...Bismillah al rahman al rahim: Ultimate pillar connecting divine and vicegerent. The religion of Islam is rich in rituals, myths and symbols, but the true testimony of an individual’s relationship with god, or in the case of Muslims Allah, is seen in the duties of worship “ibadat”. Duties of worship are also better known as the five pillars of Islam, which creates a relationship between Allah and his people, as well as the relationship that human beings have amongst themselves. From the name of the faith there can already be seen the importance of Allah, as Islam in Arabic can be translated as submission, and as one will see, the follower of Islam submits himself first and foremost to Allah. Through the submission of oneself to Allah, a Muslim person performs rituals that bring them closer to the transcendent, whilst creating a sense of universal community. The foundation of Islam is as the nature of the word implies, that the believer recognises only Allah, and submits to all the commands that Allah puts forward (Waines, D. 1995: 3). Prior to an individual becoming a follower of Islam, they are to pronounce the Shahadah. The shahadah is the first pillar of Islam, and is the declaration that the individual chooses to bear witness to the oneness of god and that Muhammad is his prophet (Jomier, J.1989: 53). The shahadah becomes a part of the daily life of a Muslim as it is not only said at the declaration of one to the following of Allah, but it is also pronounced at a birth...
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...World peace is an ideal of freedom, peace, and happiness among and within all nations and people. Both Islam and Christianity highlight the importance of world peace within their religious communities and throughout the world by religious principal teachings which are emitted through sacred texts of the specified religion. Adherents of Christianity and Islam use sacred texts as a driving force behind the contribution of each religion to world peace. Christians turn to the bible for guidance and knowledge on how to live out the notion of peace. The New Testament is the normative text for all Christians, it’s the principal and foundational source of teaching for all Christians in which peace is mentioned over ninety times. Christians are taught to reject violence, the strongest statements against engaging violence come from the preaching of Jesus himself. In Matthew 6:39 it states ‘turn the other cheek’, this statement has a strong impact on all Christians and teaches them not to retaliate or return violence with violence. One major principal teaching supporting this notion is the ‘just war theory’. The Just war theory sought to establish guidelines under which it was morally acceptable to engage in warfare. It maintains that nations are morally justified in fighting war providing that the circumstances of the conflict meet the seven principles that suggest the requirements to be involved in war. In April 1963, Pope John XXIII wrote the encyclical Pacem in Terris due to the...
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...RELIGION CULMINATING – Humans Rights/Freedoms and Natural Law By: Peter Huynh - The two pillars discussed will be human rights/freedoms and natural law Thesis Argument In order for natural law to work, you need human rights/freedoms. Vice Versa. DISCUSSION TOPIC #1 – HUMAN RIGHTS/FREEDOMS - Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible. Example: 1. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. 2. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Human Rights can also be split up into two types: Normal Rights: can be altered by the law. Legal Rights: cannot be altered by the law in any situation. - Human freedoms are similar to rights except that they are not enforced by the government or UN. It is a concept that is always there no matter what. Example: Freedom of Speech DISCUSSION TOPIC # 2 – NATURAL LAW Natural Law is something that was greatly enforced by Saint Thomas Aquinas. The standard definition for this law is that it is the moral rules found by humankind’s natural ability to think and reason to determine what is good or right. Natural Law: Basics: - is not made by human beings - is based on the structure...
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...Philosophy of Religion Essay: Religious experience at Ram Mandir Hinduism is one of the oldest religions since the beginning of time and has grown from its ancient roots to become the third largest religion in the world. The majority of its followers originate in India and Nepal. Hinduism is a religion based on traditional values and philosophies that have evolved in India over period of more than a thousand years. On my visit to the Ram Mandir while I experienced a puja, “which is a name for prayers in Hinduism”. (V,2011) among the people, I noticed two different patterns that they follow, and observed that Hinduism has related the patterns to Emilie Durkheim’s and Stuart Hall’s theories of social solidarity and culture respectively through use of prayers and congregations, which is going to be the main focus of my essay in Hinduism the distinct patterns while performing the prayers. The two patterns are congregation who came together for the ritual performed by the Pundits( priests) and the book that priest themselves distributed to the people. The first pattern that was visible to me in the Ram Mandir was based on the congregation who came together for the ritual performed by the Pundits (priests). This gathering of people had a majority of Asian descendants which were mostly North Indians that spoke Hindi. Also, there were different languages that were being spoken by south Indians that are dark skinned, which were easy to distinguish. Since, Hindi is the most common...
