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Importance of religion
Similarities and differences between religions
Different types of religions
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Religion, which influences, and is derived from, the human beliefs of relations between the supernatural and natural characteristics of reality, should fit effortlessly into the lives of its supporters. It should help morally structure the person’s life without overrunning it or teaching that everyone else needs to hold those same beliefs, and instead inspire them to help accept other cultures without forcing their practice into others’ lives. Similar to Buddhism, the ideal religion should help people uplift themselves as well as others, by accompanying their differing base beliefs and encouraging the pursuit of knowledge, which is what we humans do naturally. The religion should not bring people to believe that their religion is the one and only truth in the universe, but instead encourage acceptance of differing beliefs and cultures, allowing them to thrive alongside one another.
Many religions’ place in the everyday lives of modern people has decreased significantly. Just as the ancient pagan religions were replaced by the more recent religions, those religions are now being replaced with science, denominations of the original religions, and material property. As years pass, every religion faces an increasing number of smaller, more personalized, religions branching from the original to accommodate people’s life changes. Each religion has divergent denominations, whose beliefs differ more and more from the original as people require more convenience in their lives. Spirituality is both decreasing and increasing in a confusing and impulsive manner. Many people are forgetting about it altogether as they are too busy simply trying to survive in this money-infatuated world. However, those that have a larger income have more luxury...
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...s through fear or threat. Of course, most people believe that they’re better than “those nuts,” or that their war is justified. That everyone else simply doesn’t know that they’re beliefs are wrong and need to be brought to the right path, because there’s just no way that they could be wrong. That realization is just too frightening.
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Gregory, Kearlee. "Jaininsts and Theravada Buddhists: Reincarnation." Tulsa, 2014. Assignment.
Indiana University Northwest. "http://www.iun.edu/~hisdcl/h425/Daoism.htm." n.d. www.iun.edu. Web Article. 2 May 2014.
Thera, Narada. "Buddhism in a Nutshell." 1996. http://www.buddhanet.net/nutshell03.htm. Website. 2 May 2014.
Wheel of Time. Dir. Werner Herzog. 2003. Documentary.
Nancy Ammerman writes Sacred Stories, Spiritual Tribes: Finding Religion in Everyday Life to convey her findings of studying spirituality and religion in the ordinary life of her sample population. The inspiration for this book came from previous data about Christians and the “Golden Rule,” the concept of treating everyone how you would like to be treated (3). In order to understand this concept better, Ammerman decided to study religion and spirituality in everyday life. Her population included 95 people from the Boston and Atlanta areas. These participants came from “Catholic, liberal Protestant, conservative Protestant, African American Protestant, Jewish”, Mormon, Wicca and Neopaganism as well as an internet chat group (11). Unaffiliated participants were also
Religion cannot be lived in textbooks, it is about the personal consciousness of those that believe and “their own account of their religion and its relevance in contemporary life” (Fisher, 1996). It is performed, experienced by the individuals living within society and communities. For some it is a sense of hope, to connect with a supreme power, to end the cycle of birth and death, find inner peace and/or a way of life. Traditional understanding of religion through textbooks, television, and internet does provide one with understanding about the religion doctrine and what they believe in. The majority of people will know what religion is when seeing it, for example, a Buddhist Monk sitting cross-legged in meditation. However, it is important to study religion off campus in order to grasp an explanation and a clear understanding of how beliefs change personal lives, how individuals tackle certain situations due to belief for example, Buddhist Monk sitting cross-legged in meditation, but w...
Religion, “part of the human experience that has to do with a god or gods, a higher power, or the ultimate values of life” (Cason & Tillman 6-7), is one of the most controversial and interesting subjects for humanity. It has been around for as long as anyone can recall and they have difference and similarities in their founders, beliefs, and history. Religion has served to give some sort of a meaning to life and everything around it. In modern society, some religions have grown and expanded significantly. These larger religions have been classified as world religions. In addition, these world religions have been split into two categories known as Eastern and Western religion.
