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Think It Over Are religions God-given? By MSN Menon Why did they want to copy? It is simple. To make their own faiths more attractive, to give their heroes superiority. But "any religion" says Dr S Radhakrishan "which generates pride and a sense of intolerance is not authentic." YES, because all things are said to have come from God. No, because man is endowed with a mind and will of his own to shape his destiny. Hinduism is the example. It was created by the rishis. And that by many rishis. Religions have borrowed from each other extensively. But they never admit it. And there is nothing divine about them. How can they be divine when they are built on borrowed ideas. Look at the similarities in the names of the law givers. The law giver of the Hindus was Manu. Manes was the law giver of Egupt. Minoswas the law giver of the island of Crete. And Moses was the law giver of the Jews. Look at another similarity: Adam was the first man according to the Genesis. Aadima is the Sansrit word for first. And aadmi means man. Zoroaster was associated with fire. So was Moses. Moses and Zoroaster were of royal blood. Both were deserted by their mothers. There are many similarities between Christ and Krishna. They start with the names. Jesus was born in a manger, Krishna in a prison. Harod, the King of the Jews, wanted to kill Jesus because He (Jesus) was a threat to the throne of Herod. Kansa, king of Mathura wanted to kill Krishna because Krishna, according to a phrophesy, was to kill Kansa. Jesus was taken to Egypt for his safety. Krishna to Gokul. It was the abduction of Helen which led to the Trojan war. It was the abduction of Sita that led to the war between Rama and Ravana. The Sumerians had city gods. The Greeks copied it. They had Athena as the city goddess of Athens. The Sumerian hero Gilgamesh was modelled after the Greek hero Hercules. Strange, Alexandria was the centre of Greek civilisation, not Athens! Take chantings, use of rosary, of flowers and incense, concept of Trinity, priesthood, monasticism-most of these are common to most religions. Herbet J Mueller, an authority on religious history, says Christianity had borrowed extensively from other faiths and other regions. Thus, the concept of God came from Babylone, the idea of the conflict between God and Satan came from Persia, the idea of resurrection came from Syria, from Egypt came the idea of Last Judgement, from Rome came the idea of Universal Law, and the idea of Baptism came form India. There is a remarkable similarity in the life of the Buddha and that of Christ. Thus, Maya, the mother of the Buddha and Mary the mother of Jesus gave birth while they were virgins. Asita, the seer, predicted the birth of Buddha, Simeon predicted the birth of Jesus. A star presided over the birth of both. Both spoke in parables (parable was unknown in Biblelands ) Both had 12 disciples. There was a traitor in both cases. There is remarkable similarity in their teachings. Both prohibit killing and violence. Both advocate returning good for evil and to love one’s enemy. In short, Christianity has borrowed heavily from other faiths. Prof Federich Hailer writes: "There is not a single central doctrine of Christianity which does not have an array of parallels in non-Christian faiths". Exemplars are common to all societies. Thus Indra and Agni were exemplars to the Vedic people . Rama, Krishna, Buddha were all modelled after Indra and Agni. When Indra was born, he set into motion the wheel of the sun, Buddha was born, he set into motion the wheel of the law. Agni is said to have a golden form. Agni had two heads. A two-headed Buddha was discovered in Central India. Gautamas (Buddha was a Gautamas) worshipped Agni. In all religions, good is opposed by evil. In all Semitic faiths God is opposed by Satan. In Zoroastrianism Ahurz Mazda is opposed by Ahriman. Buddha was opposed by Mara. Why did they want to copy? It is simple. To make their own faiths more attractive, to give their heroes superiority. But "any religion" says Dr S Radhakrishan "which generates pride and a sense of intolerance is not authentic." Can these similarities be accidental? No, says Northcote Parkinson. They were used to magnify the attraction. Good reader, religions are neither unique nor divine. They were not given by God. They were created by man as a lamp to guide’ him on his journey. We must change these lamps as we have changed other lamps.

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