What if we accepted each others Religion?

[loverofhumanity]

And yet…..

They teach love and brotherhood amongst their own tribes…not so much with concern to heretics, apostates, blasphemers, and
non-believers.
Actions speak louder than words, and history and modern conflicts has shown endless actions contrary to your naive interpretation of their teachings.

The preachers have taken over and are doing this and people sadly follow blindly. If we can all learn to think for ourselves then these hatreds would be questioned and not blindly accepted so easily. We are all fellow human beings. The ‘us vs them’ mentality promoted is false. The true narrative is that we are all part of one human race sharing one home which is the planet.

Each religion worships the same inner truths. Only outwardly do they differ but in essence they are one reality and one truth. The same sun shines on all the days of the week but there are those who think that because there are seven days there are also seven suns.

 

[loverofhumanity]

Why not reject them? Why not say, "You know what I know your religion believes this and that and that God did this or that but was any of it really true? Is it worth killing and hating each other over our ancestors' various myths?"

Different "paths" is much better. A person doesn't have to pretend they believe in the things that the other religions says are true but just accept that the other religions are true for those other people.

I don't know about that. Ultimately, Baha'is say that all the other religions have false beliefs. How are you going to get them to agree with you and the Baha'i Faith without them admitting that their religious beliefs aren't correct? A Baha'is is not going to admit such a thing. Baha'is believe their religion is the new and absolute truth from God. And Baha'is believe the teachings of Baha'u'llah have replaced the teachings of the past religions. He has brought new laws and new social teachings that, Baha'is believe, is destined to unite the world.

Doesn't quite work. The teachings of one religion are not the same as the teachings of another. Even the teachings about who and what God is... aren't the same.

Religion teaches love and unity so we accept that but leaders of religion who teach hate and killing we reject that as having nothing to do with the laws of God to love one another.

We are all on different paths true but if we found truth we would have found the same thing and be united. I have found all religions to be true and accept them all. And that no one religion is superior to another and that there will always be new religions appear as humanity evolves. By religion I mean the Founders and their scriptures not the man made doctrines and preacher commentaries and interpretations.

We say that all the religions as given by the Founders is true. The foundation which is the Educator and His holy book is true we say.

There is no ‘replacing’ but a broadening of ‘vision’. So Christ said ‘love they neighbour and Baha’u’llah says love all mankind. Loving all humanity includes loving one’s neighbour. A new teaching for this age is ‘love all religions’.

Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. Deal ye one with another with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and fellowship.(Baha’u’llah)

But this is not what we see today. Today we see hate and killing between the different religions so as time passes this attitude of love towards all religions becomes more urgent.

 

[loverofhumanity]

What's interesting is that as an ex Baha'i I was indoctrinated during my Baha'i years by a central figure of the faith Abdu'l-Baha who said;

'Kindness cannot be shown the tyrant, the deceiver, or the thief, because, far from awakening them to the error of their ways, it maketh them to continue in their perversity as before. No matter how much kindliness ye may expend upon the liar, he will but lie the more, for he believeth you to be deceived, while ye understand him but too well, and only remain silent out of your extreme compassion.'

Source: Bahá'í Reference Library - Selections From the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Pages 158-160

Seems to me as though any person calling on liars to be shown the "extreme compassion" of silence would be corrected by Abdul-Baha.

Dear people the topic of the thread is about unity of religion and not judgements of other people. We can debate and respectfully disagree without making it personal .

If anyone wishes they are more than welcome to start their own thread why they feel Baha’is are deceivers or liars or dishonest but please kindly stay on topic on this thread. Thank you.

 

[loverofhumanity]

You are aware of what’s going on in Gaza and Israel, yes?



As I stated previously:
That you yearn for peace and unity among mankind is admirable.
That you can’t fathom that religions are antithetical to that goal is naive.

I agree in their current state they are diametrically opposed to one another as you say. But if we go back to the basic foundations I believe that unity can be achieved. The basic foundation is the Educator and His holy book. Not the doctrines and interpretations added by men. Only what was originally given to us by God. There are so many dogmas and doctrines added that are nowhere in the original scriptures. So the uncorrupted and unadulterated truth in each religion I believe is most definitely one in essence. But in its corrupted form I understand why you are saying unity is impossible. What Baha’u’llah has done is build a basis of unity on the essence of religion from the original, discarding the add on content by religious leaders making it very easy to accept all religions.

