Thursday, May 8, 2008

do all religions teach the same thing?

I found two interesting YouTube videos on this question, here and here. What are your thoughts on this issue?

(Psst! If you're interested in my own response to this question, think about buying my book! You can read an older version of the essay that made it into my book here.)


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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Is it fair to provide my own response after having read your book?

Both of these speakers interpret "all religions teach the same thing" to mean "all religious teachings are the same." Obviously the latter is not true. What people say that all religions teach the same thing, I think what they really mean, despite the very poor wording, is that all religions seek to understand the same essence of the human experience, and their teachings are different interpretations of the same phenomenon. Sort of like the blind men and the elephant, I guess. I believe that this is true--all religions are an attempt to understand this essence. Taken literally, though, I think it's pretty obvious that all religious teachings are not the same (even if their ultimate goal might be the same). What it comes down to is the gap between content and intent.