¶ … Religious Traditions
Religion has played an essential role in the history of mankind. Throughout history many religious traditions have emerged -- some of them have disappeared -- and there are myriad of differences among religious traditions today. While people profess many religions, each religion then has a great deal of diversity within itself, and within each sect or religious movement (be they within Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, or any other religion), individuals approach these traditions according to their personal understandings, experiences, and sometimes interests. And yet there are certain commonalities that most religions share, albeit often in different forms. In this paper, I am going to look at some basic traditions most religions have historically contained. In particular, I will look at the concept of the divine and an individual relationship with it, the concept of sacred and its relation to time and space, and some key issues critical for studying religion.
One of the fundamentals of an individual's relationship with the divine is the affirmation that there is/are divine being/beings who is/are held to be a supreme being. The affirmation is usually followed by prayer and worship of the deity or deities. Prayer is perhaps the major element of relationship with the divine. Prayers take various forms but in most cases an adherent of a religion confirms the supernatural powers of the deity and considers the divine being worthy of utmost praise, the epitome of good, uncreated and eternal; and considers worshipping this divine being fundamental for survival. This has been the case since ancient times. For example, Zarathustra, the founder of Zoroastrian religion, taught that Ahura Mazda was the supreme God, uncreated and eternal in his being, omniscient ant the absolute creator of all that was good, while Amesha Spentas (Holy Immortals) were his subordinate divine assistants. Zarathustra praised Ahura Mazda in a manner that reflected his helplessness without the grace of Ahura Mazda: "Truly I recognised Thee with my thought, O Mazda, to be First . . ., when with my eyes I perceived Thee to be Father of Good Purpose, real Creator of Truth, by Thy acts Lord of existence"...
Religion The Cuban community in South Florida has evolved customs and a culture all its own. Central to those customs and cultural expressions is religion. Whether Sephardic Jew or Catholic, the Cuban in South Florida is touched by religion in all aspects of his or her life. Family gatherings and community celebrations are often organized around religious events, holidays, or rituals. This is true for any religious community, but for this
However, prior to the creation of Israel the numbers were much higher (currently approximately 300,000 Palestinian Christians live in the U.S. alone (2004). Interestingly, the Israeli Army does not differentiate between Arab Christians and Arab Muslims in their occupation activities. In fact, in many areas Palestinian Christians are particularly hit by civilian casualty occurrences (Halter, 2001). In fact, Palestinian Christians identify so strongly with the Palestinian cause that statements
According to Bass, "Hinduism is the only major religion lacking an adequate explanation as to its origin," as no definitive Hindu text exist that that date before 1000 B.C. Indeed, because Hinduism is one of the religions that views time as cyclical rather than linear, what information is available about Hinduism does not give a very accurate picture of its history (Bass 5). What can be gleaned from this
Space and Things: Incarnating the Sacred When faced with the term "religion," it is more common than not that a person would associate the word with some kind of symbol. Christianity, for example, is associated with the cross, Judaism with the Star of David, and so on. Festivals also play an important part in making religion real to its adherents. Many Christians, for example, celebrate Easter as the victory of Christ
" (Einstein, 1954) The other universal concept shared among so many human religions relates to the fate of the individual (or of the individuals spirit or "soul"). Judeo-Christian religious traditions generally teach that a soul survives physical death and the eternal fate of that soul is substantially determined by the behaviors and choices of the individual in life (Sagan, 1997). Eastern religious traditions generally reflect a more general belief in the cycles
Japanese Women Gender Roles in the Japanese Religious and Social Traditions: Subjugation and Isolation as a Means of Domination For whatever reason, most cultures in recorded history seem to be largely patriarchal, favoring the masculine over the feminine and significantly reducing the roles that women are expected or even allowed to play in the public and political spheres. Buddhism and Shintoism, the two major religions in Japanese history especially prior to the
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