Faith, Man's Greatest Power. 1
¨The essence of all religions is one. Only their approaches are different.¨ (Mohandas Ghandi). The thought of religion has been used in many ways, with negative and positive influences. Religion is a set of beliefs, with different cultures celebrated by millions of people. It's used to speak the supernatural, and explain the purpose of life. There are thousands of religions out in the world, along with new ones being created. With Christianity and Islam having the most followers, they are the dominant religions in the world. There have been wars and countless debate on is there a true religion.
Hinduism, the oldest religion still practiced in the world today, has a remarkable 900 million followers since 2500 B.C.E.. Being a polytheistic religion, Hinduism has multiple gods, involving Krishna, Shiva, Vishnu, and the creator, Brahma, which are praised for their holiness by the Brahmans, priests of the religion. The religion alone, has a wide variety of beliefs, of both monotheistic and polytheistic views of the gods. The Vedas, the oldest Indian text, is one of the most important books of Hinduism, telling the god’s stories of how Brahma created the universe, and how everything meant to be. In Hinduism, the most respected authority are the Brahmans, because it’s believed they are the closest to the gods, and that they have the most knowledge, since they are the priests. The belief of reincarnation and karma are present in Hinduism. Reincarnation is the idea that when a being passes away, they are reborn into another being. They believe reincarnation is used for a being to gain enough knowledge to be with the gods, through past experiences. HInduism values are ma...
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... on five pillars, which are the basic practices. The pillars consist of: 1) Confession to Allah, claiming him as your god. 2) Daily prayers, designated times of prayer 5 times a day. 3) Almsgiving, which consist of giving a tax to the mosque to help the poor. 4) Fasting during the month of Ramadan. 5) Pilgrimage to the city of Mecca once in a being’s life.
The number of religions is very numerous, vast in beliefs, and easily able to be practiced. The thought of one true religion is too ignorant due to all the other religions possibilities of truth. There is no true religion due to the major differences in religions, scriptures, and deities. Religion helps by explaining supernatural occurrences, how life formed, and so on. There are numerous amounts of tales, legends, and prophecies, but the idea of it all is by faith, to express why there’s a meaning in life.
According to document A, “Hinduism was (and is) polytheistic - Hindus believe in many gods…..In this kind of Hinduism, people believed in reincarnation - that people could be reborn into other bodies after they died.” The excerpt shows that the daily life would be affected since Hindus will worship more gods and believe in reincarnation. Moreover, Hindus believed in Karma as well as Dharma. Karma was the good or bad actions that had an effect on the soul in later reincarnations. Dharma was the spiritual duties that one must follow. Now it is evident that beliefs were influenced by religion.
One of the needs for a civilization is to have a structured religion. Due to this there have been countless religions that have formed and also fallen throughout history. When religions are compared similarities can almost always be found, but they also have very drastic differences throughout their beliefs. The Hindu, Christian, and Islam religions all have many things of their beliefs that one can consider a similarity, but the differences overpower the similarities.
Religion separates the world into several different regions with its own beliefs. Religion is what keeps the world alive with divine thoughts and beliefs for most of the population, they wake up everyday living their lives with a purpose. People of a certain religion have an established set of rules and guidelines they follow in order
Religion is defined as "the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God" . There are many recognised religions of the world, which all teach its followers to live life "the right way", whose definition varies according to the religion itself. They have some beliefs and practices that distinguish themselves from each other. Some examples are differences and similarities of Buddhism and Islam.
From the text excerpt in Document A, “Hinduism was (and is) a polytheistic religion - Hindus believed in many gods. --- In this kind of Hinduism, people believed in reincarnation - that people could be reborn into other bodies after they died.” This evidence shows that because of religion, Hindus have belief in many gods, and believe in reincarnation. Without a religion, they would not believe in an all-mighty ruler, or in reincarnation. Hindus also believed in karma, which means the good and bad actions that have an effect on the soul, and dharma, or spiritual duties one must follow. As you can see, beliefs were greatly influenced by religion.
Religion has existed since the dawn of civilization and over time has evolved into the religions we have today. Today the most prominent religions are monotheistic, having one omnipotent god, and despite having many differences they share basic tenets of respect and kindness. Religions, such as Judaism, give explanations for the unknown, provide hope, and bring about a sense of community.
