Origin of non-christian religions

[wx47]

Hi everyone,

I would like to ask question about origin of non-christian religions (this is my first post , I'm christian )
OK - so I've been thinking and idea came:
As a christian, I believe in God, his creation of universe . There are, however, other religions such as buddhism, taoism, muslim, etc.
They don't believe in God *AND* because God is one who created universe (and they don't believe in him), their gods doesn't exist. Because there is good (God) and then evil (absence of God) - and they don't believe in him, are they product of evil (I mean those religions) ?
Are they work of evil to draw attention not to God, but to something other ?
OK, and last question - (if answer to last question is yes) - are those people evil / bad becouse there are spreading their non-christian religion ? (maybe there don't mean to do bad thing - they believe that they are doing good, but unknowingly doing bad)

(DISCLAIMER: I do not want to harass or find excuse to disdain non-christian people, I just want to know answer to stated questions)

Many thanks

[bernee51]

Hi everyone,...

Hi and welcome...

I would like to ask question about origin of non-christian religions (this is my first post , I'm christian )

All religions originated in the same place...they are an attempt to codify a personal spiritual experience.

OK - so I've been thinking and idea came:
As a christian, I believe in God, his creation of universe . There are, however, other religions such as buddhism, taoism, muslim, etc.
They don't believe in God *AND* because God is one who created universe (and they don't believe in him), their gods doesn't exist.

Muslims believe in god and also believe god created the universe. Some Buddhist believe in god as well, some dont.

What I think you mean to say is they dont believe in the same god as you.

Because there is good (God) and then evil (absence of God) - and they don't believe in him, are they product of evil (I mean those religions) ?

And if the god you believe in is not the real god...does that mean you are the product of evil? Perhaps the devil has tricked you into believing what you believe.

OK, and last question - (if answer to last question is yes) - are those people evil / bad becouse there are spreading their non-christian religion ? (maybe there don't mean to do bad thing - they believe that they are doing good, but unknowingly doing bad)

Are you evil because you want to spread a religion that encourages divisiveness and conflict?

(DISCLAIMER: I do not want to harass or find excuse to disdain non-christian people, I just want to know answer to stated questions)

Calling anyone who does not agree with you evil does not exactly look like tolerance and acceptance.

How do you think they would feel?

[sarabellum]

I'm not a huge fan of labels....
Perhaps you've met a few christians that didn't quite make the grade....

In my experience you can generally judge a tree by the fruit it creates...
Not by what gods name is scratched into the trunk....

[lewiy]

I would strongly recommend that you read Breaking The Spell by Daniel Dennett. This book deals with explaining how religions came about though history and through evolution of memes.

Religions, like everything complex in the world, come from simple, humble beginnings. Starting simply with the need for an animal (in this case humans) to survive. In higher primates, the main evolutionary development was within the brain. The gradual increase in the capacity of the brain to understand and reconcile the world leads to reasoning and comprehension. Over the millennia, hundreds, if not thousands, of different ideas of how and why things are have manifested themselves in various tribes and cultures. Some of the ideas stick better because following the conclusions that they bring aids survival and procreation or has some other social or psychological benefit. Others come and go in a (relative) instant.

Eventually the meme of desire to believe sticks in the human population making it easier for a whole religion, doctrine or way of life to adhere itself to an individual. Other humans notice that by indoctrinating others in this way, they can control the way that people act. As long as the human brain exists, there will always be someone willing to exploit it. As an example, if an individual realises that by creating a house of worship for an idea that the population believe (and by scaring them into coming to that house lest a higher being judges them), and they find that they can charge those individuals for the pleasure and benefit from the profits, then they may well build that house of worship.

Further down the line, the bulk of the individuals following that religion, doctrine or way of life, will be completely unaware of the exploitative beginnings of their faith and will join or stay with the faith for various reasons, some because they support the charity of the faith, some because it comforts them. But ultimately, the majority will lose sight of the reason they joined (until challenged upon it) and will work, perhaps unconsciously, to preserve the faith and to build it. This brings everything full circle to the instinct of survival and self preservation be it on an individual level, or that of a group or tribe or social community church.

[McCulloch]

Hi wx47. Welcome

For many of us, the question of the origin of non-christian religions is not much different from the question of the origin of christian religions. From within a particular religion, philosophy, ethnicity or nationality, it can be tempting to group everything into Us and Them; Jew and Gentile; Muslim and Kafir; Christian and Infidel; Greek and Barbarian; American and foreigner; ...

But if you step back a bit, you could look at the origins of Christianity within the context of the development of rabbinical Judaism and the religious | political environment of the Roman Empire. Christianity needs no separate or special explanation for its origins.

Us, and them
And after all were only ordinary men.
Me, and you.
God only knows it's not what we would choose to do.
"Forward," he cried from the rear
And the front rank died.
And the general sat and the lines on the map
Moved from side to side.

Black and blue
And who knows which is which and who is who.
Up and down.
But in the end it's only round and round.
"Haven't you heard it's a battle of words, "
The poster bearer cried.
"Listen son", said the man with the gun
"There's room for you inside."

I mean, they're not gunna kill ya, so if you give em a quick short, sharp, shock, they wont do it again. dig it? I mean he get off lightly, cos I would've given him a thrashing - I only hit him once! It was only a difference of opinion, but really...i mean good manners don't cost nothing do they, eh?

Down and out
It can't be helped but there's a lot of it about.
With, without.
And who'll deny it's what the fightings all about?
Out of the way, it's a busy day
I've got things on my mind.
For the want of the price of tea and a slice
The old man died.

