I think that all religions have their validity, and share more in common than we'd like to admit. In the end, I don't think it will make one lick of difference whether one is a Christian, Jew, Bhuddist, Hindu, Muslim, or anything else. God doesn't separate humans by belief systems--only humans do that. I think God only evaluates us by the amount of love in our hearts.
God could very well use this as a litmus test: Did you appreciate the life I gave you, did you use it well? Did you evolve throughout your journey? Did you utilize your free will to improve your soul? Did you help others, and share your insights in a way that made their journey easier? If you did those things, I am proud of you and accept you back into my kingdom. The fact that you made an effort to become a better soul is the best kind of worship of me, your God. You didn't allow sins like hate, greed, coveting what others had, lust, gluttony, etc., to impede your evolution as a soul. Sins are obstacles to your evolution in that they divert your attention away from the point of existence--evolution of your soul. Sin is regression, not progression.
Jesus is referred to as the "son of God." However, I think that we all are sons of God. I think Mohammed, Bhudda, Moses, are sons of God. They all were inspired prophets of God. I don't think God favored any one of them over another. I think each was sent to bring light to the world at different times and places, since no human prophet could reach all the world. They were emissaries. This is why I think no religion is right or wrong, or superior to another, as long as they bring light, hope, faith, and understanding to the souls of their followers.
If religion is used for any other purpose than the aforementioned, it is not worthy of God. If religion, or its followers, divide, conquer, judge, hate, kill, compare, or subjugate men from each other, then it is sinful. No religion or belief that does these things can be of God. Those that do are evil, or to put it another way, they are negative and regressive, and only move man away from God. Evil is negative; evil is regression, or lack of progress. One can say this the work of Satan, the archetype humans use to illustrate the negative consequences of sin, and how sin causes regression, and impedes progress as a soul.
I think God looks upon those who point out the sins of others, and devote energy to chastising others, as sinful. Expediture of energy for the purpose of judgement is arrogant. To do so is to make the mistake of measuring sin in increments. Keeping this type of score is not worthy of God. Man is not in the position to judge; that is reserved for God. Measuring or comparing another's sin (or regression) diverts attention from the understanding of your own sin, and only serves to distract and slow down your evolution as a soul. No man can evaluate or judge the pace of another's journey.
Jesus was a prophet of God, not because he was more special than any of us per se, but because he demonstrated to the rest of us a perfect life, or how one should approach a perfect existence and evolve as a soul so that God would embrace us, and bring us back into his kingdom.
The fact that there is disharmony among human religions only demonstrates that this is not a perfect world, and that man can be fallible and ignorant. The fact that one person, or religion, would say they are the preferred religion, or denounce others spiritual beliefs, only illustrates the fact that they are adhering to human constructs of vanity, ego, and arrogance, which are sins themselves. God doesn't not participate or encourage these types of constructs that separate humans from each other in this manner. We are all brothers in his eyes.
Man has created artificial constructs used to separate and persecute ourselves from others. The fact that man sets up these boundaries, or what I would term barriers, only demonstrates the misunderstanding of the spirit. Instead of learning from, and helping each other, we wage war and argue about who's more righteous, or just plain right.
The light of God can exist in a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Bhuddist, or even an agnostic. Subsequently, evil can exist in followers of each of these belief systems. The label is not what defines a child of God, but the intent. The framework for how a soul (religion) evolves is not as important as the process of evolution and the current state of one's soul.
I think the entire purpose of being human is to evolve as a soul. If we do this, then we are accepted back into God's kingdom because we have demonstrated that we can change, and work towards perfecting ourselves and emulating God, who is the source of life and spirit. One cannot say that we accomplish this in one lifetime or incarnation; existence may take many forms. Just as a child cannot learn algebra before he learns simple math, evolution is a process of growth in stages. One cannot suppose either than an Earthly existence is the only form of spirit one will take in this journey. God being perfect knows that we are not, and thus can only give us chapters of the ultimate story piecemeal. We cannot know the other forms of spirit or existence, since that would detract from the chapter we are dedicated to now. Like school, a soul must overcome negative attributes and obstacle before one can progress to the next stage of existence. Call it God's plan if you like.
There is nothing wrong with saying that you believe in the tenets of Christ, and that you follow his example. Nor is there anything wrong with following the tenets of Bhuddism or Islam. What is wrong though is when you demonstrate stubborness by insisting that your belief system is superior to anothers. God doesn't insist that all people become Christians or believe that Jesus is the only way into God's grace. I don't believe that God wants man to spend time trying to convert others to his religion or belief system. I think what God wants us to do is to stop worrying so much about another's journey, and pay more attention and effort on our own.
Doctrines of religion are constructs of man. The Bible or the Koran are interpretations of inspired belief and practice. Because they are communicated by man, and recorded into text by man, doesn't imply that they are perfect. Man is fallible and his ability to communicate is as well. View these texts not literally, but read them for their intent and apply their messages to your own progress as a soul. Every human has his own language and voice. Words have different meanings depending on culture and experience. Depending on your level of discipline, meanings can be fluid.
"Thou Shalt Not Steal" can mean different things to different levels or stages of souls evolution. Is a hungry man as guilty of theft if he takes a pound of grain to feed his children, as is the rich, well-fed man who takes the last pound of grain for profit, and causes the other man to become hungry, and have to resort to theft? Which is the greater sin? Is the rich man more sinful in that he hoarded food, and refused to share his bounty with the hungry man, which resulted in the hungry man having to resort to theft?
I don't believe there is any given moment when we have understanding, or find the presence of God after finding the right religion or belief system. Trying a bunch of different belief systems is not the point. There is no "Ok, I feel God moment." It is a process and an evolution. There is no light from above that shines on our head and we get it. We all have it in us already. It's our inner voice that guides us, and if we open ourselves up to this voice, it directs us inately back to God. It's like an inner directional system that moves us forward if we are willing to sit still and listen. Call it the "flow of life." To put it more simply, it's the same principle that Canadian geese, and birds and fish in general, use to migrate to where they need to go. A built-in honing device. Some call it faith, conscience, or one's inner voice. Those people who refuse to believe God, or spirit, exists will probably never find it. However, that said, it's more about the journey than possessing a human-devised map to the destination.
I think God wants us to know that it's not what car we drive, or route we take as much as it's having a sense of direction with the ultimate goal of arriving home.
That's my take anyway.
There is no fifth destination.
