I want to ask a 'baby question' in the sense that I have a feeling everone else 'knows' & I am scrambling around trying find an answer

[KatyMac]

Do you see what I mean - it isn't a question about babies - it's just something that might be blindingly obvious to everyone (except me)

So I am Christian, sort of

But I think that 'God' talks to each of his peoples in a different way

So he tells Christians to do ABC, & Jewish people to do XYZ, & Hindu people LMN

So everyone is right & as long as they follow their 'rules' they will get what they are expecting

& I truly believe that everyone should have the right to practise their own religion as long as they hurt no-one else

And I (like to) think that I would defend anyone's right to practise their own religion to the best of my ability

So I'm just mad aren't I? No-one else thinks this do they?

Or are there?

yes, in fact I think there is a religion based on that precise thinking. but I can't remember what it's called

The way I think of it is there is one God / supreme being / call it what you like... but there are lots of different paths to get there. Depending on the culture in which you're raised (and other things) you tend to follow a particular faith. Eg; People in the West tend to follow Christianity, in the East the follow Buddhism and Hinduism, Middle East - Islam / Judaism... I know this is simplistic but its the way I get my head around it. I imagine God sitting on a mountaintop and there are lots of different paths to reach the top.

PS If you're mad then so am I!

That's OK

As long as it's not completely insane - I mentioned it once to someone at a church (I no longer go to - we moved) & they freaked out at me

But it's reasonably normal or at least not terrifically odd

Thanks thisisyesterday - if you remember just give me a shout

& Justabout are you tired due to the time of year or is there more to it (answer tomorrow or whenever things calm down)

I'm mad then as well, KatyMac...

Pinkfluffyslippers - that would work for me

I see it that I talk to the people in my life in different ways (eg my mum, my dh, my dd, my staff, OFSTED, the children I care for ect)& have different expectations of them so it makes sense to me that 'God' would talk to different peoples differently & have different expectations of them

(And Justa will probably correct me - if she is not too tired - but I think this belief is called Universalism)

Have you tried looking in the Belief-O-Matic to see what it says you are closest to? I'll have to look for the link, but it tells you all about lots of religions.

I believe something similar, in that God is trying to relate to all of us, and we're interpreting it in different ways - not quite that God's telling us different things, but that different history and culture affects how we relate to what we hear.

i think that this is what I was thinking of

Found the link Belief-O-Matic - sounds cheesy, but it is actually quite sensible!

So everyone can do what they like & worship how they want as long as they don't say 'MY way is best, you shouldn't do that; you should do what I do'

Universalism - I'll have a google

Really like your idea KatyMac,

I would love to live in a society where we all really can and do except each others beliefs and respect each others lives, traditions etc...

The problems really come when we all start fighting each other and thinking our religion is the best and the only way to God.

Thanks for the the thread

Lovely way of perceiving things, especially when you are me and you tend to just think it is another way of justifying the ludicrous notion that there is a God given that there seems to be such a wide variation on who the chuffing heck this God person actually is and how one should worship Him.

When we learned about other religions at school (a church school) we were told that Christianity was the only true path. At 9 I didn't quite buy this and decided that God had "made" different relegions to suit different cultures/countries I might have refined my thinking through the years but it's basically the same logic underneath, so no you are not alone.

I also decided at about the same age that heaven must be getting full with all the "people" up there and I remember having a long discussion with my Mum (who was also the Sunday School leader) about what I now know is regarded as reincarnation by Bhuddists.

Sometimes "child-like" thinking gives the simple, most obvious answers, and there's usually nothing wrong with that

KatyMac, it's one of the most common beliefs among those who would call themselves spiritual nowadays, I would have said. It's a very postmodern thing, really - everyone has their own truth, etc.

Well I did that quiz & I thought the top 20 religions I could be - were interesting - confusing but interesting

I bet most of those religions don't consider themselves in any way similar

1. Liberal Quakers (100%)
2. Reform Judaism (98%)
3. Neo-Pagan (97%)
4. Unitarian Universalism (97%)
5. Mahayana Buddhism (87%)
6. Baha'i Faith (85%)
7. Sikhism (83%)
8. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (80%)
9. New Age (80%)

10. Jainism (74%) 11. Orthodox Judaism (71%) 12. Theravada Buddhism (69%) 13. Islam (63%) 14. Orthodox Quaker (63%) 15. Hinduism (60%) 16. Secular Humanism (60%) 17. Taoism (56%) 18. New Thought (51%) 19. Scientology (49%) 20. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (39%)

It is very confusing isn't it?

KatyMac - I am a (Liberal) Quaker...

So the quiz works as you seem to believe a fair amount of what I believe

spooky

If you click on the different religions it explains how you match them, so you can decide whether they sound right or not. I get 100% for Liberal Protestant (no surprise there) but also 100% for Reform Judaism which I wouldn't have thought of, but reading through it I agree with it, except for the fact they don't follow Christ!

Oh I closed the window - never mind

I will have a play around - I wonder if I would get the same results if I did it again?

This thread was a good idea - I nearly didn't post as I was a bit embarrassed

Yes I think you are right, live and let live cos if you beleive in the afterlife we will all end up in the same place anyway!

I have long believed that we are all worshipping the same 'thing', just in different ways.

However many people are horrified at that because many religious people beleive that only their lot is going to heaven.

Also, many religious people I have come across (give me some credit here I was convent school educated and attended mass at least twice a week till I left home) can only see the exact way that THEY worship and believe that others are actually worshipping different gods that do not exist.

The 'main' religions have many fesivals and other aspects in common, which could imply that historically they all started out the same but went in different directions. Which would mean its the same god in each of them.

Well, as someone who sees things slightly differently, it isn't because I believe only 'my lot' is going to heaven - some of us genuinely disagree because to have conflicting 'truths' all being right at the same time just doesn't make sense to us.

Having said that, wherever possible, I'm happy to come together with people of differing faiths (and none) on the things we do agree on.

The tone of consensus on this thread is so lovely I feel terribly rude breaking in to disagree, however respectfully.

One of my (many) problems with the 'many paths up the mountain to the one God' scenario is that in order to determine that they all arrive in the same place, we need to be sitting at the top of the mountain with God. The only way we can tell that some or all of them are not dead-ends is if we claim that we have the only absolute viewpoint - we are on the helicopter flying around the mountain if you like.

I don't feel happy being so presumptive as to say that I have that ultimate perspective. In fact, I would say that only God himself could tell us that it was indeed the case that all the paths end up in the same place.

In that case, I'm looking for evidence that that is what God thinks, and examining the various religions, the only one I find to have convincing (to me) evidence that God has indeed spoken is Christianity - and I think that it says the opposite, that there is not a myriad of paths to God.

I also think that the differences in beliefs of world religions make it very hard to say that they all end up in the same place. Is there one God or many? Do we die once or are we reincarnated? and so on. I can't see how completely contradictory beliefs can be true.

Hmm so maybe many paths isn't the one for me

I assume everyone gets what they think they are going to so for one person that might be reincarnation & for another it might be heaven or something else entirely for someone else

Maybe?