There are many religions in the world. And many people in believes their various gods or concepts of God. Sometimes different religions struggled with each other. They each insist that only their own religions convey the real truth. This situation continue these days. We can see the effect of the opposition between religions in the example of 'Crusades' which was the series of military expeditions by European Christians against Muslim powers between 1095 and 1291, aimed at gaining control of Jerusalem. In the name of some just and holy war, Christians killed many "heathens". Also Muslims terrorize the infidel under the pretext of serving God. Of course not all believers behave like that. But this tendency is a big problem in the larger, world society, without a doubt. In Korea, such religious antagonism is an especial big problem; because many Korean Christians are too faithful in a narrow-minded way and thereby, too exclusive.
I think all religions are, at heart, one. All religions are nurtured from the same root. There is a famous french writer who once expressed this same opinion, above. He is Bernard Werber. In his novel "Les Thanatonautes" he said, "There is a god, and he sent messangers. They are Jesus, Buddha, and Mahomet." And he shows the similarity of those religions. For Example, There are three big angels named 'Raphael', 'Michael', 'Gabriel',; and also, in Buddhism there are three Bodhisattvas which correspond to these angels. This comparison is a very small example; but in this way we can find that all religions are similar.
I'm not an athiest. But I have no religion. I think religion has no real meaning, but exists because of people's need, psychologically or socialogically. Belief sometimes makes people strong and moral. It sometimes reduces people's psychological stress and helps reduce social problems. If only we could realize the merit of religion and its real meaning, then surely there would be much less religious conflict.
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