This question is directed at everyone. There are hundreds if not thousands of religions in the world, most of which you had no idea existed. All of these religions are very similar. If you believe only your religion is the one true religion then I think you've been kind of brainwashed! All you have to do is briefly explore other religions to see they are all the same thing, just spoken in different languages.
Prove me wrong.
BusyBee
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Your religion might not be right for everyone but it should be right for you and that's all that matters.
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It's more correct to say that either one belief system is right or none are, than to say they are all the same.
Many types of Paganism could be considered the same path in as much as they have many compatible beliefs under a different pantheon.
Many religions have conflicting beliefs. Christians believe to get to heaven you must confess to Jesus, other religions do not. Buddhists don't believe in a god or a heaven and follow an inner path. Muslims and Jews as well as some others have strict rules on what can and cannot be eaten, other religions have no diet restrictions. Many religions bow down before their gods while Asatruar would never submit their free will to a god.
Monotheistic religions generally believe that their god will condemn anyone who worships other gods while polytheistic religions worship many at once.
Religions are all alike in the sense that they look to higher powers. Outside of that most religious belief systems are incompatible with one another, therefor they are not the same thing in another language. Also because of the differences in belief in the nature of reality, afterlife, salvation, and codes of conduct, it is clear that all religions are not paths up the same mountain.
kbob14
Religions are not all the same thing. Their are many kinds of religion for one thing. There are three eras of religion characterized by extreme differences. There are different doctrines and beliefs even in the same religion. Hinduism has a belief that there are many ways to a good afterlife, while many western religions only believe in one thing allowing for a good afterlife. Voodoo, a mix of African religions and Christianity believes in a very different afterlife than Australian Aborigines. Heaven is described a thousand different ways. Hell is described in just as many.
Though many religions have similar codes of conduct, and on the surface seem to teach similar things, they are as different as the culture they belong to.
The person right after me said it a whole lot better.
Scott M
I'm inclined to agree to a point. The Abrahamic religions are all very similar, since they are all based originally on ancient Judaism. Buddhism, on the other hand, it utterly without a deity. Other religions, particularly in the Far East, have fundamentally different bases.
There are a few recurring themes, though: Be good to your immediate neighbors, foreigners are not as good, different religions are wrong, and (often but not always) variations on the "Golden Rule". The existence of a deity or deities to fear or worship is optional.
Holy Crap!
Look at the work of Joseph Cambell or Ken WIlber - scholars of all religions who looked for the overlaps - the places where they agree vs. where they do not.
Ultimately, one place they all agree on is that we are all in this together. Yes, while the institutions of religion work to keep us seperate - the spiritual wisdom of their scriptures tend to point out that what one does affects all of us to some degree eventually. "Love your neighbor as yourself", "Make me one with everything", "All [people] are ... equal", "What goes around, comes around.", etc. Even science shows that everything is linked in a universe of common laws and a lattice of cause and effect.
Love, compassion, empathy, jusitice and civilization itself are all dependent - to some degree or another - on the idea that we matter to each other, that we have an effect on the whole and that we are part of something bigger than ourselves.