Man lives by his ideas. He understands the world through his beliefs
and hypotheses. The ability to think rationally and abstractly makes
us uniquely different from the rest of the animal kingdom.
And unlike other animals, humans are the only beings
on earth who have died merely for their beliefs.

-- Frank James Finamore - Author of “Half hours with the best thinkers”

Most people I have spoken with over the past few years have commented on how fast our world has changed. While many think things are better in some ways, there are those who now believe we need to start changing how we view our world and the people in it. While the majority of changes have enhanced our way of life, there have been an increasing number of events raising concerns for many. I find more are willing to question why things are happening and want to find solutions to the current world problems.

Our lifestyle in the “developed world” may have become easier due to the technological advances and the abundance of goods we have access to, but I believe this ease of life has come at a great cost to our environment, and also to third world countries. Our advances have widened the gap between the impoverished and the affluent. I believe we are beginning to see the repercussions of this trend through the increase of terrorist activities.

The world is in turmoil over the terrorist attacks that have shattered our sense of security. People are trying to make sense of the reasoning behind them. Some of us don’t realize that many believe the decisions made at the highest levels of government are fueling this current unrest.

John Perkins once worked for a corporation that inflated quotes to third world countries when they were encouraged to build the infrastructure these countries needed. In his book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, he outlines what countries and large corporations have done that have contributed to the poor getting poorer and the few at the top getting richer. Are some of these “exploitations” the cause of the current turmoil? I believe they are part of the current problem but not completely.

I suppose we could believe this behavior is the only reason we are being targeted, but I believe it is more than political. For one thing, many terrorist acts are coming out of countries that have some considerable wealth. The oil rich Middle East is where we see most of the activity originating. So what is it that is causing so much anger within these countries? Could it be we are viewed as trying to convert their culture to our beliefs? We have a very different mindset than the Middle East, and the biggest division between us is the beliefs our religions have instilled in us. It’s not hard to see that in the Palestine and Israel conflict, but it becomes more subtle when we go into the countries we are “liberating” and set up Christian missions with the purpose of conversion. Does the Christian world really believe their beliefs are superior and that they should be the belief system of the entire world? If they do believe that, then how much are these beliefs contributing to the wars and terrorist attacks we experience?

In this book, I try to answer some of these questions. I believe there is a close alliance between western politics and the dominant religion: Christianity. We know this is true for the Islamic world because they try to govern their people using the Holy Law as a governing law. I find it intriguing that Christianity, Judaism, and Islam have such a division between them. Christianity is an offshoot of Judaism, and the Islamic religion is an offshoot of Christianity and Judaism combined. Their messages all have core similarities. They all have a message that was meant to be uplifting and inspiring for mankind. What happened to that commonality? Why do we also find the other “commonality” in these religions – a disturbing fringe element of fundamentalists and governments with an interpretation that causes war and suffering?

When I tried to answer some of these questions, I started to read their “holy books.” I was quite familiar with the Christian Bible but had never opened the others. I began to see a pattern of many similarities between them. While they all spoke of the love and mercy of their God, they also had passages that could be interpreted in other ways. In my opinion, some of these messages, when taken literally, are very unhealthy for the unity, and possibly the survival, of humankind. When taken literally, as many of the fundamentalist and evangelical religions have traditionally done, these messages give organizations and individuals freedom to do anything as long as it’s for their God! Their agendas do not have to be in the best interest of humankind but rather only the service to their interpretation of what their God wants them to do.

I believe we need to question the messages and interpretations we are deriving from these books and evaluate whether they are conducive to our unity and world peace, or do they contribute to our current escalation of problems? I believe our very survival could be questionable if we don’t. Have we not all felt the effects of terrorist acts? Have we not seen our ability to move freely in our own country inhibited with rules meant to keep us safer? We are told these restrictions are for our security and our own good, but the free lifestyle we once were so proud of is quickly disappearing! Could it be time we evaluated our beliefs, which originate from our religions, and see to what degree they are contributing to our problems?

It has become increasingly clear to me in talking with people about their religious beliefs for the purpose of writing this book, that even the most intelligent amongst us are afraid to critically evaluate their beliefs. If we lived in a world where our beliefs did not impact others around us, it would not make much difference. This is not, however, the case. In our multicultural world, we need to interact with people of all cultures and beliefs. This is truer now than ever before in history. Our world has shrunk, and we are impacting each other like never before. How do our religious beliefs and morals affect the way this world operates and is anyone immune to their influence? In this book, I try to address this question. I believe many of our beliefs are dangerous because they are intolerant of differences. Unfortunately, our religious beliefs contribute to these differences.

I am not talking about religious beliefs that tell us to love our neighbor and treat them how we would like to be treated. I am talking about the belief that if your “neighbor” is of a different religious affiliation, then they are sinners that need to be saved, or worse, infidels that need to die. I believe these beliefs have caused, and continue to cause, far too much pain and suffering in this world. They have prevented people from learning about other people and their beliefs because they cannot entertain the thought that other beliefs have any truth to them. In fact, there are people in this world that are not allowed to pick this book up and read it because it would be a sin in the eyes of their religion.

It seems sad that religion discourages too many questions. If it’s true that many devoted followers of religion are fearful of punishment if they question “God’s ways,” is this something that has been done in their best interests or is it an issue of control? Is the reward of heaven for blind obedience a good thing? If we had no questions in the world of science, we surely would not be progressing very fast. I believe the issues of our spirituality will become stagnant or die if we are discouraged from questioning and searching for better ways of co-existing. As long as there are religions in this world that believe it’s okay to kill or discriminate in any way in the name of God, we are going to continue to have problems.

