Christians, Muslims and Jews, oh my!

[year2027]

God first

thanks Todd

what the different principles that Christians, Muslims, Jews and Atheist share

maybe i should ask what do they not Share

with love and a holy kiss Roy

[sirguessalot]

seems to me we might do well to ask in both directions.

because they are somehow alike in every way...and somehow different in those very same ways.

such as how all plants are essentially the same and different in their processes and patterns of development...

yet we have rosemary, basil and thyme.

paradoxically the same and different in more ways than can be numbered.

such as how...

all are born, age, want to have sex, and die.

all are creatures of story, celebration, ceremony and ritual.

all love our children, eat good food.

all are also susceptible to forgetting all this.

all are capable of misunderstanding their own scripture and history.

[sirguessalot]

Fundamental Human Needs

are seen as ontological (stemming from the condition of being human), are few, finite and classifiable (as distinct from the conventional notion of conventional economic "wants" that are infinite and insatiable). They are also constant through all human cultures and across historical time periods. What changes over time and between cultures is the strategies by which these needs are satisfied.

[mstar1]

Although not directly related to this thread I read THIS ARTICLE in todays NYTimes that may be of interest to some of you regarding the exhibition "Three Faiths:Judaism, Christianity, Islam" at the New York Public Library

The sweep of the new exhibition at the New York Public Library — “Three Faiths: Judaism, Christianity, Islam” — is stunning. It stretches from a Bible found in a monastery in coastal Brittany that was sacked by the Vikings in the year 917, to a 1904 lithograph showing the original Temple Emanu-El on Fifth Avenue. It encompasses both an elaborately decorated book of 20th-century Coptic Christian readings and a modest 19th-century printing of the Gospels in the African language Grebo. There are Korans, with pages that shimmer with gold leaf and elegant calligraphy, and a 13th-century Pentateuch from Jerusalem, written in script used by Samaritans who traced their origins to the ancient Northern Kingdom of Israel.

“Muhammad Leading the Other Prophets,” from a 16th-century Turkis

The library’s Gutenberg Bible is here, as well as its 1611 King James translation. The first Koran published in English is shown, from 1649, along with fantastical images from 16th-century Turkish and Persian manuscripts in which Muhammad is pictured with other prophets, his face a blank white space in obeisance to the prohibition against his portrait.

Out of many, one. That could well be the motto of this ambitious exhibition. It focuses on “the three Abrahamic religions” — Judaism, Christianity and Islam — each of which takes as a forebear an “itinerant herdsman” of the Middle East, Abraham, who affirmed belief in a single God. As the show puts it, Abraham rejected “the religions of antiquity with their plethora of gods, each imbued with a particular attribute, purpose and power,” replacing the many with the one.

The Abrahamic religions share other characteristics as well. Each believes that God has made himself known to his prophets through acts of revelation. And such revelations shape groups of believers by being incorporated in canonical written texts: the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Gospels, the Islamic Koran.

Though the exhibition does not point this out, the connection between monotheism and such texts is no accident. Once multiple divinities are discarded, along with their rivalries and conflicting powers, religion is concerned with just two poles: the human and the divine. Religious events take place not on Mount Olympus or in some imagined godly castle, but in the earthly realm. Religious history becomes fully part of human history. And the telling of that history, along with commentary and reinterpretation, becomes an aspect of the religion itself. These faiths are historical faiths.

the photos of the the texts are exquisite, I know that it may be along shot but if any of you find yourself in NYC before February 27th -it looks like it is definitely worth seeing to me

[cman]

[sirguessalot]

thanks for that mstar...sounds like an amazing exhibition.

i especially liked this...

Religious history becomes fully part of human history. And the telling of that history, along with commentary and reinterpretation, becomes an aspect of the religion itself. These faiths are historical faiths.

and wow...teenagers digging sri aurobindo on youtube. welcome to the 3rd millenium.

[Ham]

I didn't read every reply here.. but..

what if you found out one day that EVERYTHING you believed was wrong.. what would you do..

the Rabbi on another thread that Abi quoted may well be on the way.. ga*d bless him.. which,who,whatever that (he/she/, I can't say it..) is..

I can envision it.. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Wiccan adherants (to whatever that might be at the moment or not)..

what about the Incan culture and theology? Native Americans?

but wouldn't it be nice.. everybody tripping over one another.. "I was wrong brother.."..

"no! it was me!"

"Nawwwww.. you guys have no clue as to wrongness.."

I'll be the first.

all I have is an impression in my consciousness.. whether it is self-induced, or acquired otherwise.. could be argued..

but call it any name you want to..

it does tend to be a mixture of a lot of others just like me..

[Ham]

It was a nice(mostly) Jewish lady who asked me that question. What would you do..

well.. first thing.. I'd forgive all those who tried to sell me a pale substitute to the truth, or untruth, or whatever it was..

she says.. "you are quite generous".

its all part of this present "trip".. is it not?

one step of wrongness after another..

I thought about that today.. "I'm tired of being wrong all the time.. "

maybe its just what comes with participating in this existence..

rosie, deslile.. and whoever is still there.. they are still in kindergarten..

[Ham]

what I wonder is.. how scientology.org ends up with a google ad at the bottom of the page with this kind of discussion..

ha. Maybe they are only 2/3 wrong..

[sirguessalot]

funny...im getting ads for food coupons and non-denominational churches in Portland

[cman]

I don't get ads, using an adblocker.

I don't think everything you believe can be wrong.

Just seeing a portion of something greater, and misjudging it's intent, is one of the biggest blocks to stumble over.

[sirguessalot]

been chewing on this since you posted it, ham.

oddly enough, it reflects the opinions of many christians, muslims and jews i have met and read in the fields of hospice, grief, psychology and such.

I didn't read every reply here.. but..

what if you found out one day that EVERYTHING you believed was wrong.. what would you do..

the Rabbi on another thread that Abi quoted may well be on the way.. ga*d bless him.. which,who,whatever that (he/she/, I can't say it..) is..

I can envision it.. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Wiccan adherants (to whatever that might be at the moment or not)..

what about the Incan culture and theology? Native Americans?

but wouldn't it be nice.. everybody tripping over one another.. "I was wrong brother.."..

"no! it was me!"

"Nawwwww.. you guys have no clue as to wrongness.."

...

It was a nice(mostly) Jewish lady who asked me that question. What would you do..

well.. first thing.. I'd forgive all those who tried to sell me a pale substitute to the truth, or untruth, or whatever it was..

she says.. "you are quite generous".

its all part of this present "trip".. is it not?

one step of wrongness after another..

I thought about that today.. "I'm tired of being wrong all the time.. "

maybe its just what comes with participating in this existence..

rosie, deslile.. and whoever is still there.. they are still in kindergarten..

this too, cman

I don't think everything you believe can be wrong.

Just seeing a portion of something greater, and misjudging it's intent, is one of the biggest blocks to stumble over.

amens all around

[Ham]

and that is wonderful..

I would rather stumble over the block, instead of trying to sell it..