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...Judaism: The Jewish Religion Judaism is one of the world religions that is monotheistic, and was the first major religion to believe in one god. Today we will explain the religion, Judaism, and identify many of its main topics. Such as location and spread of the religion also founder and their life story. The next big idea is beliefs like the major ideas including sacred books, texts, art, music and many other things as well. That's not all, we will also teach you about major historical events attributed to the religion. What this means is we will explain major disasters such as war and disease that affected this religion. So by the time you're done reading this essay you would have learned the most important information about this religion....
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...Religion is a large subject. Some think it the most important matter for consideration (or the only one). Others believe that it wasteful to devote time to the study of what has proved to be an archaic and often destructive force in human society. I, personally, am not sure what I think. This series of essays is my attempt to clarify a little bit about the subject: what it is, how it affects people's lives, and ultimately whether it is true, and good, and useful, or not. This first essay will attempt a definition. Merriam-Webster.com has several definitions for religion: "the service and worship of God or the supernatural"; "a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices"; and "a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith." These are general enough, especially the last, to refer to atheists, communists, nationalists, and extremists of all flavors, as well as the more traditionally devout. But what really is religion? Some would say that our distant ancestors invented it as a way to explain the strange and mysterious world around them, and we are simply heirs to the diverse mass of mutually contradictory beliefs that have been invented, rejected, and revised by thousands of subsequent generations. (They then draw various conclusions about the usefulness of these beliefs, but that is for a future essay.) Others say that religion is simply truth that cannot be perceived by ordinary senses. At some point in...
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...Early American’s Challenges with Diversity in Religion, Gender and Ethnicity Life was not easy for the first Americans to set foot upon our wonderful country; individual freedom was challenged daily. In the early years, religion dominated daily life; strict religious observance was not a choice but a mandate. Gender diversity was a grim struggle for most women and children; women were treated as objects, belonging to their husbands. White women were awarded a few more freedoms than black women. Likewise, ethnic diversity was a challenge for Africans and Native Americans; wars were fought over the destiny of an individuals right to be free. Immigrants flocked to the United States to avoid persecution and strict religious worship guidelines; persecution and worship...
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...RE: Poverty "Poverty is defined relative to the standards of living in a society at a specific time. People live in poverty when they are denied an income sufficient for their material needs and when these circumstances exclude them from taking part in activities which are an accepted part of daily life in that society." Scottish Poverty Information Unit. The most commonly used way to measure poverty is based on incomes. A person is considered poor if his or her income level falls below some minimum level necessary to meet basic needs. This minimum level is usually called the "poverty line". What is necessary to satisfy basic needs varies across time and societies. Therefore, poverty lines vary in time and place, and each country uses lines which are appropriate to its level of development, societal norms and values." The World Bank Organisations. These are just a few of the different definitions of poverty from different views. The general definition is ‘the state of being extremely poor’ and/or ‘the state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount’. Absolute poverty is defined as the lack of sufficient resources with which to meet basic needs. Relative poverty defines income or resources in relation to the average. At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day. More than 80 percent of the world’s population lives in countries where income differentials are widening. The poorest 40 percent of the world’s population accounts for 5 percent of global income...
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...A prison is a place of confinement for lawbreakers of convicting serious crimes. Our world is surrounded by many violence, threats, harassment, crimes, etc. In where many individuals commit horrible decisions leading to serious consequences. As a result, inmates are sentenced a period in which they live in a horrible place where their rights and liberty is taken away. The criminal justice system has been in one form to another. Religion was the fundamental block that developed prison. Religion shaped so much of our nation’s history, culture and of our values. The criminal justice system has been around through so many years in which it has evolved to what is today. The Pennsylvania System is known as the Eastern State Penitentiary, located...
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...them is religion. Religion is an important part of human life that contains and maintain human beings to keep going from one step to another. Utah tends to be among the areas that has lived according to his will and it is sighted by its culture that dwells in his presence (God). However, religion is diverse within the area since it is divided among different religion like Catholics, evangelicals, Protestants, Buddhism, Jehovah, Islam and the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Therefore, the largest group of people in the area are believers of Christ thus making them to be Christians. This paper focuses on explaining the reasons why most of the people are Christians, the history of the religion and why a large percentage of the people are believers in Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints church. History has it that Christianity takes about 60% of the population in state of Utah thus making one of the main religion in the great depression. As far as religion is concerned religion has made the state to grow both socially and economically since most of the people are business men...
