This is a way most people would never look at religion, but tonight I wondered: What would you end up with if you gave every major world religion “veto power” over the views of every other major religion to build a universal human religion? If you keep only the things in common with all major world religions, including Buddhism, what is left?
The key similarities across major world religions, including Buddhism, are:
1. Emphasis on moral improvement and the betterment of humanity, aiming for peace and harmony among individuals.
2. Promotion of virtues such as compassion, love, charity, and mercy as the basis for their teachings.
3. Shared reverence for prophets and religious figures like Moses, Jesus Christ, and Muhammad.
4. Common origins in the Middle East region.
5. Discouragement of idleness, debt, and poverty, and encouragement of hard work and wealth accumulation.
6. Use of statues, pictures, and places of worship like temples, churches, and monasteries for religious practices.
The key difference is that Buddhism rejects the idea of an omniscient, omnipotent creator God that is central to Abrahamic religions like Christianity and Islam. Buddhism focuses more on the individual’s own efforts to achieve enlightenment, rather than reliance on an external divine power. Additionally, Buddhism allows for the possibility of followers adhering to multiple religions, while most Abrahamic faiths believe in the exclusivity of their own religion.
Citations
[1] https://www.diffen.com/difference/Buddhism_vs_Christianity
[2] https://typeset.io/questions/what-are-the-similarities-and-differences-between-the-major-1hnwlsb5mj
[3] https://www.buddhistdoor.com/OldWeb/passissue/9612/sources/compare.htm