(I'm reprinting the below article from 8/23/2007, which was an expansion of an article I originally wrote May 9, 2005. It's one of my favorites)
This article in the box below (written by me) was originally published almost two years ago, May 9th, 2005, shortly before OpEdNEws was converted to a database driven system. What with CNN"s Christianne Amanpour special on Religious Warriors, I thought it was a good time to resurrect it.
I believe that a short collection of basic laws or rules need to be developed that civilized, mature, evolved religions all subscribe to. These rules should aim toward supporting humanity, earth and life with respect for differences.
Here's my first pass at putting some of these laws together.1) Any religion must respect other religions which follow this rule.
In other words, if your religion respects other religions then it deserves the respect of other religions. Religions which do NOT respect other religions do not deserve respect.
2-No religion is better than any other religion which follows rule one. Certain religions may be better for an individual, family, tribe or community, but this does not apply to all people, not in a neighborhood, town, city, state or nation.
3-No religion has the right to force or insist that its values and rules of culture and behavior be required of people who do not sign on, buy into or agree with that religion-- whether the person is a member of the relgion or not. On the other hand, a specific church, synagogue, temple, mosque, etc. has the right to set requirements for its members.
These three seem to be the most basic to me. I realize that some of the sects in some of the biggest religions might reject some of these rules.
Here are some additional rules I think worth considering.
4) assuming rule number 2, no religion should set rules that aim to maximally expand their numbers.5) Evangelism that aims at destroying other cultures is unacceptable. Evangelism that does not take precautions for communication of diseases is unacceptable.
My own background: Born Jewish, but my prayers are simple, to drop my barriers that keep me from being connected to the universal consciousness. God is universal. It is our own consciousness that separates us from God. When I can do that, I can have conversations with God. I've posted some of them at www.talkingtogod.com. I believe that people have the god-given capacity to discover different paths to God and they should all be respected, including atheists, based on the rules described above
I'd love to hear your comments, suggestions, criticisms.
I should add that every one of the faiths Amanpour is covering-- Islam, Judaism and Christianity-- have millions of people who live their lives following these "Laws for All Religions." I think they are living lives more consistent with the original teachings of their faiths. Those who fail the test-- they live the rules that later interpreters and promoters of some versions of the religion (as opposed to the teachings of the faith's founders) created.
The human species needs some rules to survive. These seem like reasonable ones that could help all the people on the planet co-exist while honoring each others' differences.
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Rob Kall is an award winning journalist, inventor, software architect, connector and visionary. His work and his writing have been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, ABC, the HuffingtonPost, Success, Discover and other media.
Check out his platform at RobKall.com
He is the author of The Bottom-up Revolution; Mastering the Emerging World of Connectivity
He's given talks and workshops to Fortune 500 execs and national medical and psychological organizations, and pioneered first-of-their-kind conferences in Positive Psychology, Brain Science and Story. He hosts some of the world's smartest, most interesting and powerful people on his Bottom Up Radio Show, and founded and publishes one of the top Google- ranked progressive news and opinion sites, OpEdNews.com
more detailed bio:
Rob Kall has spent his adult life as an awakener and empowerer-- first in the field of biofeedback, inventing products, developing software and a music recording label, MuPsych, within the company he founded in 1978-- Futurehealth, and founding, organizing and running 3 conferences: Winter Brain, on Neurofeedback and consciousness, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology (a pioneer in the field of Positive Psychology, first presenting workshops on it in 1985) and Storycon Summit Meeting on the Art Science and Application of Story-- each the first of their kind. Then, when he found the process of raising people's consciousness (more...)
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