Another thing we need to ask ourselves is this: how much influence does religion have on our governments, justice system, educational system, and even our general lifestyles? Do politicians really separate their religious beliefs from their political policies? Is the justice system based on humane rules, or are they still influenced for the large part by our religious beliefs? We have had these laws and guidelines for so long, we have forgotten where they may have originated and why. We forget that one of the original roles of religion was to govern. The modern day world is still being run on these laws and they have become so ingrained in our everyday life that we don’t even see this. Shouldn’t we be interested in where our current laws and beliefs came from? Isn’t it time to look very carefully at the origin of our beliefs and not be blindly influenced by rules or beliefs that are no longer relevant in this new society that is very multicultural? In my opinion, we rarely look at our beliefs carefully and decide for ourselves if they are in the world’s best interest.

In some countries, spiritual beliefs are a way of life and not separate from government. In the “West,” we pride ourselves on having religion and “state” separate. This is not entirely true. Our governments still operate with a belief system that dates back to the days when religion was the governing force. Since Christianity is the predominant religion in the West, we are being governed by beliefs that came from the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant religions that broke away from the original church. The belief that politics are somehow separate from religion is highly naïve. Religion is too ingrained into society’s beliefs, and politics cannot help but reflect our religious views. This is why it is so important that our beliefs reflect unity and tolerance for differences instead of division and intolerance of those with other belief systems.

Another question I feel we should ask ourselves is how does religion influence our educational system? In a world where there are many different cultures attending the same institutions, is it respectful for the dominant religion to force its customs on all the others? An example of this is the debate of having Christian prayers in public schools. I feel it is not a gesture of respect for the diversity in our school system if we force others to partake in religious rituals that are not there own. Doesn’t this practice fuel resentment and division in our schools? In a multicultural society, resentment and division are never in our best interest.

I believe religions have taught us many important values. At their best, they encourage love for another. However, don’t they also teach us there is only one true way to worship God? This in itself will cause division. I am encouraged by the number of religions that are now embracing the unity of humankind, love, and inclusion of all faiths and beliefs into their belief system. There are more and more religions realizing there just might be many ways to worship the same God and that there is no need to fight and kill each other over it. They are coming to the conclusion that an all loving, forgiving, and merciful creator does not discriminate between the many ways people have learned to communicate with their God. Does it really make sense for us to believe our way is the only right way when there are so many other beliefs of equal value?

For various reasons, we do not take the time or interest in exploring and understanding the other religious beliefs that are in our world. We usually trust that what we have been taught is correct. Is this presumption dangerous?

This book offers a collection of general information on the main religions of the world. Hopefully, it will help people have a better understanding of other religions. We fear what we do not understand, so hopefully it will help reduce our fear of other beliefs. My hope is that this book will help people re-evaluate their beliefs, or at least really take a close look at them. Most importantly, it will give us an awareness of how our limiting beliefs could be causing so much of the trouble in our world. I know it was a very interesting journey for me to learn about what the different religions believed.

I believe it is increasingly important for us to make some very careful decisions about our future, and we make these decisions based on what we know and/or believe. This will require us to look honestly at what we have been taught so we can determine what the truth is for us. Most importantly, we need to look at solutions so we can come together as a global community and make the needed changes to interact in harmony and cooperation. In a sense, we need to grow up if we want to survive. I believe many people are starting to do this and so are some religions. We have never seen so many people opposed to wars as we have over the last few decades. I was amazed at the numbers that opposed the Iraq war. There has always been opposition to war, but I believe the numbers are growing at an increasing rate.

It is time to explore every facet of our lives and see if the problems and suffering the world is encountering is a product of beliefs that are no longer appropriate. This book is not meant to attack or condemn any individual or their beliefs because we all do the best we can with what we know. Rather, it is an attempt to challenge everybody, churches, governments, and individuals alike, to think about what they believe and determine for themselves if it is a benefit or a hindrance in the healing of our world. Many of our beliefs came from people we both admired and respected, but don’t you think it’s time to evaluate if they are still the beliefs we want to embrace?

We need to recognize we are connected to each other and our world. Do our beliefs help us achieve what we want to achieve? If they are limiting or exclusive, do we need to get rid of them? Each and every one of us needs to join together to make this world a better place, free of the divisions. This will happen if each one of us takes responsibility for our own beliefs. My appeal is for everyone to come together and embrace the belief that differences are our strength not our weakness, our survival not our demise.

I focused more on the beliefs of the religions of the Christian world, but I also tried to address the beliefs of other religions that are not as familiar to us. It is valuable to have an understanding of them because we live in an increasingly diverse society. In fact, it is this mixing of cultures that is challenging us. Cultures of old were quite separate from each other, and their religious views did not impact others like they do today. I believe we can no longer live with our old mindsets in this new world we have created. Understanding can lead to more tolerance and less fear of those who hold different views. It is a time for us to all look at how we treat each other, uphold equality and respect between genders, race and religion, and see the humanity in each other.

I know this book has some controversial views that are radically different from how the world currently operates. I believe most of us realize that September 11, 2001 showed us beyond all doubt that what we are doing is not working. What we are “doing” is based upon what we “believe”! How can we change that?