Religion; a complex idea that originated many centuries ago by various groups of individuals and has continued to shape and change the world ever since. Early history of many of the different religions, such as Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, etc., seem to start off with a society stuck in this state of un-happiness, and a world that needs to be changed for the better. Ultimately there is one goal… to be happy and live by morals/codes to be able to reach this happiness. While there may be several differences in the various religions in the world such as how they practice or interpret ideas, they all have the same purpose just shown at a different angle. Religion has provided liberation and purpose to individuals, especially in the earlier centuries where chaos and disorder were more common. A leader or prophet was needed to speak what they believed was the
Religion is big part of human life. Every area of the world has some kind of religion or belief system. Religion is defined as “a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices” (“Religion” Def.2). With such a large amount of religions today, religion is widely variegated, usually with divisions in each one. Despite the large amount of religions, I will only be covering only three religions: Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism.
Hinduism is unlike many other religions in that it does not have a single founder or text, but is more like an umbrella in ways of life. In death and life for the Hindu, “The ultimate goal of the soul is liberation from the wheel of rebirth, through reabsorption into our identity with the Oversoul (Brahma)-- the essence of the universe, immaterial, uncreated, limitless, and timeless” (Leming & Dickinson, 2011, p. 134). Susan Thrane MSN, RN, OCN discusses the beliefs of Hindu culture in the article “Hindu End of Life: Death, Dying, Suffering, and Karma” published in the Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing. Thrane (2010) states that there are almost 2.3 million Hindus in India. Hindu’s believe in interconnectedness, karma, and reincarnation.
In the Islamic faith there are five pillars that they must follow to their best ability. The Salaht, the Hajj, they must give to the poor, fasting during the month of Ramadan, and repetition of the creed, "There is no God but Allah; Muhammad is the messenger of Allah." These pillars are more like obligations in the Islamic religion.
Religion is a common theme that has bridged together people from all races and backgrounds. It has provided people with meaning and it has given hope to the hopeless. Religions have transcended culture and time untying people who believe in a higher power and choose to put their lives in the hands of the divine. Although all religions practices and styles of worship are not the same. Religions serve a greater purpose in directing people to pursue a moral and courageous life. All world religions focus on living a holy life to please and glorify some kind of deity. The Oxford handbook on religion explains that religions have “always been global, in the sense that religious communities and traditions have always maintained permeable boundaries. They have moved, shifted, and interacted with one another around the globe” (Oxford hand book). World religious contain “traditions [that] claim some ultimate anchors of truth that are unchangeable” (Oxford handbook). The three major religions of the world, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all contain one element of truth that unites the chore of their beliefs. The Old Testament is a common source of information that links the heritage, traditions and moral commands of these three major religions.
Religion can be defined as a system of beliefs and worships which includes a code of ethics and a philosophy of life. Well over 90% of the world 's population adheres to some form of religion. The problem is that there are so many different religions. What is the right religion? What is true religion? The two most common ingredients in religions are rules and rituals. Some religions are essentially nothing more than a list of rules, dos and don 'ts, which a person must observe in order to be considered a faithful adherent of that religion, and thereby, right with the God of that religion. Two examples of rules-based religions are Islam and Judaism. Islam has its five pillars that must be observed.
Each religion has a different perspective but most important is where the religions generated from. Major religions started in various parts of the world.
Religion itself can mean many different things and is interpreted differently by each group of people. The literal meaning of the word “religion” is “a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects.” Religion is divided into different secs such as Christians, Muslims, Jews, etc. Although religion is aimed to unite people and bring them together, I believe there are certain aspects that divide people or make them “different” from everyone else. The factors that have caused religion to divide are war and violence, the caste system, and rituals.
Religion, a word shrouded with mystery, confusion and complexity. For some it is the answer to everything, a path to guidance and hope. For others it is the reason for all evil or just a manmade phenomenon for people who refuse to understand that everything happens for a scientific reason. Whatever the case is, it is a topic that is quite controversial and much debated among scientists, cultural theorist and conspiracy theorists. Religion plays a major role in functioning and forming social and psychological behavior of a society. It is connected more towards the emotional side of a person and everyone has their own perspective about it. Therefore religion has become an important part of human identity.