Definition of 'religion':
Definition of religion - Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
Definition of 'religious':
Definition of religious - Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
Because a religion typically represents a view of "ultimate reality," one's beliefs that relate to one's religion are compelling aspect of one's life. It affects one's views of others, one's views about mankind's history and future as well as one's own history and future. It guides one's decisions in many/all aspects of one's life. It presents presumptions and explanations that guide one to deal with unexpected situations in practical, moral, and existential terms.
Due to the manner in which human beings have developed societies across the ages, multiple religions have been created across the world up to the present day. (This would lead a disinterested investigator of history to expect also that new religions will probably be created in the future.) Some societies have developed more than one religion that become practiced simultaneously by members of that society.
Because different religions are found across the world, there is the possibility of encounters between practitioners of differing religions. This leads to the possibility of conflicts between those practitioners because the content of their respective religions present conflicting information, commandments, guidance, etc. If a religion's guidance to its adherents leads to conflicts between persons, groups of persons, organized large groups of persons, and even nations, then the consequences can be serious, expensive, even life-threatening, as well as intractable and chronic.
I feel that the practical relations between religions is a very important question for the present and future well-being of mankind. What a religion teaches its adherents about how to interact with those of other religions is a predictable source of social conflict but, on the other hand, is a candidate for being made into a source of vitality and trust among persons from differing social backgrounds. A religion that does not teach its adherents to interact positively with those of other religions creates conflicts among human beings. If those conflicts are not addressed in a manner that avoids harmful consequences, when such consequences can be reasonably expected to be avoidable, those religions are legitimately to be seen as the progenitor of unnecessary human conflicts, and that religion's authorities should be held accountable for revising their teachings.
So, what does this post's topic question mean? How would we go about understanding the ways in which one religion's teachings lead to unnecessary conflicts with another religion's teachings?
THEORY OF REALITY (METAPHYSICS)
1. Is your religion's "theory of reality" well defined? That is, do the religion's teachings have a belief/opinion/certainty/etc. regarding metaphysical issues such as:
+ What are the important aspects or attributes of metaphysical 'reality'? What are the important entities that exist in 'reality'? Is there one or more than one kind of metaphysical 'reality'?
+ What is the natural world (outside of human beings)?
+ What are the primary (secondary, etc.) forces at work in the natural world?
+ What are things in the natural world made of?
+ Is there an important difference between living and nonliving things, and what is the nature of that difference?
+ Other than finding/creating food and shelter, what kinds of uses are allowable/forbidden/make sense for humans to make of things found around us in the natural world?
+ In what ways does the character of the natural world and the entities present in it relate to humans as individuals and to how humans relate to each other?
+ What is the nature of humans regarding their capacity or potential for good/evil, constructive/destructive behaviors, intelligence/stupidity? What is the religion's assessment of human history, the achievements and failures? Are there inherent limits on human achievement? What are the proper ways to assess human achievements and failures?
All of this is to say: how "well informed" is the religion about the fundamental issues facing humans about their daily lives. The less well informed are the religion's adherents, the greater is the chance for unsatisfactory results from human behaviors because their basis of knowledge for guiding behavior is insufficient. When one religion with a more comprehensive set of teachings about the world encounters another religion with a less comprehensive set of teachings, there is the potential for miscommunication and misunderstanding, which can lead to practical conflicts and unsatisfactory consequences. This would argue for having as a feature of a religion the capability of adding to, even revising, the religion's points of view about fundamental knowledge of the world.
2. Is your religion's "theory of reality" fixed or flexible? Is it intended to be revised over time (that is, is it subject to the deliberations and pronouncements of the religion's authorities)? A more flexible "theory of reality" would seem to be the more appropriate approach, given the vast changes in the circumstances of how humans live in the world's various natural environments and given the vast changes in human knowledge about the world that have been achieved (especially via the scientific method).
3. How long ago was your religion's "theory of reality" conceived? A religion's "theory of reality" can benefit from being brought into harmony with the most reliable portions of worldwide human knowledge about ourselves and the natural world.
4. Is the religion's "theory of reality" effectively communicated to each next generation of believers? Do the religion's adherents pay attention to the means of effective communication among each other? For instance, does the religion require that a particular human language be acquired to become informed about that religion's teachings? If so, this represents a practical limitation for how many persons and how quickly persons not knowing that language can become informed about that religion, which might lead to miscommunication and misunderstandings about persons.
THEOLOGY
1. Does your religion present an idea of deity?
2. If so, what is the relationship between your religion's idea of deity and the physical world? That is, is that deity subject to physical laws, does it intervene in the physical world, or is it in some way the same thing as physical laws?
3. If so, does that deity communicate in some way with humans: today, in the past, or both? If so, in what way(s) does the deity communicate with humans?
4. If so, does that deity somehow receive communication from humans? If so, in what way(s) does the deity receive that communication?
The answers to all of these questions have been the basis of discussion, inquiry, and argument among humans for all of human history. The answers admit to many kinds of answers because the subject matter is not concrete nor easily demonstrable to strangers. To avoid having theological matters be the origin of conflicts among the adherents of different religions, each religion's authorities should regularly meet to become informed about the teachings of other religions, with the goal of understanding the others and to find ways to benefit from that understanding and build useful bridges of trust and support for each other, as the basis for building a foundation of cooperation while facing common (national and international) human challenges.
MORALITY AND ETHICS
1. How are the moral and ethical teachings of the religion organized and presented? Is there a hierarchy of importance for the rules of human behavior?
2. How does the religion go about providing moral and ethical guidance to its adherents? Are there rules (exclusionary and inclusionary) for human behavior? Or are there general principles that the religion's adherents are expected to apply for themselves in everyday situations?
3. What are the religion's teachings about interacting with other kinds and systems of moral and ethical teachings?
OTHER SOCIAL CONVENTIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS
1. What are the religion's teachings about how to organize practically a large group of persons into a society? How are social and political leaders to be chosen?
2. How are goods and services organized (economic principles)? How are representations of value (wealth) accumulated and distributed?
3. How are family entities to be constituted (e.g., how far extended) and maintained? How are the relationships and responsibilities within a family to be organized and maintained?
SPECIFIC BELIEFS ABOUT OTHER RELIGIONS
1. To what extent does the religion teach that its principles have a 'special' status versus those of other religions and social groups?
2. What are the proper ways to interact with adherents of other religions? Which principles held by other religions are to be tolerated, though not agreed to?
3. How restrictive is membership/participation in the religion, if not gained from youth?
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