Top 10 Most Misunderstood Religions

1. Islam

   

   T** for tat. Let this thread be a loving one where we share good Islamic teachings and the rich history of Islam. Let it be a response to the threads on the worst religions. I encourage you all to read about Muslim Spain and the immense goodness that came from Muslim rule, where Jews and Christians were treated like brothers and were allowed to govern and carry out important responsibilities in society. I dream of that kind of society today.

   Islam is an ideal way of living. I understand that people have pressing questions about certain things, but why not take the time to learn and find out why so many Muslims say Islam is peaceful and the one true faith? No wonder the first word revealed in Islam was Read.

2. Judaism

   

   As a Jew on TheTopTens, I see a lot of mean comments about Jews and Israel, and I really don't like that. There are a lot of haters for no reason. We didn't commit any mass genocide, we didn't try to convert any nation to Judaism, and I, as a Jew, have never done anything racist, rude, or greedy, like many people wrongly believe Jews do. Go watch Inglourious Basterds...

   Jews do not believe they are superior to others. Jews believe they are a chosen people, not the chosen people.

   Judaism has many lovely concepts, and it has a long history of philosophical debate, questioning, interpretation, and creativity. Unlike many others, it is not a fundamentalist religion.

3. Sikhism

   

   There is no discrimination between a boy and a girl, and the Gurdwara is open to all castes and religions. Sikhs also follow the concept of giving and forgiving.

   There is only one God for all, and we are all His children (no matter what religion or caste). He is our best friend. EK Pita Ekas ke hum Barik, tu mera gurhai.

4. Wicca

   

   Wicca, also known as Pagan Witchcraft, is a modern Pagan new religious movement that originated in the mid-20th century. It draws from a variety of older European pagan traditions and typically involves the worship of a god and goddess. Wiccans often observe seasonal festivals known as Sabbats and may... read more

   First of all, Wicca is not a religion. A Wiccan is Pagan, but not all Pagans are Wiccan.

   Wicca is mostly misunderstood because it violates Christianity's prohibition on magic. As a Wiccan, I have experienced that it does no harm, has nothing to do with Satan, and is not bad at all. Wiccans practice white magic, as many of you know. We have a motto that goes, "An it harm none, do what ye will." (Since I am Scottish and heard this accented motto in covens, I have no idea what the exact wording is.) The motto itself is self-explanatory.

   Wiccans are so misunderstood. People are ill-informed about us and make up myths that aren't true. They just like to say how terrible we are, calling us devil worshippers (which isn't true, Satanists are).

   Honestly, I can't stand that. Wicca has good meaning. It teaches us to respect nature and everything in it. How is that so terrible?

5. Hinduism

   

   Hinduism is an Indian religion or dharma, a religious and universal order that Hindus follow. It's the world's third-largest religion, with over 1.2 billion followers, or about 15 to 16 percent of the global population. The term Hindu is an exonym, and while Hinduism is often described as the oldest... read more

   People judge Hinduism harshly because of some fake Sadhus who think they are gods. However, I believe that a religion should be judged by its teachings, holy books, and gods. In these aspects, Hinduism is always number one and always will be.

   There is no fear or depression in Hinduism, unlike in Islam and Christianity, where there is anxiety about Hell or Heaven. Hinduism is the only true religion because its followers do not force others to convert, unlike Islam and Christianity, which often use fear as a tactic.

   People also question how Hindus can have thousands of gods. The answer is that we believe in one God who has many avatars. We have gods and goddesses for knowledge, water, fire, air, and earth. The Vedas and the Geeta offer the best path of teaching compared to other holy books like the Bible and the Quran. Hinduism is the most peaceful and best religion on earth.

6. Christianity

   

   Oh yeah, let's pigeonhole all real Christians with the fundamentalist ones. I mean, they are all the same, right? Every single Christian is waiting for the Rapture, reads Chick Tracts (including the "Lisa" one). Every single Christian agrees with Ken Ham and is a creationist. They all went to the Creationist Museum and Ark Encounter.

   Every Christian believes that magic, homosexuality, abortion, and Halloween are evil, don't they? Christians in the past did terrible things, but that's the past. Yes, we have fundamentalists, but do you really think every single one of us is a fundamentalist?

   Christianity is very misunderstood. We're viewed as overprotective, past-loving, stuck-ups who try to force our beliefs on others. If someone who has claimed to be a Christian has done this, they aren't a real Christian.

