I see and hear so many people that either bash religions that are different from their own, or bash religion in general. Before you click away, humor me for a minute.
Imagine that you suffered some kind of traumatic experience. You needed therapy, healing time, coping mechanisms... and for you, this was faith. If you truly believed that your faith is what got you through your troubles, how would you feel if somebody called you stupid or crazy just because you believed something differently than them? Not very good, I would imagine.
The thing about belief is that it is just that- a belief. An idea, a feeling, that is completely harmless to you. Whether or not there really is a God or a "right" religion, the belief of something more powerful than humans has been a long time comfort to societies throughout history. To try and take away what somebody believes is simply cruel, as many people feel that their life's purpose is based within their religion. For this reason, I believe that it is best for us to respect the beliefs of others. What is it that the Christian Bible says, about "Doing onto others"?
The best way to broaden our horizons is to choose to actually learn about other belief systems. This doesn't mean that we are turning against our own faith. This means that we are setting down our pride long enough to realize that many different religions have similar roots. Between the prophets, the stories, the timelines of the history... so many of these faiths all essentially believe the same thing, they just execute reverence differently. One of the most controversial comparisons is that of Islam and Christianity, yet these two faiths seem to preach against one another. Although both religions teach to do good in the world, the be reverent to God, to refrain from eating pork and other unclean foods (see the Old Testament of the Bible if you aren't familiar with this). In order to truly understand religion, we must familiarize ourself with the history of how these different belief systems came to be
The next time that you make assumptions about somebody based off of their religion or beliefs, take a moment to remember that we all have to live on this planet together, so we may as well accept and respect one another. Too many wars have been caused by clashing religions. We are now living in an era where peace amongst them really is possible, but it isn't going to happen over night, and it surely will not happen if we consciously decide to remain ignorant to other cultures in the world that we share.
