During history, the number of wars which have been fought with the bible or other book in the hand, are almost too numerous to count. The question is whether the religious teachings in these holy books, of whatever persuasion, cause these wars. Are religious wars based on the teachings in holy books, I wonder. As an example, were the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington incited by the Holy Koran? And on the other side of the coin, where in the Christian Bible did George W Bush find the approval to invade Iraq? Probably people would have a hard time finding the terrorist attack instructions in the Koran, or an attack on Iraq in the Christian Bible, after all their teachings are based on historical facts rather than futuristic predictions.

It seems straightforward. It’s people’s interpretations of their specific holy books that start wars and terrorist attacks. It is not what is written in these books that does it. It is what people read into them. Maybe that is even incorrect. It is people’s megalomaniacal thinking that starts wars. And in order to justify those actions, the holy books are brought into it. Bush wanted to feel secure in his own country. That’s what he says was his reason to go to war. But maybe it was more like, I’m an American don’t you dare mess with me, attitude that got Bush into the war in the first instance.

So what would have gotten a whole bunch of men decide that they wanted to give up their lives for some cause. So they quoted the Koran in order to justify their actions. But that’s not why they did it surely? Whereas we can understand where Bush and his little intellect came from, us Westerners have a problem understanding the thinking behind the suicide pilots. We could understand the Japanese Kamikaze fighter pilots who were prepared to give their lives for their country. But Saudi Arabians weren’t giving their lives for their country. Were they giving their lives for a religion? What for. Who cares why they did it? We would only want to know how to stop them. We only care about the innocent people who died. We don’t really care whether a couple of terrorist died as well. Most of us Westerners are not about to give them hero status. Is anybody else?

What has made me think of all of this, is a blog I read. And one of the elements in the blog were quotes out of the various holy Books which explained what that particular religion preached about how to handle your ‘neighbour’. And in none of these quotes does it say anything except that you should appreciate and honour your neighbour, or read person you come across.

So here are the quotes for you to be amazed over. I was:

The Golden Rule

Christianity: “In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.” Jesus—Matthew 7:12

Hinduism: “This is the sum of duty: do not to others what would cause pain if done to you.” Mahabaratha 5:1517

Taoism: “Regard your neighbor’s gain as you own gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.” T’ai Shang Kan Ying P’ien, 213-18

Native Spirituality-“We are as much alive as we keep the earth alive” Chief Dan George

Buddhism: “Treat not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” Udana-Varga 5.18

Judaism: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary.” Hillel, Talmud, Shabbat 31a

Islam: “Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself.” The Prophet Muhammad, Hadith

Sikhism: “I am a stranger to no one; and no one is a stranger to me. Indeed, I am a friend to all.” Guru Granth Sahib

Baha’i Faith: “Lay not on any soul a load that you would not wish to be laid upon you, and desire not for anyone the things you would not desire for yourself.” Baha’u’liah, Gleanings

Jainism: “One should treat all creatures in the world as one would like to be treated.” Mahavira, Sutravitanga

Unitarianism: “ We affirm and promote respect for the interdependence of all existence of which we are a part.”

Zoroastrianism: “Do not unto others what is injurious to yourself.” Shayast-na-Shayast 13.29

I got these from Karen who writes her blog on www.livethepower.com/blog - view full post there - and she gave me permission to use some of her content, which is as the quoted extracts from various bibles/holy books or verbal traditional legend. When one reads these, one actually wonders where all those wars come from. It’s certainly not something as written in the scriptures. That’s for sure.

Anja Merret lives in Brighton, UK. She has recently started a blog and writes on issues that interest her from self-improvement, wealth generation, motivational thinking and anything else that amuses her. You are invited to follow her journey on http://www.anjamerret.com,

She now looks after the business interests of her daughter who is a Flash and Accessibility expert at http://www.niquimerret.com.

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