Throughout the world, there are many different religions that set groups of people apart from one another. Diana Eck and Stephen Prothero both describe how important it is to become educated in all aspects of religion. Although, Prothero and Eck believe that being educated in religion is important, they convey different ways about learning the different religions. In Prothero’s article, “Separate Truths,” he focuses on learning the differences among all religions rather than learning about the similarities; which is what Eck discusses in chapter one of her book, Bozeman to Banaras. Prothero discusses multiple differences throughout the article “Separate Truths.” On page 3, he mentions how each religion has a main problem and goal; Christians believe in sin and salvation while Confucians believe in social disorder and social harmony (Prothero 2010). Also on page 4 of the article, Prothero talks about older Christian believers who thought that salvation was the “goal of all religions,” but indeed it is not because as Prothero describe on page 3, each religion has a different goal that followers want to achieve (Prothero 2010). What I have just described is one of the reasons why Prothero suggests that we learn the differences between all religions so that we are not prejudice towards other religions; which is what happened with the older Christian believers. Another point that Prothero makes in his article “Separate Truths” is that no religion should ever be put in context as being the ‘same;’ there are so many different aspects of all religions that do not compare. This point was made on page 5 when Prothero compared religion to sports; “To criticize a basketball team for failing to score runs is not to besmirch them. It is simply to misunderstand the game of basketball” (Prothero 2010). This statement shows
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Eck discusses many similarities that she found while exploring different religions in India; she says, on page 2, “Religious traditions are far more like rivers than stones” (Eck 2003, 1). In this statement, Eck uses ‘river’ as a metaphor to describe how religions move to all different places, and they are not just stuck in one place. She also says how religions are always passed on to following generations, and that is how all religions are carried on (Eck 2003, 1). On page 8, Eck talks about a man who she met while in India, his name was Achyut Patwardhan (Eck 2003, 1). Eck described Patwardhan as a man who she felt had the same qualities as many Christian people she knew but Patwardhan was not a Christian man; he did not belong to any religion, he was a man who did not care for labels (Eck 2003, 1). From this experience, Eck shares with us how it is important to be open to people and hear their stories because you do not truly know a person until you hear what they have to say. Even though someone may be of a different religion does not mean that they are a bad person or that they do not have the same qualities as you. Eck’s main purpose was to encourage people to open up to others and be less judgmental; she wants us to go in as insiders to experience different religions, just like we learned in chapter one of Studying Religion (Kessler 2008, 1). Eck shared with us how her insider experience, in other religions, opened her mind to greater things and made her think deeper about her own
Eck discusses many similarities that she found while exploring different religions in India; she says, on page 2, “Religious traditions are far more like rivers than stones” (Eck 2003, 1). In this statement, Eck uses ‘river’ as a metaphor to describe how religions move to all different places, and they are not just stuck in one place. She also says how religions are always passed on to following generations, and that is how all religions are carried on (Eck 2003, 1). On page 8, Eck talks about a man who she met while in India, his name was Achyut Patwardhan (Eck 2003, 1). Eck described Patwardhan as a man who she felt had the same qualities as many Christian people she knew but Patwardhan was not a Christian man; he did not belong to any religion, he was a man who did not care for labels (Eck 2003, 1). From this experience, Eck shares with us how it is important to be open to people and hear their stories because you do not truly know a person until you hear what they have to say. Even though someone may be of a different religion does not mean that they are a bad person or that they do not have the same qualities as you. Eck’s main purpose was to encourage people to open up to others and be less judgmental; she wants us to go in as insiders to experience different religions, just like we learned in chapter one of Studying Religion (Kessler 2008, 1). Eck shared with us how her insider experience, in other religions, opened her mind to greater things and made her think deeper about her own