   We don't believe in abortion because we believe life is a gift, and we don't believe in homosexuality because we believe in being happy with who you were born to be and how God created you.

   Our beliefs are based on love. Jesus died on a cross so we could live. And think about it, would Jesus really die on a cross for no reason?

7. Satanism

   

   Satanism refers to a group of religious, ideological, or philosophical beliefs that involve the figure of Satan, particularly in terms of veneration or symbolic association. Because of its connection to the historical Abrahamic religious figure of Satan, Satanism, along with related beliefs that share... read more

   Everyone gets Satanism all wrong. The Church of Satan overlooks some things in history. Christians don't do any research outside of their churches. Wiccans don't do any real research into the occult, and atheists get their information from Mr. Pickles. During the Inquisition, Christians called people who questioned their beliefs Satanists. People who didn't worship their Christian God were called devil worshippers, but there was no one literally worshipping Satan at the time. How LaVey thought it meant being a selfish sociopath is beyond me.

   I sometimes find it hard to believe this is an actual religion, with its similarity to atheism. Really, a lot of Satanists don't actually believe in Lucifer, let alone worship him. That's just fluffing bullshleez. It's simply a belief of not letting yourself get brainwashed by the majority or authority, focusing more on yourself than society (within reason, of course). While I am an atheist, a lot of this applies to me personally.

8. Roman Catholicism

   

   Now that I have seen this, I cannot go back. I am a Catholic and am learning to be an apologist. Here are some common misunderstandings (I touched up the previous comment first):

   1. We do not believe Mary is a goddess. We honor her because God honored her by having her be the mother of Jesus and, therefore, God. Mary is the Queen of Heaven because she's the mother of God, and queenship is given to her based on the tradition of the time.

   2. We don't hate homosexual people. We do think it's wrong, but Jesus teaches us to love everyone. Those with homosexual tendencies are being tested. We respect that. We are against homosexuality ("No man shall lie with man"), but we do not hate people.

   3. We don't have idols. I know, I know, we make statues. However, there are two differences. First, we don't worship the statues. We worship God. Second, we make the statues like one would make statues of a king.

   4. We are Christians. We believe in God, in Jesus, and in the Holy Trinity. I suggest looking at our Nicene Creed, which lists our basic beliefs in a shorter way if you have any questions.

   5. Okay, here's a tough one. We believe in faith with works. We think that we need to express our faith as well as believe.

   6. We have to ask for forgiveness every day. I've come across many people who say that all of our past, present, and future sins are forgiven when we believe in Jesus. However, this isn't true. Jesus tells us we need to pray for forgiveness. He shared the Lord's Prayer (Our Father) with us. One of the lines is "...and forgive us our trespasses." Jesus taught us to pray for forgiveness, and he wouldn't teach us that for no reason.

9. Mormonism (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

   

   I am a Latter-day Saint, and I hate just how much people misunderstand us and make fun of us. People think polygamy is still around or that we're a cult or don't believe in the Bible. I feel lucky to live in Utah and not somewhere else where we are not understood.

   No chocolate, cars, technology... We're Mormons, not Amish.

10. Haitian Vodou

    Jeez, nearly everyone nowadays thinks Vodou is devil worship or something like that due to crappy Hollywood movies.

The Newcomers
11. ?

    Jainism

    
12. ?

    Rastafari

The Contenders

13. Buddhism

    

    I'm voting for this one because nobody in the West knows what real Buddhists believe.

    Atheists and hippies in the West have appropriated Buddhism so much that when anything from Southeast Asia involving religion gets posted on Reddit, atheist and New Age trolls comment, thinking they know better than a Theravada monk because they read some wrong assumptions about Buddhism from a fedora-wearing person with acne.

    Westerners think Buddhism is an atheistic religion when, actually, they have gods. Indian gods played an important part in Buddhist legends right from the start of the religion. Every Japanese Buddhist temple has a shrine, and other Asian followers pray to gods for health, etc.

14. Scientology

    

15. Seventh-day Adventism

16. Anglicanism

17. Eastern Orthodoxy

18. New Age

19. Ravidassia Dharam

20. Neo-Paganism

21. Roman Paganism

    Who invented Christmas? It was originally called Saturnalia in honor of Saturn.