As I go about my business from day to day I can’t help but hear the conversation around me. I have noticed that many people make a number of prejudiced comments on many different topics. What bothers me most are the comments on religions, when they say this or that religion is evil. Most of the people in Lexington are Christians. If people looked into the other religions that they are against, I believe that they would find more similarities than difference.
The world today is a mix of people with many different religious backgrounds. It is important for people to, if not agree with each other, then to at least tolerate one another, especially in the matters of religion. All religions share common ground, especially in matters such as morals, god(s), and the soul. It is important to see this common ground if we are to get along with one another. The major religions have been here a long time and are likely to be here longer still, so people need to let go of their religious prejudices towards each other.
Probably the most important parallels among the different religions are the moral values. Each religion has similar morals. All of them believe in good over evil. They each have certain sets of rules on how to live their life. Jew and Christians have the Ten Commandments, which are as follows: You shall have no other god before your Lord, you shall not make any graven image (icons), you shall not take the name of the Lord in vain, remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, honor your father and mother, you shall not kill, you shall not bear false witness against our neighbor, and you shall not covet your neighbor's property. The word of Jesus makes up many of the morals of Christianity, too. Jesus taught that the will of God is love, which included judgment and justice, as well as mercy. Jesus also commanded that a people should love their neighbor as they love themselves, and that love is unconditional.
Muslims hold similar beliefs to Christians and Jews. Although some groups of Muslims believe in predestination, most believe that it is what a person does with his or her life that decides whether they are destined to go to heaven or hell. Most believe in free will. They believe that "Man is the author of his own good or evil deeds, his faith and his unbelief, and god gives him power to make his free choice." They also believe that a sinner cannot be excluded from the Islamic faith. It will not be denied that he may go to hell, but it is not certain that he will go there. That person must be left to the will of God.
Hindus believe that a person is born into a certain caste, and although they may not leave it in this lifetime, they may, through doing good in this lifetime, reincarnate into higher castes, and finally end the cycle of death and rebirth as they purify themselves of sin. They believe, as all of these religions do, that it is wrong to lie, steal, cheat, or to hurt another being.
In Buddhism there are many places a person can turn to for moral guidance. There are the Four Noble Truths, which are as follows: All who live, suffer. All suffering is caused by desire, which can never be satisfied. All suffering will end when all desire is suppressed. And the Eightfold Path leads to the end of suffering. The Eightfold Path is a set of guidelines, which can have widely different interpretations. To follow the Eightfold Path you must simply have the following: Right Views, Right Resolves, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Occupation, Right Effort, Right Awareness, and Right Meditation. Like Christianity, Buddhism has certain proverbs that tell of its morals. A few of these are as follows: "Our deeds, good or evil, follow us like shadows." "Overcome anger by love, evil by good, the greedy by generosity, and the liar by truth."
The major religions are usually the same in the most important aspects, which makes people's animosity towards those of a different faith unreasonable. People need to get over their prejudice of each other if they are to live in modern society. Technology has made the world smaller and those who live in it must therefore become more tolerant of each other if we are to get along.
