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Why Fight? The Amazing Similarities in World Religions

No matter what you believe to be true about God, religion, and the afterlife, you'd probably have to agree with this: violence between people - even people with very different beliefs-- is not good for the soul (if you even believe we have one). Especially when you consider the fact that many of the world's religions are not as different as they seem.

Most major religions being practiced in the world today are based on some very similar concepts. And while the differences in the details are hugely important to some, in the grand scheme of things they shouldn't prevent people of different faiths from living peacefully together. At least, they wouldn't in an ideal world.

Religious Similarities

There are many, many ways in which most religions are similar to some (or many) other religions. And while it's not possible to list all of them here (some are incredibly specific-- and too similar to seem truly coincidental) there are some major similarities in world religions that may just surprise you.

The end of the world. In almost all major world religions, tales are told that predict the end of the world-- and those tales all look pretty much the same. A great battle will rage between the forces of good and evil, and at that time judgment will be made on human souls. A large number of major religions, such as Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, believe that a savior will come when the world ends, often as a second coming (as in Christianity).

The sacrifice. Most of the world's major religions feature an element of sacrifice, in that sacrifice is the road to salvation. In Christianity, that sacrifice comes in the form of Jesus Christ, who was sacrificed in order to save men's souls. In Islam, sacrifices in the form of money or food are made to the poor and to the community. While most religions request that their followers give something up in order to reach salvation, others (such as Christianity) feature a sacrifice made by God in order to save souls.

Heaven and Hell. While not all major religions feature the specific concepts of Heaven and Hell, most of them do. And almost all major religions feature the idea of an afterlife in which you will be rewarded or punished for your behavior during your life. The concept of Heaven and Hell shows up in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, where the afterlife goes on without end, and those who die find themselves either in their religion's version of Heaven or their religion's version of Hell.

In Eastern religions, the concept of the afterlife and punishment/reward generally comes in the form of reincarnation. Either immediately or awhile after you die, you take the body of another being, whether it be human or animal. You work through life after life until you reach a state of wisdom or perfection that allows your spirit to abandon the cycle of life and death.

The First Tribe. Throughout most major religions, it is believed that mankind sprouted up from a first couple or tribe, and that from this group was born the rest of man (in Christianity and Judaism this is, of course, Adam and Eve). Many also believe that all men used to speak but the same language, allowing everybody to communicate, and that God split the tribes and languages out of anger at man.

We all have things we believe about life after death. Some of us believe that what we learned in Church is what is true for everybody. Others believe that nothing happens at all. But whether you think your religion is the only truth, or that every religion speaks to the same God or tries to say the same things, tolerance is one of the most important things you can learn from any religion. No matter what a person's religious beliefs might be, everybody is entitled to his or her own ideas-- even if they're vastly different from your own.

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