Are all religions basically the same?

Being an engineering major in graduate school, I am constantly surrounded with people from other countries and other religions. And frequently because of such diversity, a discussion will arise about different religions. Sometime a while back, religion became the topic of conversation during one of my electrical engineering classes. We started talking about it because one of the students, a Muslim from Pakistan, paid a tribute to Allah after one of his presentations by including a slide with words of adoration at the end of the presentation.

The Muslim student seemed to have mixed emotions between embarrassment and pride. On the one hand, he was proud to boldly proclaim his faith and recognize his god in front of the class, but on the other hand he was unsure of himself enough which made him quickly close the slide so that only a minimal amount of people would notice what it had said. Well, several people noticed, including the professor.

The professor, whom I shall leave unnamed, was very intrigued. He made the embarrassed student go back to the slide and show what it said again to the class. This prompted a few comments from the professor about his personal world view and some of his ideas on religions.

I was very shocked to hear the professor assert, that Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all worship the same god. I couldn't believe I heard that from the professors mouth! I could tell from reading the facial expressions and the body language of the Muslim, that he was just as bewildered as I was. Now of course, this isn't the first time I have heard this statement. And I shouldn't be surprised, because it seems to be a growing popular belief in America today. But the reason I was surprised, was because I knew the professor claimed to be a Christian! I can understand somebody without much knowledge of any of the three religions, in fact almost NO knowledge of the three to make such a claim. But a Christian? Somebody who has claimed to be a Christian?

I'll give just three Bible versus that I found (and remembered) in about 5 minutes that completely debunk the notion that Jews, Christians, and Muslims all worship the same God. Jesus states, as documented in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me." Also, Acts 4:12 states, "And there is Salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." In these versus, the exclusivity of the Christian claim that salvation only comes through Jesus Christ is established. Muslims and Jews do not believe that Salvation comes through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. They don't believe he was the Son of God! If this isn't enough, in an even more convincing verse, John 8:19, Jesus states to the Pharisees (who were astute Jewish religious teachers at the time), "You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father." Jesus is saying to the Pharisees, the Jewish scholars, that they know neither Him nor His Father. Christians follow Christ and His Father; the Jews do not. In effect Jesus said, that if you don't follow me, you don't follow my Father (God). Therefore, Jesus Himself, as documented in the Bible, states that Christians and Jews do not worship the same God! Muslims don't claim that Jesus is the Son of God either, so the situation is the same with them, and for that matter, any other religion. Kinda off of the topic, but I find it odd that Muslims assert that Christ is not the Son of God, but the Koran states that He (Jesus) raised people from the dead. That is a mighty powerful miracle for just a mere person. I think people should listen to what Jesus said.

So back to the story, I asked myself, "How can this be?" But then, with a little bit more thought, I realized that the trend in academics is moving toward embracing relativism. I think it must be in some desperate attempt to establish world peace or something. Anyways, one of my favorite poems that I have ever heard is on this subject. I was first made aware of it from listening to sermons by Ravi Zacharias. Really, the poem embodies what I think is the reason for this type of illogical thinking much more eloquently then I could ever put it. I really believe the author, Steven Turner, was right on the money, and pinned exactly what seems to be emerging as the core beliefs of humans today. Especially in America.

"Creed" by Steven Turner:

We believe in Marxfreudanddarwin
We believe everything is OK
as long as you don't hurt anyone,
to the best of your definition of hurt,
and to the best of your knowledge.

We believe in sex before, during, and after marriage.
We believe in the therapy of sin.
We believe that adultery is fun.
We believe that sodomy is OK.
We believe that taboos are taboo.

We believe that everything is getting better
despite evidence to the contrary.
The evidence must be investigated
And you can prove anything with evidence.

We believe there's something in
horoscopes, UFO's and bent spoons;
Jesus was a good man
just like Buddha, Mohammed, and ourselves.
He was a good moral teacher
although we think His good morals were bad.

We believe that all religions are basically the same--
at least the one that we read was.
They all believe in love and goodness.
They only differ on matters of
creation, sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation.

We believe that after death comes the Nothing
Because when you ask the dead what happens they say nothing.
If death is not the end, if the dead have lied,
then it's compulsory heaven for all
excepting perhaps Hitler, Stalin, and Genghis Khan.

We believe in Masters and Johnson.
What's selected is average.
What's average is normal.
What's normal is good.

We believe in total disarmament.
We believe there are direct links between warfare and bloodshed.
Americans should beat their guns into tractors
and the Russians would be sure to follow.

We believe that man is essentially good.
It's only his behavior that lets him down.
This is the fault of society.
Society is the fault of conditions.
Conditions are the fault of society.

We believe that each man must find the truth that is right for him.
Reality will adapt accordingly.
The universe will readjust.
History will alter.
We believe that there is no absolute truth
excepting the truth that there is no absolute truth.

We believe in the rejection of creeds,
and the flowering of individual thought.

"Chance" a post-script

If chance be the Father of all flesh,
disaster is his rainbow in the sky,
and when you hear

State of Emergency!
Sniper Kills Ten!
Troops on Rampage!
Whites go Looting!
Bomb Blasts School!

It is but the sound of man worshiping his maker.

I especially like the post-script called, "Chance". God gives us our moral law, without Him we are lost!

Final is over!

Thats right, final! I only had one. It is nice being me. No stress during finals week. It makes me glad that I am not this person, this person, or this person.

Anyways, my Advanced Electronics final was the only thing standing in my way from graduating, so I am glad to officially be finished with my masters degree. I didn't take much of a break, however, because about 10 minutes after my final, I went straight to the lab and started working on my PhD.