / Lﾉ┘ For that ∧___∧ ⊂( -＿ - ) ヽ ⊂二/ (⌒) / Booty! ／ ＼ | 。 。 | ＼ ___ (•_•) <) )╯ When you're ready / \ ( •_•) <( (> Come and get it / \ (•_•) ~( )~ NA NA NA NA / \" (•_•) <) )- if yo age is / \ (•_•) /( (> not on the clock / \ Get (•_•)/ <) ) ready for my cock / \ \(•_•) ( (> your leaving? / \ (•_•) <) )/ well / \ \(•_•) ( (> then / \ (•_•) <) )> bye / \ \(•_•) ( (> so I'm like / \ (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ FLIP THAT TABLE. ┻━┻ ︵ ヽ(°□°ヽ) FLIP THIS TABLE. ┻━┻ ︵ ＼(`0`)/／ ︵ ┻━┻ FLIP ALL THE TABLES ಠ_ಠ Child. . . ಠ_ಠ Put. ಠ__ಠ The tables. ಠ___ಠ Back. (╮°-°)╮┳━┳ (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ NEVER BITCH (•_•) <) )╯because bitch I'm / \ ⊂_ヽ ＼＼ ＿ ＼( •_•) 2 < ⌒ヽ F / へ＼ A / / ＼＼ B ﾚ ノ ヽ_つ 4 / / Y / /| O ( (ヽ U | |、＼ | 丿 ＼ ⌒) | | ) / `ノ ) Lﾉ (_／/ B I T C H
-
20 RepliesChristianity: we need to love everyone Islam: join our -blam!-in religion or die Exactly the same
-
10 RepliesDo you believe in Greek mythology?
-
1 ReplyWell we're divided into three groups. -those who believe in no god -those who believe in a god -those who believe in many gods
-
Check out Sikhism [spoiler]thank me later ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) [/spoiler]
-
2 RepliesFaith is faith. There's no such thing as a right or wrong religion, it's just a belief.
-
41 RepliesChristianity is the only religion that offers salvation from being a sinner.
-
3 RepliesLook, it's the tard who denies evolution!
-
1 ReplyThey're all intolerant and full of ignorant fools
-
1 ReplyThey're all the same in the respect that they were created due to ignorance about the world and due to fearmongering and indoctrination, they are still present in society today.
-
5 RepliesIn the sense that they're all wrong, yes.
-
2 RepliesAren't all religions basically poisonous?
-
8 RepliesYou were on your way home when you died. It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me. And that’s when you met me. “What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?” “You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words. “There was a… a truck and it was skidding…” “Yup,” I said. “I… I died?” “Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies,” I said. You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?” “More or less,” I said. “Are you god?” You asked. “Yup,” I replied. “I’m God.” “My kids… my wife,” you said. “What about them?” “Will they be all right?” “That’s what I like to see,” I said. “You just died and your main concern is for your family. That’s good stuff right there.” You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn’t look like God. I just looked like some man. Or possibly a woman. Some vague authority figure, maybe. More of a grammar school teacher than the almighty. “Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn’t have time to grow contempt for you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved. To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel very guilty for feeling relieved.” “Oh,” you said. “So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?” “Neither,” I said. “You’ll be reincarnated.” “Ah,” you said. “So the Hindus were right,” “All religions are right in their own way,” I said. “Walk with me.” You followed along as we strode through the void. “Where are we going?” “Nowhere in particular,” I said. “It’s just nice to walk while we talk.” “So what’s the point, then?” You asked. “When I get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter.” “Not so!” I said. “You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don’t remember them right now.” I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you’ve gained all the experiences it had. “You’ve been in a human for the last 48 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for long enough, you’d start remembering everything. But there’s no point to doing that between each life.” “How many times have I been reincarnated, then?” “Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in to lots of different lives.” I said. “This time around, you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD.” “Wait, what?” You stammered. “You’re sending me back in time?” “Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from.” “Where you come from?” You said. “Oh sure,” I explained “I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there are others like me. I know you’ll want to know what it’s like there, but honestly you wouldn’t understand.” “Oh,” you said, a little let down. “But wait. If I get reincarnated to other places in time, I could have interacted with myself at some point.” “Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own lifespan you don’t even know it’s happening.” “So what’s the point of it all?” “Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You’re asking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a little stereotypical?” “Well it’s a reasonable question,” you persisted. I looked you in the eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.” “You mean mankind? You want us to mature?” “No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.” “Just me? What about everyone else?” “There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there’s just you and me.” You stared blankly at me. “But all the people on earth…” “All you. Different incarnations of you.” “Wait. I’m everyone!?” “Now you’re getting it,” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back. “I’m every human being who ever lived?” “Or who will ever live, yes.” “I’m Abraham Lincoln?” “And you’re John Wilkes Booth, too,” I added. “I’m Hitler?” You said, appalled. “And you’re the millions he killed.” “I’m Jesus?” “And you’re everyone who followed him.” You fell silent. “Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.” You thought for a long time. “Why?” You asked me. “Why do all this?” “Because someday, you will become like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.” “Whoa,” you said, incredulous. “You mean I’m a god?” “No. Not yet. You’re a fetus. You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born.” “So the whole universe,” you said, “it’s just…” "An egg"I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on to your next life.” And I sent you on your way. [spoiler]this is written by andy meir[/spoiler/
-
Yes cuz they all think theres is the only true religion
-
technicallllyyyyyy yea they are, they all believe in a "high power" that rules over them, so yes, they are all the same, but they have different, higher powers, so no they arent at the same time. Atheism all the way
-
4 RepliesEdited by Silk2167: 5/27/2015 4:10:17 AMFor example Muslims kill Americans and Nazïš kill Jews. See the difference?
