"We have just enough religions to make us hate, but not enough to make us love another" ~ Jonathan Swift

If you're a Christian, you're probably one because you were born in a Christian family or perhaps raised by Christian guardians. Same thing applies if you're a Muslim. Or Hindu. Or Buddhist. Therefore, it is safe to say that our faith and religious ideals were imposed at birth. We basically had no choice in chosing our religion, but to adhere to the beliefs of our parents or guardians since such religion has become a family tradition.

There's also the case of 'geographical accident of the locality' of our birth place. If you were born in Saudi Arabia or UAE or Pakistan, it's reasonable to believe you will be a Muslim. Likewise, if I was born in India I will most likely be Hindu or Sikh or Jainist. Same if you and I were born in either Italy or Peru, we will probably be Catholics.

So, why do we think or believe that the religion chosen for us by our parents, or by chance of our birth place, is the one and true religion? If our fate had been reversed, would we still see the other religion as we see them now? For example, if you're now a Muslim, but assuming you were born NOT into a Muslim home but a Christian home, would you still see Islam as the true religion as a Christian? Same if you're now a Christian, but assuming you were instead raised in a Hindu home with Hindu parents, would you still see Christianity as the true religion as a Hindu?

Honesty may be difficult to achieve here. If your excuse is: 'given what you know now about your birth religion, you will probably have converted and still see that as the true religion of God. My question then is: what TRUE knowledge do you have about the other religions and how it has enriched the lives of their faithfuls? Knowledge, after all, engender understanding, and with understanding you develop the tolerance of people with a different viewpoints. This is basically liberalism.

I consider myself a liberal and I've made deliberate efforts to have working knowledge of the world major religions enough to be tolerant of each of their beliefs, ideals and the idiosyncrasies of their faithfuls.

I have grown to admire the simplicity of the monotheism of Judaism and Islam. I have admiration for the peace of monogamy in Christianity. I always admire meditation and the concept of enlightenment from knowledge and understanding in Buddhism. I'm always fascinated by the concept of reincarnation and Karma in Hinduism. And I love the idea of having my own favourite God, like Hinduism, in the corner of my room where I can have personal dialogue with Him, compared to talking to an empty space and assuming the so-called omnipresent God is listening to you as He's listening to the other 7 billion humans in the world.

So, how do we judge the true religion from others? Do we judge by their origins? Or the substance of their messages? Or the socioeconomic status of their faithfuls?

ORIGIN
Majority, if not all of the world major religions originated from the East (Middle East and Asia). Islam, Judaism and Christianity all derived their roots in the Middle East. Buddhism, Sikhism and Hinduism roots can be traced to Asia.

The geographical similarities among some of these religions explains why they are reciprocally connected. Moses (Musa), Jesus (Isa) are Jews. Muhammad is Arab. But they all have Ibrahim (Abraham) as their progenitor through his two sons. Siddhārtha Guatama (Buddhism), Vardhamāna Mahāvīra (Jainism) and Guru Nānak (Sikhism) are all Indians and have roots in Hinduism.

The Jewish book is called Torah. The Torah is the Old Testament in the Christian Bible. The Christian book is called the Holy Bible and it has two books: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Muslim book is called the Holy Qur'an and the Muslims believe their book is the compilation and confirmation of previous books: Zabur (Psalms of David), Tawrat (5 books of Moses or Torah or Pentateuch), Injeel (New Testament or Gospel of Jesus).

Can you see the parallel connectivities?

MESSAGES
All the world major religions have peace, non-violence, self-sacrifice, selflessness, love, kindness, tolerance, modesty and brotherhood as their central tenets.

From the benignity of ahimsa, the discipline actions of Karma Yoga and the ascetic lifestyle of monks in Hinduism; to the powerful messages of Ikhlâs, Taqwâ and Birr and observation and holding to sanctity the divine beauty of Allah's creations in Islam; to the Four Noble Truths, sublimity of meditation, the Eightfold Paths and enlightenment to gain entry to Nirvana in Buddhism; to the prohibition of ungodly works of the flesh, the teachings of unselfish love, turning the other cheek, self-control, ultimate sacrifice and kindness in Christianity.

Their messages are all the same: peace, piousness, compassion, morality and submission to a supreme being.

SOCIOECONOMICS
In the ranking of The World Richest Countries, 5 Muslim-majority countries are in the Top 10 (Qatar, Kuwait, Brunei Darussalam, UAE, Saudi Arabia).

China is the 2nd Largest Economy in the world. The major religions in China are Taoism and Confucianism. In fact there are more Atheists in China than there are Christians and Muslims. Yet, China is producing more Millionaires every year faster than any country in the world.

United State, officially a secular state though with Christian majority, is the largest economy in the world. The US with its liberalism, something some people consider ungodly, has the highest number of Millionaires in the world.

India is ranked 7th in the World Wealthiest Countries with a total individual wealth of $5.6 trillion. Hinduism and Sikhism are the major religions. India is also the 7th largest economy in the world.

Apparently, religion has nothing to do with how rich you become or how poor you are. God is obviously liberal with sharing of wealth. There are riches and wealth in Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist and Shintoist countries, as well as there are poverty.

CONCLUSION
The knowledge of God and His ways are way too deep and vast for any single group of people or religion to claim dominion over. God operates in a liberal and mysterious ways nobody can fully fathom.

Therefore, make conscious attempt to learn about other religions. Learning is NOT converting. Embrace them, learn about them and see how your tolerance level grows. How can you even judge other religions when you have little, which is mostly biased, or no knowledge about them?

The multitude of religions in the world is for a purpose - to spice up the world. Having same race, same language, same culture and same religion would be so boring. The diversity of the multiple religions of the world is a thing of beauty.

Ever pay rapt attention to the melodious sound of the voices of the muezzins (Islam) calling faithfuls to prayers, the aerobic nature of the Salāt and the equality of mankind the process of the Salāt preaches?

Ever watched the beauty of Diwali (Hinduism) with the colour powders, sweets, bonfires, the beautiful candles, clay lamps (deepas) and the fireworks?

Ever experienced the solemnity and pomp of Hanukkah (Judaism), the kindling of Menorahs, the singing of Ma'oz Tzur and recitation of Hallel to remember the rededication of the Holy Temple in 165 BC?

Ever experienced the reverence of The Sacrifice of the Mass (Christianity) when the powerful words of Jesus Christ are recited and his presence as the Principal Priest is felt, the beautiful vestments of the priests, the golden chalice, the gilded paten, the beeswax candles, the crucifix on the altar and the atmosphere heightened by the heavenly rendition of the hymns by the laity?

“To study different religions need not imply infidelity to one’s own faith, but rather it may be enlarged by seeing how other people have sought for reality and have been enriched by their search” ~ Geoffrey Parrinder.

Disclosure:
'Mankind Search For God', a book by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania is an influence on this article.