Which religion advocates;
"Kill the unbelievers wherever you find them."

Well said, David.
For far too long, religions have been competitive rather than bonded.
Each faith has its followers; most faiths believe in some form of divine being while a few do not.
This does not seem to alter the motivation of the majority of followers to do good in the name of that religion, although a number regard their faith's teachings as justification for behaving in inhumane and selfish ways, often murderous.
I commend your raising the proposal that there is room for all religions and that they should work together for the betterment of mankind.

Many years ago, a young Swiss boy was guarding his father's flock. When perchance a wandering band of Gypsies, stopped and proffered sweetmeats.

Within hours the boy awoke bound and gagged in the back of a wagon.

Many days later he stood on a platform at a Rome slave auction..

Years followed in the enforced servitude and treated as a son. Many years later there was an emergency!!

The young man was entrusted with a large bag of gold, food and a stallion. However,as soon as he was out of sight, turned the horse's head north and travelled many days, only led onward by the last sound of his own village, the village bell. Many tolls led him toward many a village by a similar toll, but upon seeing the particular village, disappointment as it turned out to be a false peel. Eventually, he heard a very familiar ring and as he crested that last hill, there below him lay his own village.

Everyone of us has within our own ring of truth as surely as that authentic peel!

if we are but open to it and when we hear an absolute truth will tell us this is true with the usual spine tingle of tingling pleasure as the soul recognises truth.

Learn to meditate (dogma-free) and use this God-given facility to sort truth from fiction or problem solve.

Never ever decide you have all the facts or know it all but remain open to having some or all your current convictions overturned by revealed truth!

Learn to meditate i.e., "Seek ye first, the Kingdom of God within"!

Surely life is a journey with the journey being the far more important along with what it teaches than the eventual destination!

Peace and love.
Alan B.

'Can't we just get along?'

Certainly history shows that countries with a Judea Christian basis for laws have been by far the most peaceful and prosperous in history.

There is a difference though between getting along and group think. In the West today by far the most intolerant, violent and nasty are the marxist totalatarians. Mobs like antifa, getup and the feminist movement are often intolerant of anyone not sharing their views.

Personally I am convinced the claims and teachings of Jesus Christ are so far superior to any others. Does not stop me getting along with athiest, Buddhist, Hindus, Mulsims (who are not following Mohammed's example) or even the earth worshippers who believe in the gw scam.

Alan, Liked your story of the slave. Those opposed to slavery should
always to not only remember the members of the British Parliament but
those engine builders who developed the steam engines that made
slavery too expensive.

As far as I know only one religion supports and or advocates slavery
because Mohammad was a slave owner and he was the perfect man so it
must be OK to buy and sell slaves. The trade is very busy in moslem
countries.
Do you know that moslem slave traders raided southern Europe, and
coasts of Britain and Ireland for over 1 million slaves and in at
least one case raided Iceland looking for blondes as they had a
premium price in Nt African and Middle East slave markets.
I wonder if there is an index for blondes in present slave markets ?
Do you know that the Slav countries, the Balkans, Ukraine and Russia
were known to Arabs and Romans as the slave countries ?

Yes Bazz, sad but true and we're told, still happening today, as super-wealthy oil sheiks. buy and sell anything and anyone. And may well explain a huge disappeared without a trace, volume of missing people?

The only way to stop this nefarious illegal trade that never ever ends well for its countless victims! Is to end the world's reliance on oil!

And it goes without saying what I'm going to say next and how I might say it. And given I've said it so many times before! No need to say it again to tin-eared folks who not only never ever listen but are for all practical purposes, in bed with these oil-rich, sub-humans?

Were this not so and very probably the literal case, things here would be so very very different!
Alan B.

Trouble is Alan in Nth Africa the trade is quite large so no oil will
make no difference. They still need sex slaves at least.

Religions can all get along well.

People - not always.

And people that do not get along well with others, often quote "religion" as their excuse.

Excellent article. I think the key to inter-religious dialogue is to ask the question: what do we have in common? Quite often we concentrate on the question: what makes us different? Both questions are important, but often we forget to ask the question about commonalities. One we do, then the differences often don't seem so overwhelming. BTW, interesting reference to Jesus being the way (John 14:6 from memory). I think you're correct, in that we need to look closely at verses like this and think about what exactly does this mean.

Yet one religion has a policy of offering conversion, accepting second
class citizenship or death.
Kill the unbelievers wherever you find them. Hmmm.
Just getting along ?

'Can't we just get along?'

No, we bloody well can't, the religions themselves say so.

If you think we can then you haven't paid attention to what the religious texts are actually saying.
If you paid attention to the actual scripture you'd know some religions have laws that forbid getting along.
So 'Can't we get along?' is just your own foolish ignorant religious beliefs talking.

Here's the proof, if this info doesn't wake you up then nothing will.

http://youtu.be/tFuwnH6vruA

http://youtu.be/MoOrOZH049o

What comes to mind from the David's article is the idea "hate the sin, love ther sinner." I think if more people regardless of their religion could adopt this kind of view or a simular one, then that would help us all be able to get along. Not nessassarily agree with eachother but at least get along.

