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Why can't we all get along, at least religiously?
I'm currently in a World Religions class, and there's one thing I simply don't understand. Why do so many religions refuse to recognize any validity in other religions? Why can't the different faiths say "Hey, we have these beliefs, we trust in this God, we have these rituals. You have yours, and they are different, and that's fine." Why is it so impossible to believe that there's an Abrahamic God, and Vishnu, and Gaia, and Zeus, and whomever else? Why can't people just acknowledge that the different religions have different beliefs, and still share the same beliefs, and that each religion is a good fit for the people who believe in it, and that's fine? Why is it so important to say "My god is real, and yours isn't, na na na na na na!" I've read the Vedas (although the Hindus have kind of already gotten the hang of this, at least most of them), the Old Testament, the New Testament, a translation of the Qu'ran, and each book says that believers should only fight others when they themselves are being attacked, and that a nonbeliever who lives a good life is better than a believer who lives a bad life, so the books, the core of the religion isn't at fault. Why do people insist on finding reasons to put each other down and hate each other? I'd really like to hear on different religious (and nonreligious) perspectives on this.