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Originally Posted by Max452  i suppose if all religions took out the bits that proclaim it is the only right way to 'god' there wouldn't be any of the problems that we see today with holy wars and such... |
Agreed. That tends to be the nature of religion, though. Each one tends to say "OK, now WE have it all figured out. HERE's the true path to eternal happiness. Forget all that other stuff you've heard." After centuries and centuries of hearing that message, it's so deeply ingrained in people's heads that they begin to see people who vary from their belief system as an enemy. It's sad, really, but that's the way it tends to be.
Sometimes the fights are over stuff that seems trivial on the surface. I understand that the difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims is only who was Mohammed's first successor, yet these guys are in Iraq attacking each others mosques and blowing one another up. I wonder what Mohammed would have to say about that.
Given the fact that religious divisions have existed for centuries and even millenia in some cases, the most realistic way to heal them is to have CONSTRUCTIVE debates and discussions. They need to be well structured and sponsored by the leadership of the religions involved. Progress will take a lot of time, maybe several more centuries, but it can be realized if people drop their pretenses and talk about the issues as they really stand and focus on whatever commonalities exist as a backdrop for dealing with the sticky issues.