REligions: the same or different?

[Medusa]

Do you think that all the major religions are
fundamentally the same or different? Explain
your answer.

[Gleb]

Re: Medusa's QDJ(year of the $1 pickle!)

Do you think that all the major religions are
fundamentally the same or different? Explain
your answer.

I think they are both different and similar. They all have common things but also have something unique. They share the same core.

[Näre]

Re: Medusa's QDJ(year of the $1 pickle!)

Do you think that all the major religions are
fundamentally the same or different? Explain
your answer.

i think their function (as a psychological/sociological phenomenon) is similar but details differ.

[thalassa]

Re: Medusa's QDJ(year of the $1 pickle!)

Do you think that all the major religions are
fundamentally the same or different? Explain
your answer.

Both...and neither. All religions (and by religion here, I'm taking the legal sense, and including Atheism) provide the same function, psychologically and socially. Most religions also provide for a similar "golden rule" default of behavior towards one another (thought it is expressed and emphasized differently). Most religions have certain teachings and/or obligations that are similar in nature towards one's neighbors, parents, elders, the poor, sick, the religious pilgrim, the guest-host relationship, etc (though how they are interpreted, and indeed, whether or not one actually acknowledges them, is both an institutional and an individual variable). All religions, and even individuals within those religions, differ widely when it comes to things like the nature of god (as a concept), how god should be encountered, etc---the trappings of religion.

[Gleb]

Re: Medusa's QDJ(year of the $1 pickle!)

Both...and neither. All religions (and by religion here, I'm taking the legal sense, and including Atheism) provide the same function, psychologically and socially. Most religions also provide for a similar "golden rule" default of behavior towards one another (thought it is expressed and emphasized differently). Most religions have certain teachings and/or obligations that are similar in nature towards one's neighbors, parents, elders, the poor, sick, the religious pilgrim, the guest-host relationship, etc (though how they are interpreted, and indeed, whether or not one actually acknowledges them, is both an institutional and an individual variable). All religions, and even individuals within those religions, differ widely when it comes to things like the nature of god (as a concept), how god should be encountered, etc---the trappings of religion.

Wherever and whenever you are, you can always find similarities. Between humans, that is.

[anubisa]

Re: Medusa's QDJ(year of the $1 pickle!)

Do you think that all the major religions are
fundamentally the same or different? Explain
your answer.

I agree with Gleb. There are differences and similarities. However, I think that the differences outweigh the similarities. Like Christianity, the way the people worship Christ is different than Pagans worship the God and Goddess.

[DragonsFriend]

Re: Medusa's QDJ(year of the $1 pickle!)

Religions have formed in order that people with similar spiritualities can share in groups. The legal definition of a religion requires at least one deity. Atheism is therefore not a religion. It might be considered a philosophy or even a spiritual philosophy but not a religion.
Most religions have a creator god or goddess. That might be a "common" part but most religions don't accept the (name used for) god by another religion even though the creator performs the same function and only the names are different. For example Christians worship Jesus and his father as creator while Muslims worship Allah as the creator. Even though Allah means God, neither faith accepts the others names.

[iris]

Re: Medusa's QDJ(year of the $1 pickle!)

Do you think that all the major religions are
fundamentally the same or different? Explain
your answer.

Ehm. All of them? I think some are very similar, and some quite different. For example, from what (limited) knowledge I have of islam, it's not actually that different from christianity. But they don't share nearly as much with budhism or asatru. They all serve some common purposes, but they're not the same.

[thalassa]

Re: Medusa's QDJ(year of the $1 pickle!)

The legal definition of a religion requires at least one deity. Atheism is therefore not a religion. It might be considered a philosophy or even a spiritual philosophy but not a religion.

SCOTUS has consistently interpreted religious beliefs as (from US v Seeger) sincere and meaningful beliefs occupying in the life of its possessor a place parallel to that filled by God. Additionally, in (Fowler v Rhode Island) SCOTUS determined that "It is no business of courts to say that what is a religious practice or activity for one group is not religion under the protection of the First Amendment".

If religion, legally, is interpreted to mean one's sincere and meaningful beliefs occupying in the life of its possessor a place parallel to that filled by God, and its none of our business what you actually DO to fulfill those sincere and meaningful beliefs occupying in the life of its possessor a place parallel to that filled by God, then it stands to reason that legally, in the highest courts of our land (and in lower courts), religion has nothing to do with whether one believes in a deity. And indeed, this is why the First Amendment applies to atheism.

[kalynraye]

Re: Medusa's QDJ(year of the $1 pickle!)

SCOTUS has consistently interpreted religious beliefs as (from US v Seeger) sincere and meaningful beliefs occupying in the life of its possessor a place parallel to that filled by God. Additionally, in (Fowler v Rhode Island) SCOTUS determined that "It is no business of courts to say that what is a religious practice or activity for one group is not religion under the protection of the First Amendment".

If religion, legally, is interpreted to mean one's sincere and meaningful beliefs occupying in the life of its possessor a place parallel to that filled by God, and its none of our business what you actually DO to fulfill those sincere and meaningful beliefs occupying in the life of its possessor a place parallel to that filled by God, then it stands to reason that legally, in the highest courts of our land (and in lower courts), religion has nothing to do with whether one believes in a deity. And indeed, this is why the First Amendment applies to atheism.

Can I get an AHmen!!!!

[anunitu]

Re: Medusa's QDJ(year of the $1 pickle!)

Well,it would seem Sean(Our Sean) being a god in the baking,may consider himself his own diety. So,there you go,an Ouroboros of a belief system.

[DragonsFriend]

Re: Medusa's QDJ(year of the $1 pickle!)

Thalassa,
Look at the definition of a religion under the IRS codes. Since churches are automatically 501c3 organizations (tax exempt) the IRS has a definition of what is necessary to be considered a religion and a church. It differs from the court's decisions.

[thalassa]

Re: Medusa's QDJ(year of the $1 pickle!)

Thalassa,
Look at the definition of a religion under the IRS codes. Since churches are automatically 501c3 organizations (tax exempt) the IRS has a definition of what is necessary to be considered a religion and a church. It differs from the court's decisions.

Then that is the IRS's regulatory definition. Its not a legal definition as defined by the courts, its a definition defined in the scope of purview of the IRS. You see the same definitions made (and modified) in other agencies internal and external documentation and regulations. And yes, its semantic, but its important semantics. The IRS's regulatory definition has bearing only on the tax code, not on overall rights. I don't care what the IRS thinks about my theology.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Medusa's QDJ(year of the $1 pickle!)

Do you think that all the major religions are
fundamentally the same or different? Explain
your answer.

Same beer, different bottles.

And formulas.

Which makes them different.

But they are all beer.

You can wear that on your hat...

[anunitu]

Re: Medusa's QDJ(year of the $1 pickle!)

Are not some the champagne of beers?...I heard that somewhere...