Religions Around The World Today

Many of these religions follow a God, or gods. Judaism for example revolves around one God. In document 1, in an excerpt from the book of Exodus, it shows a list of ten rules or, commandments. Number 1 on this list says “I am the Lord your God.” Judaism popped up around 1000 BCE in Mesopotamia. It has very strong ties and resemblances to another major world religion, Islam. This isn’t the only religion that believes in gods. One of the earliest major religions, Zoroastrianism, originating in persia in 6th century BCE, believes that life began with twin spirits, one was the good, one was the evil. They established Life, and non-life. In document 1 and 7, it shows that both of the religions share commandments that its followers should live by. Both of these religions share many commonalities.

Religion manifests itself everywhere around the world. Although all beings are different we come together as one transcendence being the host. Sacred rituals are performed, honoring beliefs in accordance to ones religion. Rituals are performed for a wide array of reasons, some being a sort of rite of passage, healing the sick and even birth or death rituals. Judaism, Santeria, and Christianity all have ceremonies and rituals, some carried out as different as night and day, and some for the same purposes. These religions in depth have more in common than the eye can see, devotion, transcendence and worship to a higher absolute power. All participating in Sacred Ritual.

Jerusalem 101 - four quarters of the old city - jerusalem. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.generationword.com/jerusalem101/3b-four-quarters.htm

Every society is based on different religion. Different people follow different types of religion according to their birth or by choice. The major religions of the world are Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Judaism. Each religion is similar and different from one another in terms of festivals, practices and beliefs. Apart from Christianity, Hinduism and Islam are the two most widely practiced religions in the world today. They have their own traditions, beliefs and practices. These two religions are similar to some extent and differ in terms of the God they worship, religious text and the place where they offer their prayers.

Buddhism originated in the early Fifth century BCE, from the teachings of Siddhartha Buddha (Fisher, 2005). Plagued by the desire to help end human suffering, Buddha reached a state of pure enlightenment showing him the way to end earthly suffering. Through meditation, people can control the desires of their human nature. By gaining control of our desires we can end our suffering. He taught his wisdom to all that wanted to learn. After his death, three main forms of Buddhism emerged; there was the Theravada’s, the Mahayana’s, and the Zen Buddhists (Fisher, 2005). For the sake of this report, the local Buddhist

As a scholar taking the class ‘Introduction to World Religions”, I had the opportunity to take part in a culture that is not normally found in the western world. I entered the Mon Buddhist Monastery in Akron, Ohio on October 2nd, 2016 only to be amazed at their way of life. Going into the temple, I knew of the basic religious practices and traditions that the monks and Buddhists had participated in daily. When I was coming up to the monastery, it did not look like anything other than an old brick building, but once we were inside it looked like a recreational area. Somewhere where they would meditate, hold daily activities, and teach the younger Buddhist about their way of life. On the far back wall, there was a stunning shrine dedicated to the Buddha where one would pray. Many figurines were displayed as well as flowers and offerings along it.

The course Religion 220- Survey of World Religions introduced me to different beliefs, and practices of religions. Of the many religions examined, the three that resonate within my being are: Christianity, Judaism and Islam. I can relate to these religions as all three share several similarities and is in sync with many of my core beliefs. To begin, they all believe in God. These religions have a designated house of worship: for Christians- church or chapel, Islam- mosque, and Judaism- synagogue or temple. They all share the Old Testament and believe in an afterlife. They all believe in non-violence also practice some form of meditation. All three religions draw on a Holy Book: Christians use the Holy Bible; Judaism utilizes The Torah,

Religion has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Where years ago, it was limited to a few specific set of beliefs in which the majority of people conformed to and few people deviated. Nowadays, religion is immeasurable and varies depending on where you live. Despite all the changes, there are a few basic elements that every religion follows such as; a set of stories, sacredness, community, belief of a higher power, rules/ethics, offer hope and a way to connect with the divine. Although the building blocks are the same, each organizations, religious practices and beliefs are unique.

Both of the religions Hinduism and Judaism are similar but different in their own ways. Hinduism worships many gods and goddesses, whereas Judaism is a confirmedly monotheistic religion. In the Hinduism religion the bedrock is the belief that the Vedas is sacred and the caste system decribed in it. “Hinduism is a guide to life, and the goal of which is to reach union with Brahman, the unchanging ultimate reality”(75). The dharma or moral law that need to be followed. There are many gods that were worshiped and each person may worship a different god. Images of the gods in homes or temples were presented where each person can show devotion to their personal gods by singing hymns or offering flowers before the images. The Hindus believe in many things such as that the universe undergoes and endless cycle of creation, believe in karma, that the soul reincarnates, the belief that all life is sacred.

Hinduism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity developed centuries ago and have been practiced since then to today. Groups of people who practice these religions are bound to the conventional norms, beliefs, cultures and way of life of each. Each religion has a particular faith in a supreme being (Woodhead, Partridge & Kawanami, 2016). Muslims believe in Allah, Christians believe in Jesus Christ, Hindus believe in multiple Gods (Coomaraswamy, 2011) and Buddhism follower’s belief in various Gods and their enlightened priests especially the "most high priests" Buddha Almond, P. C. (2007). All these religions regard their places of which as sacred places which

FORMAL RELIGION: In this civilization, people believe in polytheism, which is the belief of many gods. There are different gods for different forces of nature. You are welcome to worship whichever gods you choose instead of being forced to worship one god or none at all. People can bond over a shared love of certain gods, whereas with monotheism, the worship of only one god, everyone knows of the same god, never learning about any others or other reasons of existence of certain forces of nature.

Throughout the Five major religions we studied, all but one have different names for God. In Hinduism, God can also be seen as a Goddess and is known by many different names and forms some of which are Brahma, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Ganesha and Krishna. Buddhists don’t consider Buddha as God nor do they have a name for God. In Judaism, His name is “Yahweh”. The Islamic faith refers to God as ‘Allah’. Of course, in Christianity He is “God” or “Jesus Christ, Son of God” . There is respect and reverence associated with the names given to the spiritual power each religion worships and looks to for help and guidance in daily life. (Bellini, 2015)

God to the people of the big three monotheist religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) see god as an all-knowing, all-seeing, and all-powerful being.

Judaism has been around for over 3,000 years and they believe in one god. Some of the people broke off from Judaism and became their own religion that formed the modern day Christianity and Islam religions. They both believe in worshiping only one god. Buddhism is a 2,500 year old religion and Buddhists do not believe in a personal god, but they follow the path of Buddha seeking to reach a state of enlightenment. Hinduism is a 3,500 year old religion and Hinduism followers believe in many gods such as, Brahma, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Vishnu, Shiva, Durga and Ardhanarishvara.

On this vast planet religions are becoming more prevalent and are being studied more frequently in recent times. Many individuals want to study and learn about the origins of some religions, on where they were developed and what was the cause of this glorification of a divine. The art of religion is processed by many ideologies, background, beliefs, myths, and rituals. The five major religions of the world include: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism are solely based on these ideologies, and ultimately leads to one goal, to follow the path of god, or to seek a euphoric state of salvation. In spite of all the differences among the world’s five major religions, they have very similar ethical constructs, which should encourage more mutual respect among them.