Question

What do you think are the fundamental values inherent in most/all religions ?

Answer 1

Something that the five major world religions (Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam) have in common is a sense of community. A sense of community provides group cohesion and identity, as well as a way for rituals and traditions to be passed down from generation to generation. For Christians, this community most often centers around a church. For members of the Jewish faith, the synagogue and yeshiva (Jewish school for the study of the Talmud and Torah) serve as focal points for the community. The sangha, which refers to a monastic community of monks or nuns and the lay community that supports them, is the central cohesive force in Buddhism. For Hindus, communities can form among devotees of a specific guru or deity, or among those who attend a specific shrine or temple. In Islam, a community can form within a local mosque or among followers of a particular imam. In addition, all Muslims consider themselves to be part of the worldwide community of Islam which is referred to as the ummah.

Transcendence, feelings of universal unity and decreased sense of self, is a core tenet of all major religions. Meditation and prayer are the primary vehicles by which such spiritual transcendence is achieved. We must stress the basic values that are common to all religions:- compassion, solidarity, respect for the human person, the Golden Rule of “do as you would be done by”.