By Rev. Cynthia Ewing
When I first signed up for this class I was not sure what to expect from it. I had already taken a handful of classes that focused on spiritual development and knew that the class was not going to be the same as these other classes. Boy was I right on that part. There was so much information in each discourse. However all this information just barely scratched the surface of this vast topic.
One of the first things the class did was to define why religions came about. Man needed something higher then itself to help explain everything that was happening in their lives and what to expect after death. With this in mind deities were created. A hierarchy all its own sprang out of these deities. There was the supreme deity who created everything, its army of perfected beings like angels and lesser deities and always their nemesis demons, divas etc.
Out of all the different religions presented I found myself being more attracted to the Zoroastrian religion. I guess it was because I originally thought it must be some kind of Reggae religion. I found out by looking more into it that it is actually an older Iranian religion. The stories that the religion presents are comparable to the Protestant religion that I was brought up with. The religion helped me to recognize that although all religions are not the same they are definitely similar and used for similar purposes.
This course had many colorful pictures in each lesson. I liked this because it was nice to be able to see some of the things created by these religions. The architecture and drawings helped to point out what can be created when a person has something higher to believe in. Even the drawings helped to illustrate the different points the instructor was making.
The stories that were created to teach the people of these different religions and to lead them down the right path were very similar. They all taught about the golden rule, to treat others as you would want to be treated. They would teach about peace and love. This would include peace and love for the planet, water, life etc. Also they taught about listening to the voice within each of us, which is our access to
the supreme deity.
While taking this class I learned a lot about different religions and how they are all not so different from each other. Even though one may say their religion is better than another or the only true religion, each one has its place and purpose. It is not for us to decide who is right and who is wrong, but to live and grow with each other. I hope more people will take this course and grow as I have done.
Thank you for the experience.
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