Poll: Religions of the World: Is co-existence possible? Is it desirable?

Possible? Yes, I'd say it's possible. As evidenced by the multicultural countries that allow freedom of religion.

Desirable? I guess that's a matter of perspective. To a moderately religious person I'd say it was desirable. To some hard core atheists it wouldn't be since they think religion is the root cause to most of the evils in the world.

It will be a one world religion. You will worship the Anti-Christ.

He will be on the scence soon. We are moving toward a One World Currency Everyday.

I'm not going to pretend to know the teaching of other religions or justify prejudices by cherry-picking from their scriptures. I can only be responsible for how I conduct myself.

Is religious co-existence possible? I don't know. Is it desirable? Of course. The alternative is war. Is that what we seek?

The religions of the world already co-exist - of course, that doesn't mean it isn't a completely dysfunctional coexistence. Why should anyone entertain the possibility of the current array of religions being harmonious, when the dogma that fuels them is abjectly opposed to one another? If you are a Christian and you are living harmoniously with those of other faiths, you are basically consorting with the enemy. Don't get me wrong - it is entirely admirable that you are harmoniously coexisting, but what is the point of labeling yourself a Christian? By scripture, you are not pleasing the Christian god by doing so. You would be much better off labeling yourself a humanist, and embracing your relationship with whomever you think your creator is in a personal way. If you are willing to not follow the rules, then you do not need a book to guide this relationship. From now on, stop trying to convince yourself that that bread is your savior's flesh and that that wine is his blood. It's a sick and morbid behavior anyways.

We're already heading in that direction. The book of Revelation speaks of the harlot riding the beast: The beast is the Antichrist and the harlot is the false church. This false church will try to mix Christianity with the other religions of the world.

Furthermore, many Muslims already look to the pope as a leader; however, they refuse to follow him until he denounces Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Nevertheless, the way the Catholic Church is going nowadays, I would not be surprised if this eventually happens; which would make way for the false church to occur.

Religions should be able to coexist effectively. What virtually all of them are about is some form of supreme being. How we choose to be involved with that supreme being seems tob e more cultural and personal than substantively factual. But, it is a personal experience. We are either raised to believe something or learn to believe something at some point in our lives. Why is that the source of so much controversy? What I believe and what someone else believes should have no negative effect on anyone. At worst, it should be aneutral effect.

Let's face it, most religions rituals and laws are man made. There is even recent research that indicates the bible has many contradictions and was written by mutiple men with varying interpretations of events that don't always coincide with historical timelines. What does all of this mean?

Bottom line is that we are all born in precisely the same way and we all eventually die. What happens after that is a matter of personal faith. Fighting over doctrine and how we choose to worship or not worship a supreme being really defeats the purpose of religion in the first place.

That is why many people believe in God, or a supreme being, but not religion. Religion has largely become spiritual corporations whose decisons are based as much on economics as they are anything spiritual. They frequently are reluctant to speak out for the oppressed or to help those who are really in need while the leaders live opulent lifestyles. Many, have refused to take principled stands on things like racism. I believe that MLK said that 10am on Sunday was the maost segregated hour in america. Most of us have seen pictures of blacks hanging from a tree while the church congregation was enjoying a picnic after services. Al ot of it is pure hypocrisy, but people need to believe what they need to believe. Someone once said that religion is the opium of the masses. But,m that may not be a bad statement if we don't confuse religion with a belief in a supreme being.

People need something to believe in given the position of human beings in the universe. Our releatively insignificant presence, finite life span, and fragile existences require that we believe in some power superior to us that will somehow look out for us. Religious leaders, in some cases, have taken that vulnerability and turned it into an enterprise. It should not be.

King Dave: You make an excellent point about the devaluation of human life. I never thought of it quite that way, but it is on point. The whole notion of religion is that we are somehow not worthy of happiness. Yet, most religions teach that God wants the best for us. Surely, God would not want us to be unhappy and devalue or lives which he/her has given us.

Even in the christian bible there is no real discussion of religion as we know it today. Much of what is in the bible is a depiction of cultural expressions in dealing with their concept of a supreme being. Jesus really only required that we believe in Him and treat each other as we treat ourselves. If the latter were followed by the majority of people in the world we would have far fewer problems.

Someone treid to tell me that religion started with Moses being handed the Ten Commandments. This person also said that this is where our sense of morality comes from. I asked why Jesus never mentione the Ten Commandments. I got no answer. I also said that suppose the Ten Commandments were really the result of a lot of dysfunction in the community and someone chronicalling that and coming up with a set of rules that would reduce that confusion. The biblse says that the people were out of control when Moses went to the mountain.

I guess what I am saying is that man coming up with morals and principles is not inconsistent with a belief in a supreme being who endowed us with the ability to do many things. Religious scholars argue about the meanaing of free will and the power of prayer for example. If we truly have free will, can prayer change something? I believe that there is a latin term called "deus ex machina" which means God having a direct impact on something on the earth. Is this where we are or did God give us what we need to acoomplish what we need on earth?

There are many questions with few answers.