Aren't all religions basically the same?

Aren't all religions basically the same, because they all value love, kindness, and respect, and they are all trying to teach people to become better, moral persons? It can be tempting to think that religions are basically the same.

However, moral teachings (as useful and good as they are) are not what makes a religion a religion. For example, if there's a sign in an elementary classroom that says: "Be Responsible" and "Be Respectful" — we would not consider that a religious text!

With that in mind, I want to show you this video made by Impact 360 institute, which you might find helpful for our discussion: Do All Religions Lead to God?

Okay, so that video spoke on a slightly broader topic, but for this particular question about all religions basically being the same thing, let's focus on the example of the contrast between Christianity and Buddhism. You see, when it comes to what these two religions say about God, about the purpose of life, among a whole host of other things, they give answers that are often mutually exclusive.

For example, Christianity is theistic at its core, and Buddhism is atheistic at its core. Now, let's think about that. Can atheism and theism be true at the same time? I'm not saying "therefore Christianity is right and Buddhism is wrong" — what I'm saying is if Buddhism is right, Christianity cannot be right, and if Christianity is right, then Buddhism cannot be right (or maybe both are wrong and some other religion is right) — but certainly both can't be right.

Different religions might teach similar morals, but different religions make mutually exclusive claims about God. And since the question of "Who is God?" is at the center of a religious worldview, we cannot make the claim that all religions are basically the same.