Great Uncle Fred? Religion makes people go to war and war is the worst. Every country has religion. If people could work out what they thought that was the same, there would be less war. But do religions have anything in common? (Stephanie, Spring 2008)

That`s a good point - I do not know if there has ever been a concerted attempt by all the major religions to bury their differences in the common ground and work together for the sake of World Peace; perhaps you should organise something, Stephanie. For they do have a great deal in common, first of all the belief in the Divine Life, all-powerful, eternal and dwelling apart, and in the spiritual nature of mankind which comes from the Divine Life and can and must respond to it. Compared to people who believe in nothing, those who believe in God are all in the same community, they have something pretty big in common, whatever the differences. Unfortunately, another thing religions have in common is the tendency to believe that their way is the one true way, and for this belief to inspire fervour and even violence in young fanatics. This is actually stupid, and the elders shouldn`t let it happen, because compassion, gentleness, love are at the heart of all these teachings. Your instinct is quite right, Stephanie, all religions are concerned with the same thing and religion should never be an excuse for war. There are of course many differences but when you get to the level of the mystics, the super-deep thinkers you find in every religion, they are all saying almost exactly the same things. They all say, for example, that God, or the Ultimate Reality, cannot be grasped by thought or expressed in words. That`s just the start of it. Your question might be answered properly if there were room to write a book about it but, if you don`t mind, I shall have to confine myself to saying: Yes, religions have a great deal in common, and thank you for mentioning this most important matter.

Print