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...This book is based on the topic of Religion and Constitution. Constitution of the U.S. was intended to be set up as a completely secular political system or a Christian common wealth. While setting up the constitution, there were some controversies that had caused some religious believers to challenge the constitution’s authorities, there were also made efforts to abolish the slavery and to amend the constitution to recognize the authority of Jesus Christ. The Constitutional Convention had just met for a few weeks when there arose crisis between delegates of four smaller states who demanded equal representation in the Senate. They were firm and wanted the rights at any cost. On the other hand, the delegates of the larger states were not willing to accept the idea of providing the small states’ representation in the Senate and thus they threatened to walk out of the convention. Just as things were about to get out of control, Benjamin Franklin the oldest delegate rose up to speak. Franklin gave the suggestion of adjourning the convention for three days to cool down the temper of the members. He also suggested to include a Chaplin, who would help the delegates to give words of wisdom and enlighten...
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...Racism “The dynamic and integrating power constitutes the principal frame of reference for all individual and collective experiences-has been preserved in recognizable form among the North American Diasporas.”[1] Racism still plagues the veins of America today. Whether it is positive or negative racism is to be decided. There are examples of positive racism such as: Affirmative action and following a role model of the same race. Traces of negative racism still exist within groups such as the KKK for example. Our group has mostly examined racism against African and African Americans. We believe the term “African”, in it self, is racist. Do you see anyone calling a white American, a European American? The answer is no. Why can’t we call the group labeled African Americans, Americans? When our group goes to a TCU football game, we cheer for the team as a whole. At TCU a black football player is called a football player. A white football player is also called a football player. If a sport as simple as football can get past discrimination of white and black, how come America cannot? People like Johnny Lee Clary, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela are great examples of attempts to over come black racism. Peter J. Paris makes many great points in his book Virtues and Values: the African and African American Experience. Paris uses leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. to empahsis that troughout the hard times, African virtues and values stood strong...
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...During the spread of Christianity, the Roman Empire saw the new religion as a threat to their power. Christianity, in the eyes of the empire, broke tradition and disobeyed laws. In fact, Christians were openly disobedient. Christianity further challenged the ideas of the popular stoicism which believed in earthly pleasures. The rise of these new religions were so worrisome that two emperors, Decius and Diocletian, led major persecutions against Christians. Romans were mostly polytheistic. They had many main gods and goddess’, household cults, and the emperors were considered to be deity’s, someone having divine status. Throughout the calendar year, there were many games and celebrations all across the Roman Empire. While not all in the empire had the same beliefs as the Romans, they all were required to partake in the celebrations. The Christians and Hebrews did not participate in the...
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...Right-wing populist relationship with Christianity has more to do with identity politics, and not because of shared values through common faith. Conclusion In this paper I have identified the relationship between Christianity and far-right populism in Europe as a salient issue related to the topic of populism which requires further research. I argue that right-wing populist parties in Europe maintain a relationship with Christianity primarily for its usefulness in the arena of identity politics, and not because of shared values between the prevailing sects of Christianity and national populist movements in Europe. The argument is supplemented by a review of the relevant literature and of previous analytical analysis conducted on the topics of religion and populism in order to outline the state of the art in the field of this research topic. This review revealed the need for further research specific to the relationship between Christianity and far-right populism in contemporary Europe. The paper then provides an appropriate quantitative research design by means of a survey assessing the European electorate’s religiosity through comparing individual voters’ dominant values against their preferred political party or the party voted for in the most recent state or European Union election. This survey, if conducted, will provide statistical evidence to show that far-right populists in Europe co-opt Christianity for reasons relating to identity politics and not because of shared values with...
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...the Black Death, and one of them is how religion, economics, and labor made the disease effect even more twisted by showing a horror side to human nature. The Black Death was a disease that killed majority of the citizens in Europe, and originally travelled there by a parasite riding on the backs of rats from Asia on sea merchant ships. The people of that time had different theories of how it came to Europe, however, they never thought the carriers being the rats. The theories that the people came up were: It being the wrath of God, infection of the air and waters, and blaming the Jews for polluting their waters. To help break the mold that we’ve been taught as kids, this essay will go into the economics, labor, and religion aspects that the Black Death...
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