Men of patriarchal cultures have been committing heinous acts in the name of their God ever since they created a god for themselves. It seems that the earlier, goddess-oriented, nature-centered religions were far less cruel.
The core of all religions is a belief in a supreme personal god.
Science has very definite faith components, and most religions don’t stick to faith. They venture out into making predictions about our physical world. They don’t just say there’s something that is completely unconnected to us. They say actually it affects a lot. And when they do that, they merge.
And these two elements are at odds with one another because Freud is utterly adversary to almost all the ways of structuring the human experience found in Western religions. No Western religion can countenance Freud’s view of man.
Fundamentalism takes different forms in different religions, but there is one striking similarity in all forms of fundamentalist thought. Each wishes dearly to hold in check all varieties of ‘modern’ or ‘decadent’ thinking.
Time and again we see leaders and members of religions incite aggression, fanaticism, hate, and xenophobia – even inspire and legitimate violent and bloody conflicts.
Superficial similarities exist between Christianity and some ancient pagan religions. But careful study reveals that there are far more dissimilarities.
The essence of Hinduism is the same essence of all true religions: Bhakti or pure love for God and genuine compassion for all beings.
Religions have always stressed that compassion is not only central to religious life, it is the key to enlightenment and it the true test of spirituality. But there have always have been those who’d rather put easier goals, like doctrine conformity, in place.
What I loved the most about Oakland was that all of my neighbors came in as many colors, ideas, and religions as there are people on the planet. How lucky I was to know so many people that were so different and yet so much alike!
As a boy, I found myself drawn to Arthurian legends, and then to Celtic mythology, and then further east into the mysticism of Asian religions.
I studied religions and all kinds of other things in college. I took a Shakespearean villain course for English literature. It was really intense. I think that sort of rounds a person. In this business, it’s really important for us to be interesting… and have interests.
All religions have been made by men.
It doesn’t matter how you pray. Just pray. All religions are beautiful and they all have one common belief. There’s something bigger and greater than us that can give us and take from us life. It is better than the here and now.
Religion is the organization of spirituality into something that became the hand maiden of conquerors. Nearly all religions were brought to people and imposed on people by conquerors, and used as the framework to control their minds.
Whether religion is man-made is a question for philosophers or theologians. But the forms are man-made. They are a human response to something. As a historian of religions, I am interested in those expressions.
India is a curious place that still preserves the past, religions, and its history. No matter how modern India becomes, it is still very much an old country.
Religions in general have to rediscover their roots. In Hinduism and the Koran, animals are described as equals. If you walk into a cathedral and look at the decorations of early Christianity, there are vines, animals, creatures and birds thriving all over the stonework.
Religions, which condemn the pleasures of sense, drive men to seek the pleasures of power. Throughout history power has been the vice of the ascetic.
Scientology is one of the least homophobic religions. It’s not very interested in the body at all.
A fascist is one whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions or nations as to make him ruthless in his use of deceit or violence to attain his ends.
We are going to unite the people, rescue the family, respect religions and our Judeo-Christian tradition, combat gender ideology, conserving our values.
There is far more misunderstanding of Islam than there is, I think, of the other religions of the world. So many things are said of it by those who do not belong to that faith.
If you think about the great religions that have united large parts of humankind, people believe gods are very concrete – there is an angry old man in the sky, and if I do something wrong, he will punish me.
I respect and believe in all religions.
In religions which have lost their creative spark, the gods eventually become no more than poetic motifs or ornaments for decorating human solitude and walls.
The spirituality that I experience sometimes touches on religion, in that I resonate with the thread of continuity that permeates through all religions. But in terms of it being a concretized, organized part of my life, it’s not.
I’ve spent the last 50 years or so steeping myself in the world’s religions, and I’ve done my homework. I’ve gone to each of the world’s eight great religions and sought out the most profound scholars I could find, and I’ve apprenticed myself to them and actually practiced each faith.
Religions die slowly.
Each of us has the choice to attend the church we want to, or none at all. Separation of church and state allows for religions to have their own set of rules as to whom they will accept and who they won’t, and the practices they support and the ones they don’t. They will continue to be able to do so.
I’m so incredibly tired of giving respect to a lot of delusions and crazy ideas just because they are regarded as religions.
Walnuts have a shell, and they have a kernel. Religions are the same. They have an essence, but then they have a protective coating. This is not the only way to put it. But it’s my way. So the kernels are the same. However, the shells are different.
I was raised Catholic, but then I discovered Buddhism, and I used to have a boyfriend who was a Scientologist, and they are all good religions that help people. As far as I’m concerned, you can have all three religions at once and it’s okay!
While few religious leaders and scholars would doubt the commonalities that exist among the various religious groups, the followers of these religions unfortunately struggle in their effort to peacefully coexist.
If you look into the religions, they have this deep idea of human dignity and the source of dignity being conscience.
All religions are founded on the fear of the many and the cleverness of the few.
In principle the great religions of the world do not differ as much as they appear to.
I’m open to all religions. Respecting Scientology is just like respecting any other religious view.
I just love history and I loved learning about different religions and other’s people’s views about the world.
If your religion doesn’t respect the rights of other religions, it is lacking something.
Religions themselves are… peace-loving. They can also be a constructive force in peace-building, and this also applies to the Middle East.
The greatest religions convert the world through stories.
What fascinates me about London is its multi-ethnicity, the coexistence of cultures and religions, but I do not see myself living here for very long. It’s too big, too much stress, too much of a metropolis.
I feel like that religions generally ask the biggest questions. They may not always have the best answers, but they’re the zone of human activity that regularly asks the biggest questions.
Religions get lost as people do.
For our part, we shall continue to work for the new dawn when all the Children of Abraham and their descendants are living together in the birthplace of their three great monotheistic religions, a life free from fear, a life free from want – a life in peace.
I’m not on Twitter, nor Facebook, or LinkedIn, or any of these systems, because they suck in your soul and they will not let you go. Try to get out of any of them, and you will see. They are just like some religions where apostasy is punished by death.
I want to learn about a different religion. I grew up Catholic, but my grandfather was Jewish. Knowledge about other religions can help you understand your own better. I think it’s kind of hypocritical to believe one thing and don’t know about any others.
Major religions are examples of ‘noble lies’ aimed at uplifting human stature.
Though I believe in God, I don’t believe in religion for everybody. Some people who are a little weak and don’t want to shoulder any responsibility need Catholicism. For people at the other extreme, there is Christian Science… I think a powerful conscience is worth all the religions put together.
School gives you the freedom to explore different philosophies, religions, aspects of yourself, and subjects.
Remembrance Day is a timely reminder that, in what may be some of Britain’s darkest hours, it is the bravery of millions of ordinary people from all races, religions, and backgrounds that have kept our country’s flame burning and stood up for the values we hold dear.
I’m not religious, but by nature I am spiritual. I’m an artist, and creativity seems to go hand in hand with spirituality. But I have a knee-jerk reaction against organized religions. Actually, I have knee-jerk reactions against anything that’s organized.
