Faith and religion are topics that can really stir up feelings of hostility in many people. This is often due to past experiences of manipulation, forced belief systems and dictatorship style religious leadership. For others, faith and religion can stir up feelings of well being, comfort and peace. Regardless of the feelings that are evoked in you when you hear the words "faith", "religion" or spirituality, there are certain aspects of faith that cannot be ignored.

Does faith and religion hold the key to our well being for the next life? Is there a next life? What is on the "other side"? There are thousands of different "GOD'S" and religions out there and more spiritual guru's and leaders than can be counted. Should we pick one of the top world religions and hope that we have picked the right one? Is there really just one right religion or are there several religions that are equally effective?

Do we look to the experiences of those who claim to have died and then returned? Can we trust the NDE (Near Death Experiences)? Most of us believe that "The Truth is out there" but where can we find it? Many of the world's top religions do have some beliefs that are in agreement. Many of the main faiths do have principles that are consistent with other faiths but there are some significant differences between many of the world's top religions. In fact, I would go so far as to say that there are significant contradictions between the fundamentals of most of the world's top religions. Therefore, it would be incorrect to say that they are all the same or equally valid. One example of contradicting belief systems can be found in 2 of the world's largest religions: Islam and Christianity.

Islam
Islam teaches that salvation or paradise can be achieved by living in accordance to the 5 pillars of Islam; by obeying the prophet Muhammad; a person's good deeds must out-weigh their bad deeds.

Christianity
Christianity has a radically different path to salvation than Islam. The Christian message teaches that salvation is not achieved by a person's good deeds. Christianity teaches that the only way to get to heaven is through Jesus. What this means on a practical level is that a Christian is not rewarded with eternal life or heaven as a result of their own good works, but instead they are rewarded heaven on the basis of Jesus' good works. So the Christian "Savior", Jesus died to pay the sinner's fine or to take the sinner's punishment upon himself.

One thing is for sure: Religion and faith are important issues that deserve our attention, research and respect. After all, eternity is a long time.

Author's Bio: 

Faith Leader is a writer and student of all things spiritual.