religious harmony is non-existent

i just had a major aguing session with my gf over the issue of religious harmony. The whole erupted because she thought tht i had regretted my decision of leaving church and converting to another religion. She assumed tht it was painful and tht i am suffering over the dilema of where should i go to. there after i assured her tht i will not be going back to my church and also not back to ssa. reason is veri simple, neither side is magnanimous enuf or should i say tht neither side is ready to embrace other religions as well.

dear, i think u have deeply misunderstood what i was driving at yesterday. it is true tht i dislike the way spsd deal with the existence of another religion. but tht doesnt mean i agree totally with mine. what i am trying to point out was everyone is wrong. Values misplaced, viewpoint differs and the last of all, no one is willing to accept another religion.

when i was still in spsd, there was a few particular incidents which made me felt veri much uncomfortable. On one occasion which was christmas, me and my frens were doing souveniors in school over at plaza. then here comes two christians coming over to giv us sweets for christmas and also inviting us over to one of the christmas gathering tht they have actually came up with. So then members of spsd rejected their offer which was completely understandable. what was not acceptable was the moment when they left, the card and the sweet became a joke for them. pple laughed and joked about it. it maybe a veri insignificant thing, but as an ex christian, i lost all forms of respect for spsd. Even my christian frens does not discriminate or joked about other religions, their gestures have let me undestand how shallow and silly the actions are. on another occasion, one member expressed his dislike for christians, the religion and also naming christians as pple who are damn good at phychoing pple to convert over to their religion. In my heart, i was thinking, if they are considered to be psychoing pple, then isnt it the same tht wen one tries to preach about ssa, they are also psychoing pple?

As a person who has crossed the threshold of two religions, naming christianity and buddhism, i can say tht there is zero harmony and acceptance between the two individuals. my gf pointed out to me tht she was pretty turned off and got scared off by christians due to their phone calls and their preaching. it suddenly come to my mind, then should not i be feeling uncomfortable wen pple come preaching to me about buddhism? my gf also pointed to me tht the way christians preached is wrong, as the words they say are "arrogant" in her eyes. so then let me juz point out one simple scenario to everyone

case a:

A is born into a buddhist environment, thought the essence of the religion. he was also encouraged to preach to more pple, to spread the word and also to let mortals know the wonders of chanting, praying, learning sutra. To A, chanting is defitnitely correct and nothing else is more correct than tht. 10 yrs down the road all teachings have been droned into his head, his values are etched deep into him with total trust for the religion.

case b:

b is born into a christian family, with him being baptised since young as an infant. there after he attends sunday school for teachings of the bible. as he matures into a man, he goes on for theological studies and learn the way of preaching the words of GOD to fellow mortals. for them to discover the joy of acknowledging God as the father and GOD being the almighty GOd. he knows well there is no other god except him alone, so values etched deep into him. he has absolute trust in his religion as well.

scenario 1:

A(buddhist) met up with b(christian) and began to preach to b about his religion, about how wondeful it is. B felt it is nonsense cause from what he knows, his religion is the rightful one and non other is the correct one. so then he listens on and left.

scenario 2:

b(christian) meets up with A(buddhist) and starts to share with him how wonderful his religion is, and tht how wondeful God is. A felt it is ridiculous, and why could b say such arrogant things. he refuse to accept what was said, listen on and left.

now if we were to analyse this two typical scenarios which is happening so so often in our daily life, one would realise one thing instantly. none of them are correct. no one is right, no one is wrong. Why do i say so? the way we preach to pple, the style, the words, the speech are all thought to us since young or by our leaders. each religion has their own different style, different ways of speaking. which in this case makes things veri complicated. take juz now the two scenarios i mentioned earlier, A trusts his religion totally, similary the case is for B. So it is completely natural for both of them to feel tht it is wrong. but, this is where conflicts will arise. A will be thinking tht b is arroagnt by proclaiming tht his religion is the one and only one, but at the same time b will also be thinking to himself tht A has fallen into a totally different world from mhim. u see the thing i am trying to point out here is no one has the right to judge whose religion is correct or wrong. Reason is simple, till the day one can show absolute concrete proof tht his or her religion is the rightful one, no one is able to proclaim tht either party is wrong. this is precisely why no one can feel angry or express dislike to another religion. If a christian cant say what he has to say about his religion jus because pple feels tht it is arrogant, then how on earth is he going to preach and spread the word????
similary, if a buddhist cannot tell pple tht praying, chanting and learning the sutras is the right way of life, how is he going to spread the word??? everyone is wrong, but no one admits to it and all because everyone feels tht his or her religion is the rightful one.

lemme ask this ques: if diffferent styles of preaching is deemed to be wrong and intursive, then why is it tht we have so many religions? the fact tht there are a lot of religions impliess tht everyone is different. with tht, it also means no one can pass any judgement like: " no, how can he say tht? so arrogant" or " who says only praying? how can he be so sure?" because we have no right to say other pple. because we muz always bear in mind tht we contribute to the whole entire worlds total religions not other religions to us.
i repeat: our religions exist for others, not to exist to prove who is right but to benefit mankind.

so then let me go back to my cruz before i sidetrack again. it is defitnitley understandable why i do not wish to go back to spsd or my christianity anymore. reason is simple, no religion has the harmony i seek. it pains me to see religious conflicts affecting peer to peer relationships. because whats the whole point of being in a religion when u found tht no one is able to embrace ur ex religion? respect doesnt come juz like that. in order for pple to respecct ur religion, first thing u muz do learn to respect others and not discrminate others. respect others and pple will learn to respect u. which sadly no one in spsd could respect christianity. sigh...

i shall carry on tml... part 1 saga ends here...