 

[CG Didymus]

Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship.

Are Baha'is doing that here with members of other religions?

But again, how do you do that when it is clear that Baha'is believe their religion and teachings have replaced the teachings of the old religions?

 

[Dao Hao Now]

What Baha’u’llah has done is build a basis of unity on the essence of religion from the original, discarding the add on content by religious leaders making it very easy to accept all religions.

What Baha’u’llah has actually done is not discard anything other than the essence of those religions which distinguishes the differences between them, and add on yet another layer of content from a religious leader which you buy into.

Not the doctrines and interpretations added by men.

This exactly what Baha’u’llah has done.

There are so many dogmas and doctrines added that are nowhere in the original scriptures.

Again, exactly what Baha’u’llah has done.

So the uncorrupted and unadulterated truth in each religion I believe is most definitely one in essence.

This is your fantasy, which of course you are welcome to believe.
But, please stop with the……

I have found all religions to be true and accept them all.

You have plainly demonstrated that in fact you don’t.
You have only accepted the caricature of those religions that enables you to perpetuate your fantasy.

 

[CG Didymus]

What Baha’u’llah has done is build a basis of unity on the essence of religion from the original, discarding the add on content by religious leaders making it very easy to accept all religions.

Maybe some interpretations are questionable, but you take a religion like Christianity, Baha'is disagree with a lot of teachings that are right there in the pages of their Scriptures.

Again, if you want to say that the NT was written by men and that it was their interpretation of things that Jesus said, then I'd agree. Plus, we are counting on them to even know what Jesus said and did. How do we know they weren't embellishing the stories and making things up?

But instead, Baha'is try to say that stories like the raising of Lazurus and the resurrection of Jesus were symbolic. Why not just plain old made-up fiction?

And most all of us have been told by Christians that we need Jesus to be forgiven of our sins... that we've inherited a sin nature from Adam. And that we are being deceived by Satan if we don't believe. Where does all that come from? That's straight out of the NT.

If it's not true, then get rid of it. But that's not what you're saying. You're saying to keep the Scriptures of Christianity and the other religions.... read them, learn from them... just don't believe them as interpreted by the people in that religion. Interpret them according to how the Baha'i Faith interprets them.

Like again with Christianity and the NT, there is no Satan, no hell, no inherited sin, no resurrection, which leaves us with no need for Jesus to have given his life. There was no need of a sacrifice. He didn't have to die to pay the penalty for our sins. We are not going to hell if we reject all those beliefs.

You are leaving only a few meaningful things from the NT, the main one being "Love your neighbor as yourself." And that's not unique to Christianity. Because it is common to all the major religions, Baha'is take that one thing to say, "See, they all teach the same things." No, they are all over the place with beliefs about everything. Dump those old beliefs? Sure, I'm fine with believing most of the things were myth.

 

[Secret Chief]

We cannot be absolutely certain that we possess all of Buddhas authentic teachings. I personally believe He did teach the oneness of God.

So you do not accept another religion then. You misrepresent it.

 

[loverofhumanity]

Are Baha'is doing that here with members of other religions?

But again, how do you do that when it is clear that Baha'is believe their religion and teachings have replaced the teachings of the old religions?

You say replace but we say fulfilled the promises of their religions. They do have prophecies about a Promised One they are supposed to accept when He comes. We have accepted Him while they have not but have replaced their own scriptures with the interpretations of their priests.

 

[loverofhumanity]

So you do not accept another religion then. You misrepresent it.

Not at all.

 

[loverofhumanity]

Maybe some interpretations are questionable, but you take a religion like Christianity, Baha'is disagree with a lot of teachings that are right there in the pages of their Scriptures.

Again, if you want to say that the NT was written by men and that it was their interpretation of things that Jesus said, then I'd agree. Plus, we are counting on them to even know what Jesus said and did. How do we know they weren't embellishing the stories and making things up?

