Is there a religion that seeks to unite all religions?

While I am not really religious, I have seen several movies that delve into the various religions and their origins. And the similarities are startling, particularly within the Christian, Muslim and Buddist faiths.

So with that in mind, is there any religion that based on those similarities seeks to combine most of the major religions?

If that could happen, it would seem to me that many of the world's problems could be solved. While obviously this task would not be easy, it would seem there could be compromises so that all could settle on one story, one God and one set of objectives.

Yep I know, I'm dreaming. Will never happen. Or has it? Anyone know of such a thing?

Settle on one God ??

I mean no disrespect but how could this be done ?

Granted you could teach all children whilst they are young to follow one God and his teachings.

Are the teachings of the one God a meld from all the other God's teachings thrown together to create new laws for spiritual living?

What do you do with all the older people from all the different religions ?Brainwash/erase memory ? Kill them ? What happens to those of us who live moral lives but choose to refrain from joining organised religion ? Would we be forced to conform ?

Who will decide about the name of the one God ? Everyone will have an opinion about that.

I personally would like to see a day when organised religion is no more and people can worship whomever they please without fear or prejudice in their own time.

Religions control people and breed hatred of anything different. Until the majority of mankind can accept that we are all individuals with different spiritual needs there will never be peace on this planet.

stay safe

res

[edit on 30-1-2008 by resistancia]

Closest I can think of is Unitarian Universalism, which, unless I've gotten daffy, recognizes pretty much all religious outlooks as valid, as do some more liberal takes on Buddhism (which are the most popular ones in the west).

Others - Christianity and Islam primarily, but there are others - seek to accomplish unity through conversion of others.

Yep, Unitarian Universalism is the ticket. They teach that its not what God you pray to, but that you can pray to whatever God you like and we can all still get along.

A Wiccan can stand beside a Buddhist who's standing beside a Catholic who's praying to the devil. It doesn't matter what god you believe in, what matters is that you believe in something.

I joined the fellowship here in Fayetteville several years ago. I never go to the services but I guess thats ok too.

Unitarian Universalist believe we can all get along, regardless of who we pray to.

I can really relate to that.

Well, that's close, thanks.

BUT what I am wondering if there is any movement that specifically aims to combine the major religions based upon their similarities.

The B'ahai faith comes close. And have been heavily involved in UN thinking since its inception, for the NWO theorists.

While they may not have a specific agenda to "unite" all religions, the Unitarian Universalist church welcome all religions, learns from all religions, and teaches about all religions. There is no discrimination at all. One day you may hear a sermon from a Jewish Rabi, the next time a talk from a Native American Spiritualist. Next week could be a teaching in Buddhism, or maybe _______ (pick any world religion). They also are active in many humanitarian and peaceful activities around the world and offer many opportunities for people to get involved either at home or abroad and help in some way in a cause for good. From what I understand some people who attendend Unitarian services, may also be members of another church (say the Lutheran for example) and still go to Unitarian Universalism service.

BTW, I am not a member, but have been several times a few years ago and felt it to be a very educational, welcoming, and peaceful-kind-loving kind of experience. I remember going with a friend and a women asked us if we were together...we said no, and she said something like "because you know if you were that would be ok". What church these days rolls out the red carpet and welcome mat like that for a gay couple? All I hear about is how they are shunned and turned away. The Universalists have my respect for life! The other churches could learn a lot from such a good religious citizen.

reply to post by DogHead


And has its roots in Islam, for the RELIGIOUS NWO conspiracy theorists!

Not to mention, the only time I heard the name Jesus Christ while at the UU fellowship was when the janitor fell down the stairs.

Also the UU's celebrate all the holidays, so you can dance to Kwanza, Drum circle at Yule and still have a merry Christmas, all within a few days of each other. Hell we'll celebrate anything

Seriously...an organisation that welcomes people from any creed to come together and fulfill their spiritual needs ?

