Importance of Religious Traditions

This paper has presented a definition of religion, as well as an examination of its parts to determine if the definition is adequate to apply appropriately. Secondly, this paper has examined several practices and experiences common to both major religions of the worlds, as well as indigenous religions. Lastly, the key critical issues of the study of religions and reasons for their consideration have been identified and discussed.

There are many religions throughout the world today. Although there are several different religions, many individuals are not educated about the other beliefs besides there own. Religions today do have differences but are also very much the same. This is demonstrated between the religion of Yoruba, and Christianity. The Gods that the people in these religions worship are different but have the same purpose throughout the lives of each individual. Each individual’s purpose and goal in these religions also display similarities. Furthermore the rituals that are done throughout these religions are done for directions and to improve the relationship between the individual and their god. There are various differences and similarities between

From the start of civilization, religion has played a crucial role in the development of most societies. The proof of its influence is evident in the way daily life was carried out. Religion had the power to affect everything from social status to common law, thus dominating a large portion of the culture. In ancient Egyptian, Islamic, and Indian society, religion had the capacity to establish how the average person would conduct their daily life.

Scholars prefer to focus on religious traditions rather than just “religion” because religious traditions are “a tradition is an historical context or network of linguistic, personal, and cultural relationships” (Portier 19). Traditions can be limiting like the legal tradition in America where we carry it around because it shapes our ideas of what is right and what is wrong. Traditions can also be freeing like the civil rights movement which ended slavery and ended a limiting tradition. Traditions are used as a resource to answer the deeper questions about life. Also, scholars prefer to focus on religious traditions due to a problem associated with “religion”. The problem with “religion” is what does the term “religion” actually refer to?

Like language, religion is a foundation block of cultures.  Religion confers identity on people and influence dress, language, house types, and major community buildings.  Religions have sets of doctrines and beliefs, they generally have rituals.  Many have holy books and vast bureaucracies.

Despite the various religions, people also value and pray to different Gods. For example the Hmong culture, they still value the death and the idea that whether one is living or no longer alive they still need food. It is hard to find evidence to prove that people who pass away still have to eat, but it is a belief that was value in the Hmong community. Not only did the beliefs of shaman value their ancestors, but other cultures also have similar practices and beliefs. Human lives are believed to have “An irreducible spiritual dimension” (Frank 93). Many culture believed in spirits and other supernatural deity. The spiritual dimension of each specific group is complex and hard to understand, but they all work in their own way. With these unexplained concepts cultures shape the how each individual or groups develop their mentally of the world. This is why we tend to interpret and classify things

Throughout history, religion has been a guiding force that determines a person’s core values and directs a person down a path in their life. It is a basic belief that a person practices which can determine an individual’s life. There are hundreds of religions in the world. They evolve from different traditions and customs, as well as practices and values. Two of the most influential religions in the world are Hinduism and Buddhism. Both religions originate from South Asia and are similar in their basic beliefs and practices; though they differ in many aspects.

David Chidester defines religion as the ways of being a human person in a human place. He further goes on to describe it as “the practices and discourses that negotiate what it is to be human in person in relation to the superhuman or in relation to whatever might be treated as subhuman” (Chidester). As such religion can be said to encompass the beliefs customs and even the cultures of the people. It defines and shapes the human out view to life and how they relate to each other based on the morals and ethical guidelines outlined in the various doctrines governing the religions. Over the years, religion has been interpreted from different perspectives. Over time in history, religion was directly intertwined with the activities and the lives of the people. For instance, where the people practiced farming, they had deities or gods which were thought to control and protect the seasons which were an integral part of the farming activities. The same case applied to those who practiced pastoralism activities. In all aspects, the religion was in tandem with their activities.

Religious traditions share a set of characteristics that enable them to be dynamic, living religious systems. Each of the characteristics (beliefs, sacred texts, ethics, rituals and ceremonies) interact and provide adherents with a multifaceted way of engaging and relating to the tradition.

This topic is about the believes and the traditions. It’s important to know the beliefs and the traditions of who ever came before us because then we can all be different from different people.

A religious persons' reality sees an otherworldly measurement to life-that there is an extraordinary power past people creatures. Religion has diverse implications to distinctive individuals, it is in light of how a man is influenced by the individuals who raised them. It could have been an ordeal that is traumatic which can push somebody to take after an alternate life as far as religion. The ordinary lives out of every other person on earth are comprised of ceremonies and customs. Christians revere God, who they accept is the inventor of the whole world. Muslims who love Mohammed, in which they accept is a prophet from God, Buddhist have faith in Buddha, and Hindus have confidence in Brahma. This paper will clarify how religious customs depict

Death is something that everyone talks about daily, but the most important thing that people do talk about when someone is deceased is whether he or she wanted a religious burial. While many similarities exist between different religions, the beliefs and rituals surrounding death in the Hindu and Jewish religions vary greatly. The Jewish community and the Hindu community play important roles in the death of their deceased loved ones. Upon the death of a loved one, Hindu people believe that the ashes or remains must be scattered, preferably on water, while the Jewish faith strictly believes that all deceased people must have a tombstone to mark their permanent resting place. Hindu people believe in reincarnation, or life after death, while

Religion is a fundamental element of human society. It is what binds a country, society or group of individuals together. However, in some instances it destroys unity amoungst these. Religion is a belief in a superhuman entity(s) which control(s) the universe. Every religion has its differences but most strive for a just life and the right morals. The three major groups are the primal regions which consist of African, Aboriginal and Native American religions, Asian which consist of South Eastern Asian religions and Abrahamic religions which consist of Middle Eastern religions. The foci of this essay are the differences between the Abrahamic religion, Christianity, and the Asian region Buddhism as well as making reference to the Islamic

Hinduism’s samsaric view of life and Judaism’s contrasting belief in one life on Earth before resurrection of the body with the coming of the Messiah, leads to many differences in their funeral and mourning customs and practices. For example the dissimilarity in the way in which the corpse is to be treated and the funeral ceremony itself due to opposing ideas of mortality. However despite the vast difference between traditions, there are still parallels to be noted such as directions for the location and direction of the ceremony and the restrictive nature of the mourning

Oral recitation isn’t necessarily the best method to preserve religious text since errors may arise and alter the original meaning of a certain concept or idea. Although individuals with these stories and traditions may be able to preserve them through oral recitation, the generations after them may not be as effective. Furthermore, the interpretation could be different without having written text as one word could derail the original intent of a story and/or tradition. Nevertheless, these stories (myths) and traditions could be preserved through song and dance. Additionally, oral language changes as a result of the inclusion of other more complex languages. As a result, it becomes incredibly difficult to expand one’s religion as other languages are created. Therefore, the comprehension of religions lacks cultural development without written language since it was only exclusively known to a small group of people.