# Could all religions be wrong? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 29, 2002, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192 "2002-08-29T23:08:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2002, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/1 "2002-08-29T23:08:34Z")
A distinct possibility, surely? ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2002, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/2 "2002-08-29T23:49:51Z")
A distinct possibility. And stop calling me Shirley. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/3 "2002-08-30T00:21:23Z")
A possibility, I’m not sure what it means to say that it’s is a distinct one. Of course it’s a possibility that they are all correct, even those that contradict each other. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/4 "2002-08-30T00:36:59Z")
I could always invent a religion tomorrow whose **only** tenet is that God either does or does not exist. It would be logically impossible for such a religion to be wrong. Thus, if it existed, then **all** religions couldn’t be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/5 "2002-08-30T00:45:18Z")
The atheist thinks all religions are wrong; the believer thinks all but one are wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/6 "2002-08-30T00:47:36Z")
Which believer? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/7 "2002-08-30T05:31:19Z")
No. My own personal religion is not wrong. End of argument. Anything else you needed to know? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/8 "2002-08-30T05:49:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > \*\*I could always invent a religion tomorrow whose **only** tenet is that God either does or does not exist. > > It would be logically impossible for such a religion to be wrong. Thus, if it existed, then **all** religions couldn’t be wrong. \*\* Would you believe that some folks would accuse you of being wrong? There are people out there who believe that you can’t claim “A or not-A” until you’ve proven either A or not-A. I think they’re silly, but they do exist. ---
**Author:** ![zorch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/50afbb/32.png) [@zorch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zorch)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/9 "2002-08-30T05:59:01Z")
They not only COULD be, they most emphatically ARE. Does the wolf worship? Or need to? And as a wise man once observed, “man has no advantage over the beast, for all is vanity.” Religion is a part of that vanity. ---
**Author:** ![happyheathen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5e925/32.png) [@happyheathen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happyheathen)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/10 "2002-08-30T06:27:18Z")
insert a vaguley remembered quote about “a reasonably bright 8-yr old, left on a desert island, could re-invent every religion which has ever existed”. could they all be true? yes. could none of them be true? yes. could the one, true one be yet unknown? yes. what’s the point? ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/11 "2002-08-30T07:58:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > \*\*I could always invent a religion tomorrow whose **only** tenet is that God either does or does not exist. > > It would be logically impossible for such a religion to be wrong. Thus, if it existed, then **all** religions couldn’t be wrong. \*\* What if God does _and_ doesn’t exist? I mean, if God’s such a crafty bugger (having created the universe and all), then I wouldn’t put it past him/her to do something absurd like that. ---
**Author:** ![Rhapsody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9de0a6/32.png) [@Rhapsody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhapsody)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/12 "2002-08-30T11:34:00Z")
It is almost certain that they all are at the very least, very inaccurate and incomplete. Likely their are truths in each but none that I have heard of are historically accurate or are free of unresolved contradictions and inconsistencies. I think a lot of “faith” involves overlooking a lot nonsense to try to find the few grains of truth. ---
**Author:** ![ultress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7c8e57/32.png) [@ultress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultress)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/13 "2002-08-30T11:47:02Z")
**-zorch** I can’t believe you even posted that. Wolves don’t cook their food or wipe their butts either. So we are wrong because we do that? ---
**Author:** ![MrO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@MrO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrO)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/14 "2002-08-30T12:12:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ultress \* > **Wolves don’t cook their food or wipe their butts either.** Wolves probably _lick_ their butts, which could be seen as a form of wiping. [sub]Ha ha.[/sub] Actually, though I tend to agree that all religions are wrong, I also agree that the fact that wolves don’t have them doesn’t make them bad, or even unnecessary. Wolves don’t play guitar or post on message boards, either. Religion may be bad or unnecessary for other reasons, though. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/15 "2002-08-30T13:20:02Z")
Could all religions be wrong about _what?_ I’m an atheist, but I think that “love thy neighbor” gag and the stuff about building schools and not killing people and being good citizens—well, a lot of religions teach those in addition to the superstitious and “kill all heathens” stuff. So, I’d say all religions are right about _some_ stuff and wrong about others. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/16 "2002-08-30T16:12:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Already in Use \* > \*\*What if God does _and_ doesn’t exist? I mean, if God’s such a crafty bugger (having created the universe and all), then I wouldn’t put it past him/her to do something absurd like that. \*\* “Credo quia absurdum.” (_“I believe because it is absurd.”_) – Tertullian, ca. 155 to 222 C.E. Still, it’s hard to imagine that such a belief would be logically possible. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/17 "2002-08-30T17:34:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Princhester \* > \*\*No. My own personal religion is not wrong. End of argument. > > Anything else you needed to know? \*\* My own personal religion is completely wrong. That’s why I chose it. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2002, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/18 "2002-08-31T16:44:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > Of course it’s a possibility that they are all correct, even those that contradict each other. 😕 If two religions contradict each other, wouldn’t it be _im_possible for them to both be correct? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2002, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/19 "2002-08-31T17:06:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MEBuckner \* > \*\* > 😕 > > If two religions contradict each other, wouldn’t it be _im_possible for them to both be correct? \*\* Is Schrödinger’s Cat alive or dead? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2002, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192/20 "2002-08-31T18:48:55Z")
Sure they could all be wrong. They could also all be right (see my “six billion gods theory” in [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=131706) thread.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-all-religions-be-wrong/126192.md?page=2)