I am impressed.

Are they only based in the US ? I would like to explore this further


res

Here's the closest thing I've found on uniting world religions

www.maitreya.org...

reply to post by TrueAmerican


I think the only way this mess will ever get cleared up is not merging the religions because you can't get one group to agree with another is by agreeing to disagree. Like I said repeatedly to Atheists and Christians incidently. hEh

reply to post by WraothAscendant


Bingo. We might not be able to respect the beliefs of another, but respecting their right to believe it is fundamental - With the provision that those beliefs do not infringe on the rights or well-being of another person.

It's that provision that would cause the most trouble, I think...

reply to post by MissInformation


Bingo. Excellent, MissInformation!

From your source:

In all cultures and religions of the world we can find the belief that one person will bring the unification of religions and fulfill the prophecies. This One is known to the Buddhists as the Compassionate (Maitreya) Buddha or Bodhisattva, to Hindus as the Kalki Avatar, to the Jews and Christians as the Messiah, to the Moslems as Mahdi (Mohammed), to the Baha’is as the One Whom God Shall Make Manifest, etc.

“The prophecies state that Maitreya will synthesize the religions of the world under one teaching and unify the West and East together to create perfected beings.” (Golden Keys I)

So I guess that is probably the closest answer to what I was seeking so far. And just glancing through the site, some very interesting stuff.

Maybe it's time the religions of the world started talking seriously about something like this.

There certainly is such a religion and I have been sent here by God to serve him and deliver upon you the one truth! I implore of ye to shed all your worldly sins- especially the devils tool: MONEY! To make sure this evil cannot spread I have been commanded by the one true God to instruct you to send me all of this evil scourge of the land and set your soul free!

Scientology? They haven't mentioned Christ I don't think. But they say they want to unite everyone's wallets...I mean, hearts.

We go to the unitatarian church here in town once or twice a month
I wanted my son to have the experience of community, sharing in a spiritual endeavor with others
and because we like it, everyone has been super nice and I dont have to pretend hard to come by in this corner of the bible belt
they have weekly drum circles, a volunteering kids group, solstice celebrations in the church itself
speakers on all sorts of issues from enviromentalism to civil rights
pot luck dinners and music
all with a focus on ones ethical behavior no matter what the spiritual motivation is, as well as interpersonal growth and community building


The new age movement in a sense is a merging of all the different world religions by taking bits and peices and focusing on the more mystical or transendental elements of many many faiths and rolling them all together.

I think I remember reading somewhere that Jews, Christians, and Muslims all worship the same god.I doubt many people are willing to admit this if it were true but still why cant they all just combine the prophets together. Isn't it funny how one little quirk in someones belief system can lead to thousands of years of violence and death.HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. That's sarcasm by the way.

reply to post by Takkybunny


Because all three are absolutist religions. If the Jews accept Jesus is Messiah, that means Judaism is wrong. If the Christians accept Mohammed as a post-Jesus prophet, that means Jesus was wrong, and so is Christianity. If the Muslims accept Joseph Smith as a prophet... See where i'm going?

You can find lots of Jews, Muslims, Christians, Rastafarians, Druze, Mormons, whoever, who all agree that htye follow the same GOD... but none of these religions are really about god, but instead are about which prophets count and which don't. It's like a big ATS discussion over which Atlantis experts are smart and which are kooks - even if everyine in the thread agrees Atlantis is real, they still argue. Only with religion, for some unfathomable reason, violence always sneaks in.

Maybe the difference is, there's nobody who places the totality of their self-worth as a human being around any given proponent of Atlantis.

reply to post by TheWalkingFox


Eh given enough time I say even the Atlantis question would spiral into violence. Its mankind's nature.
Just violence over the internet have takes a pretty determined person as they have to locate and travel perhaps long distances.
And have you taken a peek in the 9/11 forums?
Geez luweez.

[edit on 8-2-2008 by WraothAscendant]