After all even if one person thinks another person's religion is wrong the idea is to love the other person not their religion. Even if you think a religion is full of lies, or brings people to sinful living/ wickedness/ or any other term or badness, then this idea would be about hating the lies, hating the sinfulness, or hating the religion that caused either; but to still love the person regardless of the religion, the lies or the sins.

Religions are too different to get along by agreeing with eachother. I think the only real way for religions, athesim, or anyother philosophy to get along, is to hold the idea of love the sinner regardless of the religion or the sin.

The second thing to add though is to make this a personal decision, and not to expect anyone else to make this choice in thinking. That way you don't have to leave yourself open for violence from others. Be as cautious as a snake but as harmless as a dove type of thing.

I think the point in that last post, suggesting that we might "not agree" but still "get along" is very relevant. Perhaps what I should have added in my earlier post is that if one does concentrate on commonalities, it is surprising just how much religious traditions do have in common. Not everything of course, but much more than we might imagine at first glance. BTW, yes, it is true that it is possible to locate exclusionist references in the sacred writings of many major religions. However it is important to put these references in context. For instance, how much were the writers of these texts actually aware of other religious traditions when they wrote the texts? This is what philosophers call the hermeneutic task, that is, asking what a particular text means in a modern context.

I do not believe in any god, this I have no faith to believe. I have no problem with others believing in some divine body, & although I can't understand the urge, they are welcome to do as they please.

Provided they keep their beliefs to themselves & we will get along just fine, however, if they try to make me comply with their belief, & their rules for society, then it is war.

I recognise that to function society must have some rules. Although I think bike lanes are totally immoral, & our speed limits are ridiculously low, I can't be bothered to try to change them, so I comply. This is entirely to religious groups trying to force their beliefs on others. Provided they keep their beliefs in their own back yard, we will get along fine.

To Dr. James Page.

Sorry for the delayed response, but I want to add a thought to your statement of seeking commonalities among religions. Though it makes it easier to get along with people that we agree with, so seeking commonalities can help with that, that shouldn't overshadow the things that people don't agree with.

Think of it if we were talking about politics instead of religion. There are some political positions that are vastly different from each other, and though both groups might say they want the best interest for society, they disagree with what are the best interests for society. In this sense there is an ideological fight over which view is right, pinning different persuasive perspectives against each other hoping to win out in their causes and public support. But if things are civil this doesn't mean civil war or fracturing of society. A Labor supporter and a Liberal supporter can get along even if they don't agree with each other. Even if one tries to persuade the other to change their views they can still get along.

That's how it should be for so many other groups of people too. Love for one another is more important in my opinion then agreement and commonalities among people. A parent, an uncle, or a brother can disagree with you with your best interests in mind, even if you both disagree with what are in your best interests are. But in the end regardless they can stand by you through the hardships and mistakes they think you are making, (and you can do the same for them). That's what I think it would mean to get along with other religions. Love your neighbor as yourself. Hate the sin, but love the sinner.

Yes, that is a very relevant comment from Not-Now-Soon. I think in our toxic political atmosphere the need for dialogue and listening to what the other person is actually saying is very much needed. One of my favourite political sayings is from J.S.Mill, in his book On Liberty, where he writes something to the effect that "He who only knows his own case, doesn't even know that". Interesting comment from Hasbeen. I agree entirely that one should not compel belief. Interestingly, the High Court (Australia) has ruled that freedom of religion includes freedom of irreligion. And yet one should still be able to express religious sentiment within the public domain. This is where I tend to part company with the secularists, or at least with the more vehement secularists.

To Dr. James Page.

I do agree that it's a good idea to seek commonalities and to have open dialogues in order to make it easier to get along, and to understand other views. However I must stress that neither of these points are the point I was trying to address by saying to try and get along even if you don't agree. I don't know if your comment is meant as a way of agreeing and rephrasing my points, or if it was largely meant as a counter point. In case it was the first, I want to clarify what I meant once more. I'll try one more example to try and highlight the point.

Consider the issue of abortion. This is a topic that both sides of the debate have very strong views on the matter. One side strongly supports the idea of freedom of choice for abortion, and may even think that in most cases abortion is the correct choice; while the other side strongly supports protecting the unborn baby, and thinks that abortion should only be used rarely or never. The debates for this issue can be debated fiercely. Even within a family when a young girl finds out she is pregnant.

Consider that situation for a moment. A teenager is pregnant and is considering what to do next, while some or all of her family disagrees with her thoughts on abortion. Either the girl wants to get an abortion and her family thinks it's wrong to do; or the girl thinks abortion is wrong and her family thinks it's a mistake for her to go through with the pregnancy. In the end in either scenario, the family loves the girl and is concerned for her, they will stand by her even if they think her choice is a mistake. This is what it would mean to love a person even if you hate the decisions you see them make.

(continued)

(Continued)

I hope that clears up what I was saying earlier. Though looking for commonalities helps with accepting other idea, and listening and talking openly helps understanding of other ideas. More important then either of these is to look past the issues and look at the person. Have compassion for them regardless if you agree or understand where they are coming from. Love the sinner, hate the sin.