The Cultural Differences Of Primal Religions

Around the world, many indigenous religions exist and share their beliefs and culture with other individuals around them. Indigenous religions are unique because in the world today, a lot of people can go back in history and reveal that they came from indigenous people. When examining indigenous religions, there are a variety of cultures within this religion, but specifically looking at the Native American Indian tribes, there were many ways they practiced their culture in order to serve a purpose.

Religion is a system of several characteristics combined together to form a dynamic, living reality. These characteristics are sacred texts and writings, ethics, rituals and ceremonies and beliefs and believers. These characteristics are established in both immanent and transcendent worldviews.

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.

What is the true definition of the word religion? Well, religion is a set of beliefs and practices that recognize the existence of a god or many gods. We need religion in our lives because it gives us a sense of belonging to our common faith and helps us set morals in our lives. The importance of faith in our lives has created a bigger understanding to us and has showed us how we can have a closer link to it.

African and Native American religions and there similarities There are may religions in the world, but through out the different religions there are many crossovers and similarities. Mattie Stepanek said “It doesn't matter how you pray. Just pray. All religions are beautiful and they all have one common belief. There's something bigger and greater than us that can give us and take from us life. It is better than the here and now”. Religion itself means “a belief in and worship of a greater power” (dictionary.com). By people believing in any kind of religion, it means that similarities can start there. With so many religions having similarities, it might be hard to distinguish from certain religions from another. Religions like of African and Native Americans might not at first seem alike, but as you look deeper into their religions and see they have similarities. These similarities are attributed as beliefs, rituals, and history. Their growths and struggles might not have happened at the same time, but both religions are still celebrated today.

Those who are raised within one religious tradition may find it difficult to understand the traditions of another religion. It is not until one is educated in the basics of the other major world religions, that it is possible to see the many similarities between them. Just as there are many similarities between the countries culturally, the major religions share more things than they are different. In viewing Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism with an open mind, it is easy to see the differences, similarities and ideals that make these religions as widespread as they are.

"It is probable that ancestor worship is by all means the oldest stage of the belief in spiritual beings, and that from this belief originated the primitive conceptions of the state of man after death. Thence it comes that the oldest social divisions of mankind, the family and the gens, have doubtless originated with many peoples from the worship of ancestors (Stade 1888:406)."

Indigenous religions exist in every climate around the world and exhibit a wide range of differences in their stories, language, customs, and views of the afterlife. Within indigenous communities, religion, social behavior, art, and music are so intertwined that their religion is a significant part of their culture and virtually inseparable from it. These religions originally developed and thrived in isolation from one another and are some of the earliest examples of religious practice and belief. The modern world; however, has taken its toll on these groups and many of their stories, customs, and beliefs have been lost to, or replaced by, those brought in as a result of popular culture and the missionary work of Christians and Muslims.

According to the book, World Religions Today, by John L. Esposito, Darrell J. Fasching, and Todd Lewis, under the section entitled The Sacred, it states that religion “expresses our sense of being “tied and bound” by relations of obligation to whatever powers we believe govern our destiny-whether these powers be natural or supernatural, personal or impersonal, one or many” (9). Furthermore, the book World Religions Today, by John L. Esposito, Darrell J. Fasching, and Todd Lewis, states that the religions of various people over the years or centuries have proven to be essentially as diverse as the types or forms of power that people essentially believe govern human destiny. In which these types or forms of power “ have ranged from gods as

The Mandans were a Native American tribe located in North Dakota plainlands. They endured hot summers and cold winters and had many resources available to them.

Many of the religions of Plains Indians focused on the earth as a symbol for and a reflection of the divine. Nasr describes a sentiment shared by many tribes, “a reverence of nature as locus of Divine Presence, a kinship with all forms of life, a union of the sky or Heaven as their father and Earth as their mother,

Every religion is different, but also similar. Some adore one god, some adore multiple gods. Some religions are very similar but only differ in the god’s appearance. But have you thought about religions that were forgotten? Maybe religions that only people from the past believed in. Well, this is the case for the native americans. Surprisingly it has a lot of similarities with Christianism. How different or similar do you think the native american’s religion was from Christian religion?

The eastern religions that we have discussed in class are Hinduism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. The western religions that we have discussed in class are Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The Eastern Religions have originated in countries such as China, India, and Japan. The western religions originated in Europe and the

According to Smith, are primal peoples primitive?  Why or why not? Smith does not believe primal people are primitive, rather he suggests they are called primal because they came first. Smith argues that while the numbers of primal people are diminishing, traces of their ideologies can still be seen in our deep

Primal Religions are often mistaken to be the religion of the primitive man, often thought to be unintelligent. There is a definition of “primal” that is better suited than unintelligent or primitive. Primal in terms of religion, refers to the lack of exposure to technology, it is not “knowing” the state of consciousness given to many by the technological environment. Primal religions preceded organized religion as we know it today by thousands of years, in some cases millions, but are still present in the world today; we now call them tribal religions. Within primal religions there are people who are knowledgeable about life, who are knowledgeable about