The Myth of Unity of all Religions, Dr. Ramendra, First edition, 2003, pp.16, Price Rs.10 (US$ 2) An essay exploding the myth of unity of all religions. Contains valuable information about major religions of the world. Apart from humanists, it will be of interest to any scholar of comparative religion.
Published originally as a booklet by the Buddhiwadi Foundation . It has been republished till now in Humanist Outlook ( vol.10, No5, Autumn 2003), Indian Skeptic (vol.16,No.8, 15-12-2003), The Modern Rationalist (vol.28 No.12 Jan 2004), The Radical Humanist (vol.67 No.10 Jan 2004) and Understanding Sikhism (Jan 2006) . It has also been published electronically on the website of the Buddhiwadi Foundation where any one can read it for free.Some hard copies of the booklet are still available with the Foundation.
"Attempts have been made by several religious thinkers to synthesize various religions in order to remove the conflict among them. It has been maintained by some that (i) all religions are basically the same, and there is a “rock bottom unity” among all religions; (ii) that all religions are true, and (iii) that different religions are paths leading to the same goal, and so on. This view, though well intentioned, is a myth. I propose to call it “the myth of unity of all religions” and the purpose of my essay is to explode this myth.
"All the three statements mentioned above are factual statements. Therefore, it is possible to refute them by showing that they do not correspond with the reality, or, in other words, by pointing out facts that contradict them.
"Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism are the main living religions of the world. The myth of unity of all religions can easily be exploded by showing that these religions make conflicting truth-claims, which are incompatible with one another. For instance, they have different views regarding the nature of this world or about the nature of “life” after death, or about the ultimate destiny of human beings. They also advocate different moral codes, different methods of worship and different rituals. Since they are not similar, it is not possible for all of them to be true at the same time. It is also not possible to regard them as different paths leading to the same goal, because they do not believe in a common goal."
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Introductory paragraphs of the essay]