The World And Various Religious Phenomena

Tomoko Masuzawa’s literary work, The Invention of World Religions, provides a meticulous analysis of how the term “world religions” is categorized and used in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Masuzawa addresses how the categorization of world religions has changed throughout history and how different elements of each religion, such as texts, origin, and ability to expand have shaped the classification of that religion by scholars. By using the works of well-established scholars, she is able to provide an accurate account of how the perception and analysis of these religious occurred in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Institutions within the public domain, such as universities and hospitals, can then shape interaction with their specific audiences to abide by the practices of these world religions in order to connect with the public in a culturally competent manner.

I found Irving Hexham’s Understanding Word Religions to be informative, inclusive and very enlightening. I particularly enjoyed Hexham’s big picture and unbiased approach to presenting World Religions. It has helped to get an understanding of different religions and see them from all sides. Also, it helped to challenge me to look at people of different religions perspective and find why they believe what they believe. But I found that although Hexham did a good job of staying unbiased he could not get away from his own views and perspective since we all have bias and opinion that drive our thinking.

Religious behaviors developed to what they are today beginning in the pre-historic times of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and the Neolithic. There is evidence of these behaviors in the archaeological artifacts as well as mythological evidence. Religious behaviors evolved as humans evolved.

Religion has been around for thousands of years. Religion was around when the two earliest civilizations of the Near East arose. These two civilizations are Egypt and Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia is located between the Tigris River and the Euphrates River. While Egypt's location is near the Nile River (Humanities, 103). This small fact actually had a huge impact on how the civilizations reacted to their surroundings. In regards to religion, I will contrast the first Mesopotamian civilization:Sumerians, to the Egyptians (Messner 9-6-2017).

Why in God is the second person of the Trinity (the Son) not younger than the Father?

Major religions dating back 4,000 years have served as institutions that bring individuals together in the form of communities that share similar morals, ideals, and customs. Religion greatly affects individual behavior both positively and negatively because of how important of a role it plays in many lives. Smidt (1999) notes that religious institutions act as a societal framework that provides a variety of services such as guidance, physical care, and social networks. It is at these institutions where individuals are first introduced to ideas about ethics, values, and customs. Thus, officials within each religion have an important role in shaping how their congregates view the world. Many religious institutions serve as the center of a particular

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.

In ancient times, when humans are in the infant stage of development of human history, humans’ understandings of nature are just only based in their imagination. While facing the powerful forces of nature, people are aware of their own strength is pretty small, and their fate is controlled by an invisible power-- they called this unknown force “god”. With the passage of time, people seem to foresee the possibility of overcoming nature, and they begin to look forward to their own peers, a powerful figure, to complete the great cause of beating nature. The emergence of priests shows the beginning of religion.

I really love this midterm project since it pushes me to experience different religions and participate in many valuable activities. I really learned many things from this class, but I think the theoretically knowledge cannot leave me a deep impression. This project gives me an opportunity to put everything into practice. More importantly, by experiencing three world religions---Christianity, Buddhism, and Catholicism, I realized the differences and similarities among them. This makes me understand how are those religions related. I think this is an important task in this class.

There is no doubts that religiosity is usually experienced by individuals as a vehicle through which one does good company and as such might be expected to mitigate against prejudice. First, the coexistence of religious teachings related to tolerance and prejudice among religious individual seems to be contradiction only if prejudice is Defined it too narrowly, intent of antipathy. An equation of prejudice with antipathy is simplistic in part because even evaluatively positive attitude can be constructed as a form of prejudice in that they can legitimize the unequal treatment of groups. Second, religious teachings that advocate love, acceptance, and so on are likely insufficient to mitigate against prejudice and discrimination because intergroup responses involve not only explicit attitude and motives that may be shaped by things such as teachings related to tolerance, but also implicit attitudes or processes that are shaped by less deliberative mechanisms such as emotional conditioning, early experiences, and so on. Sarah, as with many believe system, some religious teachers themselves contained or are perceive to contain, justification for particular negative

In a national sense, religious belief and identity can separate whole nations from one another, like in the case of Ireland and England, one of the defining differences is our belief in a different branch of Christianity. This can have disastrous effects on the world as a whole. Religion can be held accountable for the majority of warfare and bloodshed in the world today as nations attack each over their differing beliefs and ideals. Many nations will use religion and beliefs to try to justify the awful atrocities they commit on one another. In this sense, religion

Historically, religious beliefs came from Babylon, the center from which the ancient Paganism originated. Non-believers of the higher power say it was invented by the people whereas believers turn to the book of genesis which states that beliefs came from people exchanging information

I have always wondered this; who created us? All those stories that we have learned from our ancestors, teachers and multilateral sources tell a different story. I think the very existing origin story of humans in earth is illogical. Illogical in a sense of lacking sense in the story we once thought were true from religion. How come an entity who lives up in the sky or in the highest mountains could create us, who hovers on a flying chariot, exaggerating claims and false claims about human like figure who has powers beyond unimaginable. The main sources of such claim seems to have come from early dates as old as Religion.

The undeniable power, force, and influence of religion stand out throughout history. However, according to J. Michael Allen and James B. Allen in World History from 1500, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, religion was exceptionally important, because it had a great influence on everything from government to social order and family relationships (16). Hundreds of years may separate these two time periods and the modern world, but the same positive effects of religion such as unity, security, and a social order are still basic ideals in today’s world. This is also true for the negative effects such as the conflicts that result in war and

Religion has been a powerful force in human history. Mankind has longed and searched for the answers to its purpose, the reason for being and the possibility of life after physical death. They reasoned that an afterlife would be a place of accounting and reckoning for the life they lived on earth. Religious belief systems seemed to give the answers as to how to prepare for the afterlife. Religion became the means of giving answers to those basic yet deep-seated questions of both life and death. Religion provided a format of rules and laws for conduct and treatment toward others based on the desires and wishes of a god or gods that people envisioned, imagined or invented. Religious belief systems have been a powerful force for good and bad...good in the sense that it provided a measure of individual behavior and order in society for the wellbeing of the whole, but bad in the sense that men of ambition who craved power and control over others would often use religion as a tool of manipulation and fear. A casual glance of history tells us that complete civilizations have been built, grown and maintained around elaborate religious systems, ancient Egypt being a prime example.