Religion : A Non Religious Person

their religions. The importance is not in the similarities as much as it is in

Out of all the major world religions Judaism and Christianity have the closest relationship. There are many difference and many similarities within these religions mainly because Christianity grew out of Judaism. Many people including Jesus and the twelve disciples were Jews (religionfacts.) The main differences are how each religion views Jesus and God, heaven and hell, and the notion of sin.

This is used for protection. Both religions have holidays, otherwise known as Sabbats. There are eight Sabbats, four major and four minor Sabbats. These are Samhain, October 31, the 'New Year';, Yule, December 21, the Winter Solstice, Imbolg, February 1, the welcoming of Spring, Ostara, March 21, Spring Equinox, Beltane, May 1, Lady Day, Midsummer, June 21, Midsummer Solstice, Lammas, August 1, Honors Mother Earth's wedding, and Mabon, September 21, Autumn Equinox. The four major Sabbats are practiced at the beginnings of the month, therefore, the Sabbats practiced during the mid-months are minor. Although the Sabbats are practiced on the same days, the names of the Sabbats may differ for each religion for example, the pagan name for Imbolg is Imbolc. Each religion uses a set of elements. These elements are also used to represent the points of the star within the pentacle. The elements are east, south, west, north, and center or spirit also known as akasha. In both parts of the religions, there are a basic set four rules; these rules are live, love, learn, and enjoy. The three laws accompanied within these are seek out wisdom, harm none, and the three-fold law of return. Both religions use the 'three-fold law of return.'; This incorporates that whatever you do, for good or for ill, shall be returned to you threefold, or three times the amount in which it was issued. It is basically the natural law of cause and effect.

Both holy sites are literally stacked on top of each other, which causes tension over who controls the sites. Because they are unable to find common ground, the cultural landscape is strained.

It is evident that the two religions share most of the aspects and barely differ in any way. However, some modifications took place after the primal religion gave way to the archaic aimed at upholding the ultimate power of nature.

They are the oldest religions, where Christianity and Islam have their roots in Judaism; all three religions believe that there is one and only one God, but they have different facets of image of the one God they believe. Throughout the history of the human race, religions were established or expanded upon whether they’re monotheistic or polytheistic because religion provides a sense of connectedness. People of shared beliefs come together and celebrate the religion they believe. As Juliana Spahr’s poem “The Connection of Everyone with Lungs” states “In this everything turning and small being breathed in and out by everyone with lungs during all moments.” (Spahr 10) Even when we do not realize it, there is something that binds us together. When Spahr wrote her poem, she was talking about every American citizen being unified due the attacks on American soil, but the idea can still be extended to spirituality. Humans live in an ecological community where everyone is connected to everything else. Even for those that do not believe in God, there is still have a connection to desire some sort of spirituality. When Keith and Florence first met and talk about how they survived the destruction of the towers, they talk about God and their conversation goes into how the terrorists believe in God. Keith questions the idea of God and says “Who’s God? Which God? I don’t even know what it means, to believe in God. I never think about it.” (DeLillo 93) Keith and Florence conflict in their beliefs in God. Florence believes that there is a God that watches over her and she explicitly expresses that one doesn’t have to attend religious services to have a basic affiliation with God. It is a contrasting idea because there is Keith, who never gives a thought about a God existing and Florence who has a completely opposite view. Florence is an example

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.

Both are similar in some aspects like they have a birth of two children, in the Bible story Cain and Abel and at the Iroquois the Right twin and the Left twin. One of their represents the good (Abel and Right twin) and the other represents the bad (Cain and Left twin). It means that two completely different cultures there is some aspects similar, as that, there is good and bad (hell and heaven). This vision is in all the cultures and here we can appreciate it.

Undisputed belief in the Scripture and its ability to provide knowledge of Gods is one similarity that can be drawn between the two

I grew up in a Christian home and was baptized as an infant. And going to church every Sunday is a norm that we cherish in my household. Attending the mid and Sunday service was mandatory since my parents were very strict. Then I always feel excited attending the Sunday service and do not understand what it meant to be a Christian or believer. Those years, I always do everything that every non believer will do and do not understand what His sacrifice on the cross meant for me.

I would describe my own personal faith to be Christian- Catholic, the same as my parent’s faith. I grew up being catholic. I was baptized, did my first communion and even did my confirmation. I believe in one God; but I also believe in God as a Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe in Angels, Saints, and the old and new testament. I believe in Mary, God’s mother, and I also believe in all of Jesus’s apostles.

In the article, “On Being an Atheist”, H.J. McCloskey discusses the reasons of why he believes being an atheist is a more acceptable than Christianity. McCloskey believes that atheism is a more rational belief versus having a God who allows people to suffer so he can have the glory. He believes to live in this world, you must be comfortable. The introduction of his article, he implements an overview of arguments given by the theist, which he introduces as proofs. He claims that the proofs do not create a rationalization to believe that God exists. He provides 3 theist proofs, which are Cosmological argument, teleological argument, and the argument of design. He also mentions the presence of evil in the world. He focuses on the existence

The similarities of these two religions are uncanny. They are so closely related, and the differences seem so miniscule, at least to the eye of an outsider looking in. When it come to the prayer life of members of the two religions, they are almost identical. They both pray multiple times a day, prayer is obligatory for both, there are movements and gestures to go along with the prayers, the prayers are done facing a certain location, either Mecca or Qiblih, and they are both rooted from the same region in the world. In all reality the only major difference causing these two religions to tear each other apart, is what they believe about the manifestation of Allah. Other than that they are both monotheistic, follow teachings from the prophet Mohammad, and have a regulated form of prayer for members of the religion to follow. So like I said at the start, like any religion and/or its branches, they can be practically identical, but so very different at the same time.

What is religion? Each person’s definition of religion is different. Each person’s faith is different. This is a question that has been asked for centuries, and regardless of the answer given there is no right or wrong answer. Religion can be defined as a group of people who have shared beliefs who feel their life has purpose or meaning. This feeling or belief that their life has meaning can come from outside of themselves, as well as within. Taking this one step further, these shared beliefs put into action in the form of worship, can be easily identified because they happen regularly. It can be said the Primal religions were in fact not religions. Some may argue Confucianism is not a religion. Others may say Taoism is not a

Research studies have shown efforts to distinguish differences between religious and nonreligious individuals in areas of physiological studies. In an article called The Neural Correlates of Religious and Nonreligious Belief (Harris, Kaplan, Curiel, Bookheimer, Lacoboni, and Cohen 2009), the topic of physiological studies attempts to discover differences between religious believers and the non- religious is expanded. The researchers intend to discover the difference in brain activity of religious believers and non-religious believers when presented with questions of fact and questions of fiction. This critique will present the researchers main questions, the methods used, the results of the experiments, and conclusions. The study’s strengths, validity, consistency and weaknesses will also be assessed throughout this critique.