Food For Thought

[Reach]

bottom line..compare and contrast religions. they're all basically the same thing. there is a deity or higher power of sorts and a code of morals that influences the society in which the religion is present..therefore is it possible god made humanity to be able to accept the religion of their culture (as long as it's not like satanic or anything) and still have access to heaven?

If this were true it would contradict the majority of religious writings in most major religions.

For example, for Christians it's right there in the 10 commandments. You will not have any Gods before the God of the Christian bible. In doing so you do not gain passage to heaven (at least if you're reading the bible literally). The bible very specifically condemns non Christians and non believers...as a matter of fact, belief is almost the only prerequisite to heaven assuming you repent your sins (which is quite clearly absurd.)

So if this were true it would compromise the divinity of the texts. Not that I think any of the holy books are the word of God; they're (impressive, mind you) cultural creations of the time.

This is the basis for one of the more major religious dilemmas. From what is written, not every religion can be true. Either one is right or they're all wrong. If they were universally all wrong, it wouldn't make sense for you to get access to heaven based on incorrect belief. On the contrary it might seem more logical to get brownie points for recognizing this >_> Realistically though, it seems God has a lot of people to condemn for no good reason if what scripture says about belief is really true.

mankind is selfish and an individual will always do things to benefit his/herself. now, can it be said that an individual will not do ANYTHING without some kind of personal reward? in other words, is it possible for there to be a truly selfless act?

I would say some people are more selfless than others, but every altruistic act we attempt is driven on some level by selfishness. A good portion of research in social psychology supports this, in particular many acts that appear to be altruistic are driven by the need for negative state relief (we feel better about ourselves as a result of performing the act).