Religion vs People

I have decided to write this Hub, because I believe that Religion is a beautiful 'guidance' in our human life. I believe people who have faith have a beautiful soul and are kind and compassionate. People who don't have faith , most likely have something they fall back on when in strife so I am not here to judge those who believe or don't believe in God.

I would just like to state some facts in the simplest language possible, so that it is understandable for everyone, perhaps you can see Religion through my eyes while you are reading this and find some sort of peace in it.

If you believe in something , believe in it wholeheartedly. As long as you are not causing suffering to humankind you are (in my eyes) free to believe and do whatever you set your heart on. I have been blessed, because I have been taught to Respect all walks of life and accept we are different but equal.

Below I have compiled facts of Religions, just as an example that they all share the same overall view on life and faith in God. I hope that you find something new, or have a better understanding of all. Of course every religion has different practices, rituals and rules and regulations so to speak, but it is important to respect those whatever they may be.

Christianity

Christians believe that God is not ordinary and believe in ONE God.
Monotheists - meaning they only believe IN ONE GOD.
This is also the belief in Islam, Hinduism and so on.

Note: God of Jews found in the Jewish Scriptures (ie. the Torah)
and the God of the Christian Old Testament in one God.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No-one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:7-12

Hinduism

Hindus, as well as Muslims and Christians believe in ONE TRUE GOD.
But they call God Brahman. Hindus believe that Brahman has many forms
and pervades the whole universe.
He is symbolized by the sacred syllable 'Om' or 'Aum'.
The three aspects of Brahman are as follows;

• Brahma - the creator
• Visnhu - the preserver
• Shiva- the destroyer

One may amass wealth with hundreds of hands but one should also distribute it with thousands of hands. If someone keeps all that he accumulates for himself and does not give it to others the hoarded wealth will eventually prove to be the cause of ruin.

Atharva Veda 3: 24-25

Islam

Muslims believe that GOD IS ONE. And this oneness is central to their (our) spirituality.

Oneness - The most important belief about ALLAH (God) is the concept of Tawhid.
which means 'oneness'.
It begins with the idea that there is only ONE GOD (Monotheism) as mentioned above in Christianity and Hinduism.
Islam teaches that Oneness is the center to the nature of Allah.
So that ,

• He has no other partners
• He is omniscient ( and knows everything)
• Is omnipotent (and can do everything , and has all power)
• Is the One God of all time and all humankind.

Shad ah is a main part in Tawhid; The deceleration of faith
which is in the 5 Pillars of Islam. This is a duty that all Muslims
must perform as their (our) religious practice and it goes like this;

'' I bear witness that there is No god but GOD and Muhammad is the Messenger of God''

And be steadfast in prayer and regular in charity: and whatever good ye send forth for your souls before you, ye shall find it with Allah: for Allah sees well all that ye do.

Surah 2:110

Judaism

The Jewish believe that G*d is one (also ) and that it is impossible
to describe in words and that it is Profane to use the name.

The nature of G*d

As Christians , Muslims and Hindus, Jews are also monotheists and share the belief of ONE GOD.
They believe G*d is not ordinary. G*d is 'holy' and special, separate and different.
Most Jews write '' G-d'' in case it is written on a paper that is accidentally
damaged or treated with ill respect. Others also do not write the name of G*d or use it
unless in a prayer, because G*d is too holy.

Jews believe;

• G*d is eternal. Beyond time and space
• G*d does not have a physical body, and he is everywhere at all times (omnipresent)
• G*d is the creator of the world and everything in our world.
• G*d has a purpose for the world
• G*d is completely good and completely Loving . (I am not Jewish but I love this fact)
• G*d is interested in how people behave, He wants them to treat each other properly.
• G*d is all-powerful (omnipotent) and all-knowing (omniscient)
• G*d judges each individual.

If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted towards your poor brother. Rather be open-handed and freely lend him whatever he needs.

Deuteronomy 19:9-10

Sikhism

Sikhs believe that they must keep God in their minds. They believe they must live their lives as God would want.

Sikhs believe that God;

• cannot be described and is neither male nor female
• that he is the eternal truth, timeless, beyond the cycle of birth and death

and he is self existent

• is both 'sargun' (immanent- everywhere and in everything) and 'nirgun'

(transcendent- above and beyond creation)

• he created the world for people to use and enjoy
• created people and made them know the difference between wrong and right.
• is present in each soul but can only be seen by those he blesses.
• is personal and available to everyone.
• is the only one to be worshiped ; no images of GOD are to be worshiped
• is made known by the grace of the GURU.

