All Religions Are The Same?

Most people have heard the line, “All religions teach the same basic truths.” What the people who say this mean is, it doesn't really matter what you believe.

Some would be more specific and say, “It doesn't really matter what you believe, because all paths lead to God.” 

There are other variations of course. I think it was G.K. who said something like, “Buddhism and Christianity are very similar, especially Buddhism.”

I don't actually get that, but I'm sure it's pretty funny.

The point that's not to be missed however, is that saying “All religions teach the same basic truths,” is just about the stupidest thing a human being can say. Not as stupid as the atheist's denial that a Creator of the Universe exists, but it's close. I mean, just think for a moment about what the various religions say regarding the following:

. Who is God?

. How did the universe begin?

. What is the origin of evil and suffering?

. What is our authority for knowing truth?

. What are the fundamental moral and ethical principles for living a holy life?

. How do we know our sins are forgiven?

. Where will we spend eternity?

. What is the nature of paradise? 

To say that all religions teach a similar answer is to show that you've not given the statement, “All religions teach the same basic truths,” even two second's worth of thought.

On the other hand, there is one striking difference between Christianity and ALL other religions of the world, including atheism. That difference is the following.

Only Christianity is based on the concept of Grace. Jesus the Christ, the One from whose teachings Christianity is drawn, taught that our forgiveness, our salvation is based upon unmerited favour. Jesus said there is nothing that we can do to make ourselves good enough to be good enough for heaven. Jesus taught that our forgiveness is based upon our faith in what He accomplished through His death and resurrection.

The focus of all other religions, including atheism, is on good works. They are focused on being as good as we can be and expecting some type of reward based upon those works.

In the end it's clear that all religions are not the same. And when the man-made religions are compared to the one founded by Jesus the Christ, it's clear that they're not the same by an unfathomable margin. 

Buddhism and “Don't Touch Me”

I can't find the site now but I ran across a post by a woman who went with her husband to the far east. Thailand or something like that. She relates how, at the end of a visit with some Buddhist monks, they just kind of waved good-bye “because Buddhist monks are not allowed to touch women.”

Wow, isn't it Christianity that usually takes the hit for seeing women as less than? And isn't Christianity based upon the teaching of Jesus?

Jesus, the One who allowed prostitutes to wash His feet and anoint Him with oil.

Jesus, the One who touched dead bodies to bring them back to life

Jesus, the One who touched grieving widows to comfort them

Jesus, the One who touched those with leprosy to make the clean

Jesus, the One who touched a woman with internal bleeding to bring her relief


Jesus, the One who touched and healed the blind and deaf, and demon-possessed, and lame and crippled. He touched these people and personally connected with them.

Jesus, the One who taught women and invited them in to His inner circle.

Jesus, the One who broke all these man-made rules about what to touch and not touch, the One who raised women to their original state of equality with men and then said, “Follow Me, be like Me, do what I did in your relationships with others.

In a world where even in the 21^st century women are treated as second class (I read last year that those bastions of feminist movements, Universities, are the worst offenders for pay inequity), and social distinctions are as clear as ever, Jesus and His teaching give us, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for in our relationship with Jesus we are all one and the same,” (Galatians 3:28).

Because of Jesus, both the Old and the Newer Testament descriptions of Him show us that all people regardless of race, gender, class or status are equal in the eyes of Jesus the Christ. 


Nobody before Jesus attempted to promote such a concept. What's more, in complete contrast to Greek and Roman societies, Jesus inspired His followers (who now formed “the Church”) to “take care of widows.” In those days, if a woman did not have a husband or sons to take care of her, she did not have any means of support. 


In the Greek and Roman societies of the time it was very unlikely that men would be punished for even killing their wives. In complete contrast Christian men were taught to be ready to die for their wives, to be faithful to their wives, and in fact to model submission for their wives. Did you hear that last one? Unlike any other teacher before Him or since, Jesus told men then as He tells us today, that as the head of the home, as the leader, the teacher, rather than demand from our families the following, we men are to model for our families submission, forgiveness, patience, mercy and kindness and to remain with our wives for life, ensuring and providing for them tender loving care – not because they are somehow less-than, but because this is what it looks like to “Love one another as I have loved you.”This is servant leadership.


Islam, Buddhism, and all other man-made religions have rules about not interacting with women as equals; somehow blaming them for a man's impure thoughts. Jesus sets things right.

The Buddhist monks thought that not touching a woman would somehow keep them pure, but Jesus says to His followers, “Since you died with Christ, why do you submit to its rules, “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship, their false humility, but they lack and value in restraining sexual indulgence.” Colossians 2:20-23

"What Is Wrong With You?"