[ConiectoErgoSum]

Hindus and Muslims believe in some form of highest power - be it God or Brahman(sp?). Slightly different descriptions, but then most religious truths are vague/big-picturey and don't lend themselves to microscopic views, so for all I know they could all be talking about the same God. The Muslim God more closely resembles the Judeo-Christian God, while the Hindu Brahman is more of a universal one-ness deal - everything in existence is part of him.

My personal theory, as a Christian, is that God created (or allowed) other religions for the same reason he created Judaism in the first place. Law/morality is necessary for society to exist. The ideal situation is for Christ to live in us so that law is obsolete - but until that happens, something else must hold down the fort.

I mean yeah, religion is about control in many ways. But who says that's such a bad thing? Society kinda needs it to survive. Establishment is not perfect, but until we get something better, it sure beats anarchy.

[Filthy Tugboat]

Hi everyone,

I would like to ask question about origin of non-christian religions (this is my first post , I'm christian )
OK - so I've been thinking and idea came:
As a christian, I believe in God, his creation of universe.

I never really understood the concept of naming a presumably asexual being a 'he' or a 'him'. I mean, is that born out of the history of chauvinism that exists in almost every culture presumably as a result of the natural strength and aggression men possess?

To be honest I never even really understood the concept of 'God' either but hey I'm sure this is material for a different thread.

All that aside, you believe in one representation of 'God'. Saying, "I believe in God." is a blanket statement that could be describing one of thousands of different representations of 'God'.

There are, however, other religions such as buddhism, taoism, muslim, etc.
They don't believe in God *AND* because God is one who created universe

No, they don't believe in your God and it would be a stretch for you to show that this 'God' did actually create the universe. The other alternative is that like every other God that cannot exist simultaneously with the others the Christian God hypothesis (like most if not all other God hypotheses) is false.

(and they don't believe in him), their gods doesn't exist. Because there is good (God) and then evil (absence of God) - and they don't believe in him, are they product of evil (I mean those religions)?

Can you show that God is a representation of good? I've never seen anything to correlate that. To be honest I find that religion is sort of like hair color. Often it isn't a choice and when it is, it's usually temporary. And just like hair color religion is not related to morality on any important level.

Are they work of evil to draw attention not to God, but to something other?
OK, and last question - (if answer to last question is yes) - are those people evil / bad becouse there are spreading their non-christian religion ? (maybe there don't mean to do bad thing - they believe that they are doing good, but unknowingly doing bad)

I would first need to see something that demonstrates the relationship between religion and morality before I can conclude as to whether or not these questions are relevant.

(DISCLAIMER: I do not want to harass or find excuse to disdain non-christian people, I just want to know answer to stated questions)

Many thanks

It's a bit late for that. You have basically walked in and told everyone that you are right and that anybody who disagrees is wrong, you then expanded by adding that you are good and those same people that disagree are bad.

[Filthy Tugboat]

I mean yeah, religion is about control in many ways. But who says that's such a bad thing? Society kinda needs it to survive. Establishment is not perfect, but until we get something better, it sure beats anarchy.

Just because people hold to the notion of religion does not make it the best system currently available and to be honest first world societies these days disagree with almost every religion on very important topics. I mean take America as our first example, it disagrees with the Bible on fundamental principles. America stands for freedom of speech something the Bible upholds laws that recommend death if certain words are uttered. Then look at freedom of religion, in one of the Bibles most proud laws the Bible specifically speaks out against freedom of religion. If we really go through and look at the laws regulating slavery and chauvinism we can separate the Bible from any moderate society and we come to realise that not only is religion not the best establishment, it isn't even the one we use and we are very glad about that.

[NMSquirrel]

All that aside, you believe in one representation of 'God'. Saying, "I believe in God." is a blanket statement that could be describing one of thousands of different representations of 'God'.

This could be a very interesting thread..

there is one thing i will put out, that i think it would keep the thread from derailing into an argument about which religion is correct....

I am not sure if anyone else can believe this..

I believe God shows each of us a different side of him, so that no two descriptions of God are ever alike, it is my belief that if we were all to get together to discuss the similarities and differences without making it about who is right and who is wrong, then maybe we could understand God better..

that said, i have heard of a thing in religion that talks about the '7 Churches'.

What if each church see's a different side of God?
this does not make any one of them right..but it also does not make any of them wrong.

[ConiectoErgoSum]

Yeah NM I don't think it's about who's right and who's wrong... but I know more about Christianity than I do any other religion, so that's the standpoint I will speak from. From that standpoint, I do believe that God intends to possess our hearts (him acting through us, not us acting). The story I have studied involves Christ acting as the leader of his "body" which is comprised of his followers. I know that story. I don't know the Hindu story as well, but I do see parallels, and I think the two beliefs have similar eventualities, and maybe sometime in the far future they will actually turn out to be the same thing from different perspectives... but for now I'm gonna talk on ground I'm familiar with.

And Filthy tugboat your response tells me that I wasn't clear.

My standpoint is this: religion is imperfect. religion is a form of law. it's a form of control, and yes, there are other forms of law... some are better some are worse. Law is necessary in an imperfect world - maybe American law is better than Jewish law - but the American dream is strikingly unsatisfying. I'm saying both are, not wrong, but insufficient. I don't believe that the bible is a law book. Yes it cites laws, for reference and discussion purposes. But the overarching story is what's important. The new testament is all about law being replaced by a better system - one in which God acts through us, rather than us acting ourselves. Voluntary abandonment of your own free will. Indirect approach to human morality. The whole point is that we won't ever be able to follow the law perfectly. But God can work through us instead, if we surrender to him and trust him.