- Amr Salah
- Alexandria, Egypt
- Egypt
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Aren't Christianity, Judaism and Islam basically the same? How much archaeological evidence is there of similar teachings in the past?
Among countless arguments that keep recurring almost on a daily basis, specially in the middle-east, many are centered around the constant conflict between the Abrahamic religions. I found it strange that whole centuries were not enough for humans to reach some conclusions, perhaps because we are all, to some extent, biased. People simply ignored, and in some cases resented, what they didn't konw. The media played a significant role in further increasing the gap using inflaming language, fabricated and biased news while ignoring or hiding historic and concrete facts altogether.
Apparently, Jews denied Christians and Muslims, Christians denied Muslims and Jews, and Muslims denied Christians and Jews. Nowadays, many people are conditioned to take sides without even thinking. One puzzling point is that some people turned other religions to a forbidden knowledge instead of encouraging people to know. Thus, they seem to prefer keeping people ignorant rather than letting them form an opinion on their own.
I don't know if someone has contributed to any sort of worldwide work that deals with the basic similarities between the Abrahamic religions, specially the beliefs. Thus, I invite everyone who is willing to share what they know about: the similarities between the Abrahamic religions, the archaeological evidence regarding them and what you think whether any human, organization or government nowadays has any right to turn any of the Abrahamic religions to a forbidden knowledge.
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Jeremy Garner
Amr Salah
That's one example of our laughable ignorance. It took humans whole millenniums to reach the current understanding of the shape of earth.
"what if we just worshipped the question and not the answer?"
What if we're not allowed to directly know the answer and that only few chosen humans were provided by a little more direct means to get to it? (until we die and then... we find out)
Perhaps it is a challenge. So that we'd abandon our arrogance and admit that we don't know except what we are taught and what we are allowed to know.
"could that be a religion?"
I think a religion is a code combined of certain rules. (A Holy book is somewhat like a manual) It is supposed that life would be corrupted without religion.
Yes, perhaps our life is centered around the question. (and the answers we try to think of may differ)
Without religion:
- The world may lose its balance.
- Some people and some countries will be masters and others will be slaves.
- The resources of the world will go to certain countries and to certain people instead of being shared in a way that preserves a good life for everyone.
- The gap between the rich and the poor will be intolerable.
- Criminals would think their crimes may go unpunished.
- Some people would be arrogant even though they know they started from a very humble start, like all humans and that it won't be long before they die. I think following and abandoning religion affects life. I think the rules that govern life are made to teach us this fact and that we should be humble.
it could be suggested that we could make good laws and good unbiased world governments that would work to prevent all this, but I think that even then, eventually, we'll just end up with going back to religion laws. (However, I don't think humans are capable of doing this on their own.)
Obey No1kinobe 50+
The world would be just fine without religion. Maybe even improved. No more bronze age morality. One less thing to divide us.
The holy books of the 3 religions you speak about endorse slavery.
Criminals will be punished on earth just like they are now. People will just have to accept the reality of the situation that life isn't fair unless we work to make it so.
Charity and taxation systems and wealth redistribution does not require religion.
If humans created the religious rules in the first place then
You don't need religion to have a good society. In fact the least religious Western countries have the lowest violent crime and rape and teenage pregnancy and STD's etc.
Why do you think we need religion to be good citizens? Any evidence?
Lesley Rickard
I don't know so much about the Torah and the Bible but I do know that in the Qur'an Allah many, many times exhorts people to free slaves as a way of atoning for sins and nowhere endorses slavery.
You ask about evidence for the need for religion. Do you have any evidence for your assertion " In fact the least religious Western countries have the lowest violent crime and rape and teenage pregnancy and STD's etc."?
Obey No1kinobe 50+
That seems to be endorsing it or allowing it, not prohibiting it.
The freeing of slaves as a way to atone for sins is not saying slavery is wrong.
You obviously know more about the Koran than I, does it ban slavery? Does it say it is wrong? If it does then my understanding may be wrong.
Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Japan have the highest proportion of non religious people.
Irreligious countries had the lowest infant-mortality rate (number of deaths per 1,000 live births), and religious countries had the highest rates. According to the 2004 CIA World Factbook.
According to the United Nations Report on the World Social Situation (2003), of the thirty-five nations with the highest levels of youth-illiteracy rates, all were highly religious, with statistically insignificant levels of organic atheism.
The most religious nations on earth-particularly those in Africa-fared the worst for AIDS and HIV infection. (Botswana suffers from the highest rate of HIV infection in the world; see http://www.avert.org/aroundworld. htm.) The highly irreligious nations of Western Europe, such as those of Scandinavia-where public sex education is supported and birth control is widely accessible-fared the best, experiencing among the lowest rates of AIDS and HIV infection in the world.
Countries with high rates of organic atheism are among the most societally healthy on earth, while societies with nonexistent rates of organic atheism are among the most destitute. The former nations have among the lowest homicide rates, infant mortality rates, poverty rates, and illiteracy rates and among the highest levels of wealth, life expectancy, educational attainment, and gender equality in the world.
Re Religion, Atheism and Teen Pregnancy, Guttmacher Institute and Gallup show the most religious US states have most teen pregnancy. Abstinence works, but kids don't abstain, condoms work better.
Obey No1kinobe 50+
Just on teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, if you are tied by religious dogma not to support the use of contraception, which is proven to reduce both issues, you have a problem.
I guess it works both ways. Most Atheists in Western Nations are a positive force in my view. Just my opinion. And more people will admit to being Atheist if not scared or move on from Religion if they get a decent secular education and are not socially obliged to be religious..
Ken brown 30+
Wiki it,it'll explain all about how the flat earth thing came about.
Jeremy Garner
Ken brown 30+
We had a few interesting talks that had us arguing the flat earth meme and i was surprised to find out that it was an artifact used by all of us but when you think about it the Greeks who were one of the more educated for that time period had incorporated the spherical earth view into their teachings and as their language and culture were widely dispersed throughout the Med so would their science and philosophy would be too.2000 years ago it was the Greek language that was the business language of the age as is English has become the business language of today.
I could be wrong though.
Gabo Moreno 100+
Ken brown 30+
What about Alexandria,I'm sure it didn't go under the waves until well after the reign of Octavius,i can understand the middle ages as knowledge was a weapon to be hoarded and the Church propagated the belief that only the clergy had the right to read until the first pirate copy of the bible showed up from the first printing presses,it was the devils work.
I'll look it up but yeah i forgot about Rome.
Amr Salah
If you're talking about Alexandria in Egypt, then I'm afraid Egypt became an experiemental territory and was isolated from the rest of the Roman empire under the reign of Romans. Egypt was decided to have its unique currency. It sent corn and a tribute (I think?) annually to Rome. Romans tried to apply different strategies regarding religions etc.. I don't think there was that much attention given to science during that time, but I could be mistaken.