Top Ten Most Misunderstood Religions

Tit 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.

Nobody should conflate the Israeli government and their actions with the religion of Judaism because then you're doing what the government wants you to do. Judaism doesn't agree with murdering kids like the IDF thinks it does.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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?

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 am Catholic, and I do believe this is a very hard religion to understand for two reasons.

1. We do not worship Mary! Mary is the Mother of God. Therefore, she deserves love and respect. We pray to her and ask for her guidance in times of trouble.
2. We do not hate homosexuals. I think it is 100% okay to be part of the LGBT community. Love is love, no matter what. However, it's considered sinful to have sex with someone of the same gender because HIV has historically been passed through men having sex with other men. Also, God wouldn't create a bunch of homosexuals just to send them to hell.

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.

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.