The Principal of the school I was attending in grade eleven asked me that question. I was being expelled for trying to set fire to the school.

I didn’t do it.

Honest!

Somebody else had gotten into a store room where he (she?) tried to set fire to a stack of toilet paper. Truth be told, if I’d thought about it first, I might have done it. I was a little angry back then. Regardless, I was getting kicked out because my history made me the most likely suspect.

“What’s wrong with you?”

That’s a good question. Or better yet, What’s wrong with the world? That’s pretty much THE question that every religion and philosophy and belief system attempts to answer. That means of course that we’re all in agreement that something IS wrong with the world, or more specifically, there is something wrong with us, humans.

While we are capable of amazing good, the horrors that we inflict on each other and even on ourselves is difficult to comprehend.

As far as I know, every system of thought but Christianity blames something external to ourselves. Not enough education. Not enough money. Not enough access to medical care. Not enough this and not enough that. The reasoning being that if everybody could just get enough of that stuff then “we” would stop destroying ourselves. And then we take a look at the West. We have a thousand times more of everything than the rest of the world, yet the rates of mental illness like depression, violence, marital breakdown, and such are also far above the norm for the world in general.

Obviously having “more” is not the answer. That’s where belief systems like atheism raise their hands.

Atheists are quite certain that more isn’t the problem, at least when it comes to religion. Atheists like Christopher Hitchens believe that if we could just eliminate religion then peace would reign. Christopher may be intelligent but when it comes to wisdom - mmm not so much. Some groups believe that if we could just eliminate certain races of people, life would be all sunshine and bliss. Others say, Too many banks, too many millionaires, too much police, too much government. If we could just get rid of these things, some people believe, then the goodness of humans would be allowed to flow forth.

The common denominator though, again, is that these people see the problem as external to themselves.

Then there are groups like Buddhists who also believe the problem isn’t “us.” Not fundamentally anyway. On Buddhism and psycho therapies like Rational Emotive Therapy, the human problem is how we think about the external. How we react to, or respond to the external world. These people believe that if we could just train ourselves and others the right way of thinking, all would be well with the world. Like all other belief systems, for people in this group, the idea that the problem lies within is vehemently denied. In fact, these people believe that if other people would just “think like we think,” the world’s problems would dissolve.

Islam is no different in its external focus. Eg. On Islam, if I struggle with lust, then making you wear more clothing should solve the issue. Or maybe if I just wash my hands five times a day, that will be the solution. On Islam, something external to myself must be eliminated for me to become well.

This constant blaming of something or someone else is one of the reasons that I believe Christianity (what Jesus taught) to be true. Out of all the schools of thought, Jesus answers the human dilemma in the most realistic and believable terms.

Chesterton via Jesus says correctly, “What’s wrong with the world is me.”

Jesus said that we are fundamentally flawed and no immersion in any thought system is going to be able to change that. Not Capitalism, not Communism, not Marxism, not religion or the lack of religion. We are sick in a way that none of us can heal on our own and only Jesus dares to speak the truth on this issue.

Every philosophical and religious system in the world including Christianity has been used by flawed human beings to destroy other human beings. It’s an undeniable fact, and only those who exist on the fringes of reality think that their belief system is exempt. All of the rules and laws in the world put together cannot curb the inner man. Oh sure, we can coerce, and shame, and punish people into compliance - sometimes - but none of that changes who we are at our core.

We can force people by law to treat others in a semi respectful manner (I’ll sit in the same restaurant with you, but to me you’re still a nigger / whitey / Aaarab) but no one can cause us to love one another - No one that is except Jesus.

When Jesus gets a hold of someone a radical transformation takes place that is nothing short of a miracle.

That’s right!

I said, “It is a miracle.”

Jesus does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. I saw it again three weeks ago in a couple who in anyone’s estimation was obviously headed for divorce. And then something dramatic happened. They gave their lives to Jesus - completely and totally. I doubt that any power on earth or in heaven will be able to destroy that relationship. They are not the same human beings they were the day or even the hour before. They are a new creation.

Jesus does that for people. Jesus changes people from the inside out. Jesus gives to us:
His love,
His mercy,
His grace,
His tenderness,
His forgiveness.

Things that we cannot attain on our own by our own effort are given to us freely by the lover of our souls - Jesus the Christ.

He’s done it for me and He’ll do it for you.

While I’m not yet the man that I want to be.

And while I’m not yet the man that I’m going to be.

Thanks to God alone I’m no longer the man that I used to be.