“In thinking about religion, it is easy to be confused about what it is.” (Smart, 1992) To combat this, Smart uses seven dimensions to define common characteristics of religion. Much of what will be explored will fit his dimensions. The practical and ritual dimension can been seen in all three religions through worship and rituals and patterns of behaviour. The latter are those acts that help the believer develop spiritual awareness or ethical insight, such as yoga or meditation in Buddhism and Hinduism. The experiential and emotional dimension of religion explains that religion feeds on human emotions and key events from history to illustrate this is, the enlightenment of the Buddha, or the visions of Muhammad. A person will not follow something without meaning or emotion driving it. The narrative or mythic dimension of religion refers to the use of story telling in religion. Typically, all faiths use stories to illustrate their beliefs or events in history, whether they might be of things to come, or like in this essay, stories of the Buddha, or Muhammad. The use of story telling is important as the stories are often based on accounts of history or documents that have been found. Story telling can enhance the believers faith and are often integrated into rituals. The doctrinal and philosophical dimension of religion talks about the importance of the holy books/ doctrines. Since the doctrines typically have an account of the leaders life, and the leaders are usually educated, believers read the doctrines to gain an insight into the leaders life; and thus strive to become more like them or abide by their teachings. The ethical and legal
Religion is considered as a pervasive force in this world. It shapes people as to how they behave and interact with almost everything present in the society. Influencing behavior, character formations, ideals, policies, standards are just among the dimensions and societal perspectives affected and impacted by religion. Because of these applications and implications in human lives and existence, religion should be understood deeply, particularly, on how it affects the world. Looking at the American perspective of the term "religion," it could be simply
Society has been influenced to conform and consume in the materialism of the world which has caused for spirituality to be interfered due to material products. The break in spiritualty has become an issue to the well-being and social justice in the material world that we live in. The efforts are from advertisements or our human’s subconscious desire, many cases are having harmful results on the happiness and spiritual component of lives globally. In spite of this, communities continuously make efforts to promote spirituality and
Josephy, Alvin M. The Indian Heritage of America. New York, 1968. Pp. 53, 116. _________. Through Indian Eyes. New York, 1995, Pp. 330-332, 383.
Religion has a great influence on people, providing faith and direction to each individual while controlling a co...
Smart, Ninian. "Blackboard, Religion 100." 6 March 2014. Seven Dimensions of Religion. Electronic Document. 6 March 2014.
Religion is an ever-growing idea that has no set date of origin. Throughout history religion has served as an answer to the questions that man could not resolve. The word religion is derived from the Latin word “religio” meaning restraint in collaboration with the Greek word “relegere” which means to repeat or to read again. Religion is currently defined as an organized system of beliefs and practices revolving around, or leading to, a transcendent spiritual experience. Throughout time, there has yet to be a culture that lacks a religion of some form, whether it is a branch of paganism, a mythological based religion or mono/polytheistic religion. Many religions have been forgotten due to the fact that they were ethnic religions and globalizing religions were fighting to be recognized, annihilating these ancient and ethnic religions. Some of these faiths include: Finnish Paganism, Atenism, Minoan Religion, Mithraism, Manichaeism, Vedism, Zoroastrianism, Asatru, and the Olmec Religion. Religion is an imperative part of our contemporary world but mod...
Religion is an organized collection of beliefs and cultural systems that entail the worship of a supernatural and metaphysical being. “Religion just like other belief systems, when held onto so much, can stop one from making significant progress in life”. Together with religion come traditions that provide the people with ways to tackle life’s complexities. A subscription to the school of thought of great scholars
Pandey, T. N., 2014. Lecture 1/9/14: Culture of India: Aryan and Indigenous Population. Cultures of India. U.C. Santa Cruz.
Religions have always played a vital role between humans and its society especially in terms of what is good and proper in the society. In modern world, people have become increasingly dissociated from religion and spirituality.
There are many different religions in the world, all of which vary in their religious traditions and their relationship with the sacred. Sacred, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, means entitled to reverence and respect (2014); in this context, sacredness is not limited to a single belief system but applies to all religions where the upmost reverence and respect is given. In the pursuit of studying religions across the globe, scholars have developed a way of understanding religions through three specific questions. The first is what a religion and its traditions say to its followers such as its structured belief system and how it is taught. The second is what a religion does for its followers whether it is through a ritual or religious community. The final question is how a religion organizes inside itself, such as smaller groups within the community for closer understanding or by providing its followers with a knowledgeable guide. As will all areas of study, there are barriers or issues that prevent people from obtaining a full picture, such as inflexibility or misconceptions due to media exposure. All religions in one way, shape, or form honors the sacredness of their religion, whether it is a quest guided by a leader, or a ritual to affirm devotion. This paper will attempt to explore each of these topics and explain how they related to sacredness.
Religion is the one element of life that has connected the races and societies of the world for hundreds of years. It has given meaning to lives that may seem otherwise hopeless. Religion has provided for a universal language and culture among those who believe in a higher power. The spirit or being receiving the worship and praise may not be the same, but the practices are usually similar and serve the same purpose--to give direction, insight, courage, and a divine connection.