Different belief systems.

The natural cause belief. Buddhism's belief in reincarnation but not in God. In this philosophy eternal peace is achieved through discipline and enlightenment. Hinduism's belief in many gods, reincarnation, and an afterlife attained once one becomes worthy through good works, knowledge, or devotion. The Muslim belief that there is one true God, and in judgment followed by paradise or hell depending on one’s good works. Judaism’s belief in one true G-d, in blessing or punishment based on obedience, in charity and repentance, and in a coming resurrection at which time the Messiah will come, reestablishing the throne of David and bringing peace to the earth. Christianity’s belief in one true God, and in a coming judgment followed by heaven or hell depending on one’s relationship with the son of God.

In addition, there are any number of folk and cult religions. Most of them attempt to merge beliefs from the various world religions. This results in a kind of pick and choose designer religion, custom tailored to fit our life style. The more destructive cults prey on the castaways, the refuse of society, offering them acceptance in exchange for their allegiance to the group and its leader no matter how weird or bizarre they might get.

Since all of these belief systems conflict with one another they cannot all be right. But one must also recognize they all do contain some, maybe even a lot of, truth. Since we build our belief system on a lifetime of experience and learning, it is very difficult to accept that our beliefs might be wrong. We are comfortable in our beliefs, and we find assurance in the truth they contain. The problem is that we often carry a lot of untrue baggage with us that we accept without really questioning why.