Religions
Jonas Salcedo's description of 5 religions
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion revovling around a sinless man by the name of Jesis Christ. It's main source for morality is a book known as The Holy Bible. The main idea of this religion is that human beings are born in sin and cannot do any works of rightousness on their own and are by default, deserving of the fire of hell. To make sure this wasn't the case for everybody, Jesus Christ was crucified by the Romans so that his blood might pay for our sins. However, one can only be ,"saved," if they accept Jesus as a personal savior and believe that he died for the sake of that person's sins. If a person fails to do this and doesn't follow any of the 10 commandments below, than that person is condemned to hell.
10 commandments
1. Put absolutely nothing before god
2.Do not worship inaniment objects
3. Do not take the name of god in vain
4. Do not work on the day of the sabbath, Sunday
5. Honer your mother and father
6. Do not murder
7.Do not commit adultery(this includes lust)
8.Do not steal
9. Do not lie
10. Do not covet your neighbors ' possessions
Rituals
- People go to church on Sunday
- People like to Baptize their children
- People read the bible to learn more about god's will for them
- Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ
- Easter celebrates Jesus' Ressarection
Judaism
Judaism is the world's oldest monotheistic religion, dating back to 3000 B.C. Their main source of knowledge of faith is in a holy book known as the Torah. The Jews believe they have a covanant with god similar to that of Abraham. They also believe that they recieved the Torah forum Mount. Siani. A Jewish house of worship is known as a synagogue. A jewish teacher is known as a Rabbi.
Rituals/Holidays:
- Jewish people fast on the day of Yom Kupor, the day of atonement, provided that they pray and repent 10 days prior to fasting
- Jewish people also celebrate Hanukah, where people light 8 candles for 8 days on a menorah. This holiday celebrates the victory of the Maccabees and the Syrians in a war that occurred in 165 BC and how the lamp oil in the temple lasted for 8 days.
- The day of the sabbath in Judaism begins on sunset on Friday and ends on sunset on Saturday. A good amount of this time is spend on prayer, but this day is also a day of rest, a day to enjoy a leisurely dinner, observe art and poetry, decorate the house to look nice, etc.
- Bar/Bat Mitzvah is the age when 13 year old males and 12 year old females are to be held responsible for following the commandments. Males are typically circumcised on their 13th day of birth.
- Jews are required to pray 3 times each day
- A lot of Jews go to synagogues on a regular basis to pray and listen to a rabbi preach the word of god
Islam
Islam is a monotheistic religion founded by Prophet Muhammad around 610 AD. It is said that an angel commanded him to recite one day and he started speaking out the word of god. He continued to do this until his death in 632
Rituals/ Holidays
- Muslims believe in the 5 pillars of faith
- Sincerely recite the Islamic faith
- Pray 5 times a day in the proper manner
- Pay alms and give to charity and help the needy
- Fast during the month of Ramadan
- Make a journey to Mecca if you are financially able
- Married women in Islam wear berquas covering their faces so other men do not lust for them
- Muslims typically eat a big meal before sunrise and after sundown during the day of Ramadan so that they are full for the day.
Hinduism
Hinduism is a polytheistic religion that really has no definite goal or salvation or organized creed. Hinduism traces it's roots back to 1200 BC. Hinduism embraces many different cultures and is not specific to one creed or following.
Beliefs/rituals/Holidays
- Hindus believe in Karma, the idea that your actions, depending on whether they are good or bad, have that same effect on you at some point in life.
- Hindus believe that cows are sacred and they are not allowed to eat beef.
- Diwali is the Hindu Festival of Light. It celebrates the victory of good over evil and it lasts about 5 days and it involves children, Sikhs, and Jains
- Puja, a Hindu form of worship, involves images, prayers, and diagrams of the universe. Hindu worship is a more personal thing then commutual and often involves people making offerings to the god they believe in.
Buddhism
Buddhism is an atheistic religion founded by Buddah around 500 BC. The goal of Buddhism is to help individuals find inner peace within themselves and give up their natural human desires and evils.
Beliefs/rituals/Holidays
- Buddhists believe in the 4 noble truths
- Life is mostly suffering and we do not get what we want most of the time. Even when we do get what we want, satisfaction is only temporary.
- The root of suffering is people not getting what they desire from life. There are 3 main causes of this. Greed, delusion, and hatred.
- The only way to archive Nirvana or enlightenment is to eliminate human desires
- The path to the cession of suffering is the right understanding, the right intention, the right speech, the right action, the right livelihood, the right effort, the right mindfulness, and the right concentration
- Buddhists often exchange gifts with one another
- Buddhist monks shave their heads and their beards and adopt yellow robes to signify becoming a monk
- Buddhists believe in the concept of Karma where if you do good things, you get good things, and if you do bad things, you get bad things.