But instead, Baha'is try to say that stories like the raising of Lazurus and the resurrection of Jesus were symbolic. Why not just plain old made-up fiction?

And most all of us have been told by Christians that we need Jesus to be forgiven of our sins... that we've inherited a sin nature from Adam. And that we are being deceived by Satan if we don't believe. Where does all that come from? That's straight out of the NT. I

If it's not true, then get rid of it. But that's not what you're saying. You're saying to keep the Scriptures of Christianity and the other religions.... read them, learn from them... just don't believe them as interpreted by the people in that religion. Interpret them according to how the Baha'i Faith interprets them.

Like again with Christianity and the NT, there is no Satan, no hell, no inherited sin, no resurrection, which leaves us with no need for Jesus to have given his life. There was no need of a sacrifice. He didn't have to die to pay the penalty for our sins. We are not going to hell if we reject all those beliefs.

You are leaving only a few meaningful things from the NT, the main one being "Love your neighbor as yourself." And that's not unique to Christianity. Because it is common to all the major religions, Baha'is take that one thing to say, "See, they all teach the same things." No, they are all over the place with beliefs about everything. Dump those old beliefs? Sure, I'm fine with believing most of the things were myth.

There is a prophecy in the Book of Revelation that only the Promised One can unseal the books not any man in heaven or on earth or under it. That is saying that the current interpretations mean zilch without the interpretation of the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Revelation 5:5 We have accepted His interpretation which is from God.

 

[Secret Chief]

Not at all.

I offer that you do and more than 500 million other people would say this, but hey you're stuck with your deceitful agenda.

 

[loverofhumanity]

So you do not accept another religion then. You misrepresent it.

We accept that the Buddha Gautama prophesied Maitreya the future Buddha and that He has appeared. If it’s true then that confirms that Buddha Maitreya is confirming by the fact He is Who Gautama spoke of that Gautama originally taught the oneness of God.

So I believe we are accepting the Buddhas prophecies which Buddhists are supposed to accept also. The prophecies about Maitreya are there in the Buddhist scriptures for a reason so when He appears Buddhists will turn to Him. We have accepted Him so we believe we are loyal to Buddha.

 

[loverofhumanity]

I offer that you do and more than 500 million other people would say this, but hey you're stuck with your deceitful agenda.

When Christ first appeared He had only 12 disciples. The Jews still don’t accept Him but billions now do.

 

[Vinayaka]

I'm amazed at how so many people believe that just because they say something, that makes it true. Today I'm jumping on my flying carpet and flying south.

If you honestly believe something about yourself, yet every single person you meet, say 500 people, disagree, and you keep thinking you're right, with absolute conviction, then it's time to give your head a shake.

 

[Secret Chief]

I'm amazed at how so many people believe that just because they say something, that makes it true. Today I'm jumping on my flying carpet and flying south.

If you honestly believe something about yourself, yet every single person you meet, say 500 people, disagree, and you keep thinking you're right, with absolute conviction, then it's time to give your head a shake.

Exactly. Is the carpet petrol or diesel?

 

[Vinayaka]

Exactly. Is the carpet petrol or diesel?

Neither. It's a magic carpet so it goes by itself. There is a secret society here that sells them. But one has to believe in the Power.

 

[Secret Chief]

Neither. It's a magic carpet so it goes by itself. There is a secret society here that sells them. But one has to believe in the Power.

I'm going to believe my Skoda is a Ferrari.

 

[Vinayaka]

Not at all.

You absolutely misrepresent Hinduism. You claim Krishna is a manifestation, which no Hindu believes. You insinuate He is the founder of Hinduism, by the definition of manifestation, and what that means. You totally ignore Vedanta, Saivism, Shaktism, Sri Vaishnavism, etc. You say reincarnation is false, and deny karma. If that isn't misrepresentation, then please let me know how your little bit of cherrypicking is representative of the entirety of Hinduism. Much better to say nothing at all than to let people know how little you know, and then stand by such behavior.

But this won't change, will it? It can't.

 

[Vinayaka]

I'm going to believe my Skoda is a Ferrari.

I believe that. Makes perfect sense.