Abrahamic religions

Callistemon, I did not mean to single you out as the sole recipient of my opinion . I intended my post as an occasion for my post not the reason for my post. Sorry if I seemed to be personal and thanks for pointing it out. In future I will try to avoid that error.

grandtanteJE65

varian

Abraham is traditionally considered to be the first Jew and to have made a covenant with God. Because Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all recognize Abraham as their first prophet, they are also called the Abrahamic religions.

So the Jews, Christians and Moslems all believe in an omnipotent deity - the same omnipotent deity fostering good, not evil.

So why do they hate each other enough to kill each other?

And why does this omnipotent God allow it to happen?

You are overlooking the fact that a great many people "belong" to a religion only in name.

This applies to members of all religions.

IF we all really tried to keep the Ten Commandments and to love our neighbours as ourselves, there might still be wars and hatred in the world, but I assume there would be a lot less of both.

But love of selv intrudes and causes people to treat others unfairly

As to why an omnipotent God allows this to happen, the answer is simple; He gave us free will and leaves it to us to choose between good and evil and to choose to obey his commandments or not.

Hear, hear.

It is the deliberate twisting of religious doctrine by manipulative people to control them which is toxic
Exactly.

Why are you addressing that to me Caleo?

🤔

Callistemon, the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith are not the same .
There is no doubt that the story of The Good Samaritan is as relevant today as it has always been, and followers of the ethic of BE AS YOU WOULD BE DONE BY support ethical social control.

As the war in Gaza shows, the Good Samaritan of the well known story illustrates right behaviour.

The Samaritan did not mind that he was a lesser citizen than the injured Jew, and did not mind that he was the Jew's only helper, and the Samaritan still spent his money and energy on medical care and comfortable accommodation for the injured man.

To control others

Faith isn't toxic, belief isn't toxic, the message isn't toxic.

It is the deliberate twisting of religious doctrine by manipulative people to control them which is toxic.

varian

Abraham is traditionally considered to be the first Jew and to have made a covenant with God. Because Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all recognize Abraham as their first prophet, they are also called the Abrahamic religions.

So the Jews, Christians and Moslems all believe in an omnipotent deity - the same omnipotent deity fostering good, not evil.

So why do they hate each other enough to kill each other?

And why does this omnipotent God allow it to happen?

You are overlooking the fact that a great many people "belong" to a religion only in name.

This applies to members of all religions.

IF we all really tried to keep the Ten Commandments and to love our neighbours as ourselves, there might still be wars and hatred in the world, but I assume there would be a lot less of both.

But love of selv intrudes and causes people to treat others unfairly

As to why an omnipotent God allows this to happen, the answer is simple; He gave us free will and leaves it to us to choose between good and evil and to choose to obey his commandments or not.

Poblem, Nyadeturbe, is modern people don't believe in miracles .
The message of Jesus is plain to see from his parables, but parts of the Gospels that are about virgin birth and resurrection of a dead body are not credible.

This is why I believe the moral code of Jesus, and also I believe the moral code of Jesus should not be taught as if it is the same as miracles, because those are not the same. Many modern Christians and also people who say they are not religious follow the moral code of Jesus whether they recognise the code or not.

If someone claims to be a Christian and doesn't try to follow what Jesus said himself while on earth, they aren't a Christian. I think that is simple to understand.

Christians have been forcing their beliefs on others for centuries ,look at countries where missionaries would force the native peoples to abandon their beliefs and customs and way of life .I'm sure they had christianity beaten into them until quite recently .What about the poor girls sent to Magdalen laundries and similar institutions in other faiths across the world ,worked to death sometimes,babies found in mass graves or sold to the "most suitable" religious families often from thousands of miles away Young people abused ,beaten ,raped by men and women of "the cloth"and often by folk who were good religious members of their communities.
Religions are toxic ,they are used as an excuse for bad behaviour ...that girl was a BAD girl she needed put away and the child of sin taken from her...what about the dads who fathered those children of sin ? Seems they were victims of Eve ,like Adam in your bible ,the cause of all the trouble was the woman .She led them astray .If thats what religion thinks their god wants I'm glad I walked away from it young .Its convenient to have a god to blame for bad behaviour .

Religion can be both cohesive and divisive.

My children were taught a great deal about it by me - taken to church to see for themselves, allowed to have an open mind on it all - without it they would have been unable to make any sense of our history, of a great deal of art, of many musical pieces, of conflicts around the globe .......

They have grown up to be decent kind and tolerant adults.

Religion is extremely important for a cohesive, civilised society, and I ask Grans please to stop taking offence when another expresses an opinion about religion.

''(Nyadeturbe)No action based on the teaching of Christ can cause misery.''

The problem, N, is that not every bit of the Gospels is not the actual words of Jesus. Mark is probably the most accurate, as Mark is the earliest and therefore the least meddled with.

No-one is blaming blameless individuals; simply recognising that atrocities and miseries have been perpetrated in the name of many religious, and justified by finding scriptures to suit their argument.

It is quite disturbing that the distinction between those two things is being missed.

I think that assuming others do not know that is very dismissive. - but no-one here is acknowledging the facts!

maddyone

It’s obviously very important to some posters to establish the facts according to their own agenda.

Saying two of my best friends are vicars means nothing. Unless, of course, those vicars are oblivious to the fact that religion can be misused, which I doubt.

Two of our best friends and the son of dear friends are Muslim .......
I would no sooner blame them for any atrocities carried out as I would blame ordinary Christians or Jews for such acts.

It’s obviously very important to some posters to establish the facts according to their own agenda.

Luckygirl3

I do not dismiss people's beliefs - two of my best friends are vicars!

I recognise (and so do they) that bad things have been and are being perpetrated in the name of religions - including Christianity. I am concerned about that - it makes me sad.

I think that assuming others do not know that is very dismissive.

Having a faith does not mean someone does not have the ability to recognise that others use religion as an excuse for atrocities.

I do not dismiss people's beliefs - two of my best friends are vicars!

I recognise (and so do they) that bad things have been and are being perpetrated in the name of religions - including Christianity. I am concerned about that - it makes me sad.

No action based on the teaching of Christ can cause misery.

Just be kind to everyone - what better doctrine can their be?

It's not kind to dismiss other people's beliefs, whatever they may be.

Perhaps you’d better tell that to Hamas!

Of course it is not insulting to those with a genuine faith whose aims are to help their communities and lead decent lives - no-one could denigrate that, least of all me.

But no-one can close their eyes to the evils that are done in the name of religions and that these arise because of the use of scriptures to suit the aims of people who desire power, who want to peddle their prejudices and use scripture to back them up. This has happened as long as religions have existed and will no doubt go on in perpetuity.

The question WWJD is very disturbing because it is asking people to make a judgement which is inevitably based on their own views/prejudices/life experiences, but to claim divine backup for those views. This approach has caused immense misery, both individual and global.

Just be kind to everyone - what better doctrine can their be?

Sadly, that's true Maddyone.

It’s extremely insulting isn’t it?
Especially to those who are trying to live a Christian life in Britain.
But it seems to be acceptable these days with the Christian religion.