Comparative Religion

If we were required to write a single word essay to describe this course it would be easy. WOW!!

I have done a lot of reading and attending other religious ceremonies over my long lifetime, most of that early on in my young adult life. I can honestly say I have never seen so much information of such value in one place before. I have no doubt that I would take further courses compiled by Kythera Ann at some point in the future.  I particularly appreciated the way the sections were laid out to compare various religions side by side, rather than doing separate chapters on each and expecting us to refer back.

There was nothing that I did not like about the course, except for the trouble I had in getting it all to print out for me. This resulted in my having to hand write some parts after printing out the text. This could have been a fault at my end though.

I think that the greatest thing I got out of this course was the realization that most religions seem to share so many myths and stories and traditions. Surely this cannot be coincidence. I got the feeling that all religions had the same starting point and evolved over time as people wandered and passed along their stories and beliefs, sort of like wandering minstrels.

I had believed in the existence of Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha etc, as historical individuals and great teachers elevated to saviour status. I now wonder if perhaps they are not all the same person, or to be more precise, the reincarnation of a single soul throughout time. There are just far too many similarities.

Taking this course should be required for all adults in order to help them to understand that we are truly one in this world; that all man made religions seem to lead back to one deity. We would realize that fighting our fellow man in the name of religion makes no sense when we all seem to have the same basic core values covered over with differing vegetation.

It was quite interesting to learn about all the different ceremonies of each religion as well as their “chains of command”. This did not help me to better understand how each are similar, it merely gave me a bit better understanding of how bureaucratic some can get.

The chapters dealing with angels were interesting. I have always had an interest in the realm of angels. It seems that they have played a much greater role throughout history than I could ever have imagined.

Overall, this comparative religion course was outstanding. It would be a huge benefit for all ministers to read in order to get a better understanding of, and perhaps become more tolerant of, other religious beliefs around the world.

It was well written and easy enough to understand that most lay people would be well advised to make it required reading.

I thank Kythera for all the work she obviously put into compiling this course. I have learned a great deal.


Rev. Donna Baydak

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