True worship consists in the meditation of God’s name.… There can be no worship without performing good deeds.

Guru Granth Sahib

Fact: People who do not believe in God are called ' atheists'.
People who believe it is not possible to know whether something is true are often
called 'agnostics' .

The Good and The Evil in religion(s)

ALL religions teach the difference between good and bad.
but All have different belief about evil and suffering.

There are two types of Evil

Natural Evil - suffering caused by events that have nothing to do with humans
and the way that the world is ie, natural causes and natural disasters such as
Floods , Earthquakes or Volcanic eruptions etc.

Moral (Human)- suffering caused by humans actions in a way that is considered
morally wrong ie. bullying, killing (murder), rape, theft, terrorism etc.

All religions condemn any kind of evil unless, of course it is caused by natural causes as stated above, things humans cannot help.
All religions condemn any kind of violence and evil caused by a human -
as also stated above. No religion is violent nor does it promote any kind of Evil, because
Evil results in Suffering. Suffering in the world is caused by Evil.

VIOLENCE AND EVIL HAVE NO RELIGION .

Please Note: Anyone practicing Evil, is obviously straying from their belief, therefore
it is down to 'character' and own decision to go against own religion
to be evil and do evil . Especially when it comes to innocent people.

It is fundamentally important for Everyone to know that No religion
stands for violence.
What I have stated above are Facts. It would be a shame to translate
facts above into anything but personal belief of those who practice Religion.
From good religious people you can expect only love and peace.
It is also important to remember that Only God can judge,
It is not right for me, you or anyone to judge a 'human' whether he has a Religion or not.

It is important to judge someone based on their character NOT their Religion.
No religious person is perfect, but I believe everyone strives to do their best to be a good person.

From my short research on religions I have learnt ;

• All religions are good.
• Everyone believes in ONE God
• Everyone believes in their own way
• Everyone is different but,
• EVERYONE SHARES FAITH IN PEACE and Good-doing.
• Every religion above have almost, Almost the same rituals and beliefs

when it comes to Life.

Also I would like to proudly state that I am a Muslim. I proudly state this because even though my actions and decisions in life are my own, my religion has a lot to do with my character and how I see the world, how I tread the world and why I love the world and EVERYONE in it.

The most important is to remember WE ARE ALL HUMAN BEINGS.

And whatever we believe is our own choice, but not to forget that we ALL
deserve love, patience, encouragement and kindness to live in this world
We should respect our differences.

I hope that after You have read this , you , my readers have also learnt something
as I have whilst writing this.
We live in a beautiful world and we are all equally beautiful and worthy
of kindness and love.

RELIGION (S) IS NOT A PROBLEM.
PEOPLE usually ARE.

Truth

People talk about truth in five different ways.

Aesthetic truth

This is the sort of truth that we can find in pictures, novels or films. We are not saying that what we are looking at, reading or watching is actually true. However, we might say that it is 'true to life'. By this we mean that it is believable - it could happen - although it is not actually true itself.

Historical truth

This is quite straightforward. We can say that we 'know' that something happened in the past even though we were not there and did not see it for ourselves. We know that it happened because we have seen evidence, such as archaeological or films or documents, and from this evidence we can know that certain things happened.

Moral truth

When we talk about moral truth we mean that we 'know' that something is right or wrong. This is almost like an instinct. We know that it is wrong to steal or to kill people. We may also know that we will be punished in some way if we do this but we are saying that we know within ourselves that this is wrong anyway. This sort of truth is linked with the moral argument for the existence of God.

Scientific truth

Scientists can only say that something is true if they can prove it by experiment; they have to be able to show that each time they conduct the experiment the same thing happens. When the same result is obtained from an experiment that is repeated over and over again, this is known as empirical evidence and is the basis of scientific truth.

Spiritual or religious truth

This is the sort of truth which we find in religion. This sort of truth deals with faith and belief. People may say that they 'know' God but they cannot prove it in a scientific way and, unlike some of the other sorts of truth, it is very difficult to persuade other people if they are sceptical or do not believe themselves.

People who follow a particular religion may say that by doing so they are discoveringthe 'real truth' about life and about God. This definition of truth is linked with the argument from experience.

One of the problems is that often people from different religions claim that they have ‘the truth’ and that other people do not. This is a difficult situation because it may be almost impossible to convince other people that you are right.