Similarities And Differences Of African And Native American Religions

The indigenous tribes of North America have much in common with the indigenous religions of Africa but there are also many differences in the belief of an afterlife, supreme deity, and the daily practices of each. Today many of these lesser known religions are hardly ever studied but they exist and are still practiced all over North America and Africa. We will discuss how these religions differ in their main beliefs and practices, and we will also discuss how they correlate with one another on smaller aspects.

Religion is one of the oldest and most sacred traditions of the human species. Religion started off as a basic belief in an afterlife, and then further developed into tribal religions, which evolved into ancestral worship, then to polytheism, and lastly into monotheism. Monotheism in the form of Christianity is the largest religion of the modern world, and it has similar beliefs to other world religions such as Buddhism. Christianity and Buddhism are similar because both religions teach about the equality of people and that making good choices reflects the positive teachings of that religion. They are also similar in how they formed, as both broke off from another religion that was exclusive, and both became popular and spread easily

Historically, the major religions of Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism began to spread across Eurasia and Africa from the 5th century through trade routes and conquest. As these ideas and practices traveled to new and distance places, local populations adapted and transformed many of them in ways that reflected traditional beliefs and customs, also known as syncretism. The rise of rulers, such as Sundiata in Mali helps illustrate this process of partial adaptation, or syncretism, in order to get a boost of support from the subjects of the kingdom. The actions concerning syncretism, can be explanation of the rise of kings such as Sundiata. These examples can be seen through the texts “Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali”, “Worlds together, Worlds

All religions are similar in a manner, appreciating life, doing good, respecting others..etc yet they still have their differences, the differences that gives it, its uniqueness. And the person practising it, his individuality.

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

Religions have very distinct differences because every religion has something that another one does not. The differences can even cause conflicts between different religions even if they are in the same family. Religions also have similarities that can cause feuds to end if people use it in the right way. You can see these similarities and differences in Hinduism and Native American religions if you look at how they do their rituals, rites of passage, view of gods, view of holy book, afterlife, and the role of women.

When most western people think about Native American or African religions there is a certain stigma that comes with the topic. This is in part because there is a lot of misinformation in the world about Native American and African religions. When most westerners think of African religions they think of voodoo and black magic. Likewise, the view of Native American religions is still looked at through the lens of the pilgrims who wrote about Native Americans as being savages and less than human. These stereotypes were all formed from a lack of accurate information. African and Native American religions are very similar. It is difficult to find a lot of accurate information on African and Native American indigenous religions because of the lack of written history but there is a lot of oral history that has been passed down from generation to generation. From this information, it is clear that Native American and African religions have many more similarities than they do differences. Three of these similarities will be discussed in this paper. The first topic of discussion is the similarity between African and Native American people when it comes to their perception of the spirit world. Following this topic are the similarities between Native American and African views on the afterlife and finally, the diversity of beliefs within African and Native American religions.

Religion has played a very important role in society and the history of mankind for over thousands of years. Originally created by ancient peoples as a way to explain the unknown, religion has greatly evolved and spread across the globe. As new religions have formed and spread, the diversity and similarities between these new religions have also increased, especially due to their geographic locations. Two civilizations in particular with both similar and distinct religions are ancient China, and ancient Egypt. Ancient Chinese religion and ancient Egyptian religion share many things in common with each other, yet at the same time they are

a. Religions that no longer exist and which ideas and customs have not been preserved in writing. However, we know that these religions have existed as archeologist has found pottery and other evidence that tell us of their existence.

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.

Each religion has a different perspective but most important is where the religions generated from. Major religions started in various parts of the world.

I have found many characteristics within indigenous religions. These indigenous religions can be found throughout the world and many continents, such as: Africa, Australia, Asia, and North and South America. Indigenous people have their own marks on societies around the world. In my opinion, the characteristics I believe classify an indigenous or native religion are that they place great importance on the sacred lands. They view them as portals to the past, which they can receive life energy from their deity or from their ancestors. In the indigenous religions they gain sacred knowledge by others who have received the knowledge before them.

After reading about indigenous religion and they understanding behind their personal beliefs and how others view the culture and have disrespectful views, because of the differences amongst each other and just being unaware if the different cultures. Since this is an very different appreciate then other religions people are just not knowing their approach to religious views. When speaking of African indigenous religion, it has the distinct features and character of the people who practice it. They believe in a supreme being or creator. It has no written scripture as holy texts are oral text. This religion practice by, songs and dance, folktales which allows others to be unaware and be injustice .

African civilization, like most other societies have their own set of creation stories which can be seen in the Christian Bible or folk stories that are told in other parts of the world. One example is the Asante Tower to Heaven which can be seen as a parallel to the Tower of Babel story told in the book of Genesis in the Bible. Both involved people on Earth trying to reach God in heaven by building towers and ultimately failing. Just this example can show a link between Africa and the rest of the world. These creation myths, from the San, Dogon, and Yoruba people, come from the prominent local religions from early times in different parts of Africa. These stories and religious rituals lasted until Christian missionaries came and converted a large portion of the population to Christianity, which diminished those that adhered to the original religions.

All religions are very specific with the details which set that religion apart from others. However, when all the little details are melted away, there are only a mere handful that are different in essence. When looked at closely, even the religions which are perceived completely dissimilar at first glance are surprisingly similar. For example, the Voodoo religion, and that of early Christianity are stereotyped as extremely different, but with closer inspection, not only are these two religions are very obviously similar, but Voodooism