Megareligion
“The gods of Hinduism are not the same as the orishas of Yoruba religion or the immortals of Daoism. To pretend that they are is to refuse to take seriously the beliefs and practices of ordinary religious folk who for centuries have had no problem distinguishing the Nicene Creed of Christianity from the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism from the Shahadah of Islam. It is also to lose sight of the unique beauty of each of the world’s religions. But this lumping of the world’s religions into one megareligion is not just false and condescending, it is also a threat. How can we make sense of the ongoing conflict in Kashmir if we pretend that Hinduism and Islam are one and the same? Or of the impasse in the Middle East, if we pretend that there are no fundamental disagreements between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam?”
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/04/25/separate_truths/
There's a Chesterton quote about how the diversity of ritual between religions is actually the illusion, whereas the difference in belief is the reality, but I can't remember it.
ReplyDeleteSo instead, I'll insert another of my favorite quotes, "According to many Philosophers (I would say even certain Eastern religions); God by creating the world enslaved it. According to Christianity, by creating the world, He set it free."
In a way, Eastern religions (I have in mind specifically Hinduism) seem to promote the idea that our souls are simply on loan (from ourself).