Re: Respecting other religions - difference amongst muslims
Hello StirCrasy This is indeed very good observation. The Gita, and Vedas in general, have been highly inflienced by the Avista of the religion of light: Zoroastrianism. As such, I have no doubt that its teachings would have many similarities to Semitic faiths which share this common origin.
Ofcourse there are as you say a lot of similarities between Aevsta and Rg Veda but Rg Veda came earlier than Avesta. There are a number of theories about the age of either but even the oldest claim Avestan age is younger than the youngest claim of the Rg Veda (the latter in that case is claimed to have preceded by a few centuries (Rig Veda 1100 to 1700 BC).
The Rig Veda is actually even older than that - new research is just being done since so far most of the Hindu history has been based what people like Max Mueler with their very limited understanding of the Hinduism said. Plus things like the discovery of the submerged city of Dwarka in the 80's and further astronomical corelations are comprehensively proving that the Aryan invasion theory is WRONG and that the great Vedas and the Sanathana Dharma are much more ancient!