...Part II Town of Greece v. Galloway 572 U.S. (2014). The town of Greece, New York, started each of its monthly town Council meetings with a prayer given by a volunteer pastor. The prayers given at the beginning of these Council meetings were a general invocation of “God’s” blessing to all. The Council meetings were conducted by a 5 member town board to discuss official business, and were attended by many people, including those of different organizations. Two women who are a part of the freedom from religion foundation, opposed these legislative prayers, and this created the Town of Greece v. Galloway case. The Establishment Clause is at the heart of this case, and it is battling a controversial topic, that has had a...
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...Religion and Culture Final Exam Hinduism, Islam (mainstream and Sufism) and Sikhism are complex and fascinating with its diverse culture and rich history. Although all have individual beliefs and practices, the way they all engage with their community hold some similarities. These faiths all have some type of worship and have some form of hospitality that they carry through their community and is dictated by their beliefs. From an outsider’s point of view, Hindus are seen as those in India who worship many gods in the form of idols and wear colorful clothing. After visiting a Hindu temple, I view them as an open and welcoming community who value the Hindu traditions and practices, and the act of charity and hospitality. To Hindus, their temples are open to anyone who wants to visit. They hold many things, acts, and behaviors sacred as they perform devotional rituals in the temple. Hindus often participate in worship and charity-giving to engage those within and outside the Hindu community. The most common worship ritual is puja. In puja, the devotees and the priest gather to give their offerings to the deities. Within puja, there is a series of devotional practices and behaviors when one engages in it. Darsan is the act of seeing and being seen by the deities. This is done with the use of murti, a material in which a deity is embodied in (Rodrigues, 227). To see and be seen by the sacred is to be in their presence of the divine and receive their blessings. This practice also...
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..."What are the different types of prayer?" Answer: The Bible reveals many types of prayers and employs a variety of words to describe the practice. For example, 1 Timothy 2:1 says, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.” Here, all four of the main Greek words used for prayer are mentioned in one verse. Here are the main types of prayers in the Bible: The prayer of faith: James 5:15 says, “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.” In this context, prayer is offered in faith for someone who is sick, asking God to heal. When we pray, we are to believe in the power and goodness of God (Mark 9:23). The prayer of agreement (also known as corporate prayer): After Jesus’ ascension, the disciples “all joined together constantly in prayer” (Acts 1:14). Later, after Pentecost, the early church “devoted themselves” to prayer (Acts 2:42). Their example encourages us to pray with others. The prayer of request (or supplication): We are to take our requests to God. Philippians 4:6 teaches, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Part of winning the spiritual battle is to be “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” (Ephesians 6:18). The prayer of thanksgiving: We see another type of prayer in Philippians 4:5: thanksgiving or thanks to God. “With...
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...process can improve relationships, work ethic, and peace of mind or cohesiveness within a given circumstance, qualitative research would be the most appropriate. Research is an important aspect of many parts of life. While prayer is not a business or a job, it is a call that serves a purpose and is a large part of my current and future work ventures. Gathering data on the power of prayer, let alone proving what that gathered data means, is an improbable and highly scrutinized practice. When researching the present findings and preparing this paper, I found myself in quite a conundrum of faith and understanding. That being stated, according to Baesler and Ladd 2009, several studies have been conducted, indicating that those experiencing crises have shown an improvement in their over-all wellbeing when participating in prayer centered activities. The struggle however is, how does one record a qualitative record, when the action, connection and result whether negative or positive can be judged only by those seeking prayer and/or those on the receiving end of the grace offered? On the other hand, quantitative data can be gathered in the sense that groups of people experiencing crises who pray in some fashion, can be polled as to how, when, where and in what size prayer group they participate....
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...reason to go here. With all the bad press the Muslim faith has received over the past 10 years it was hard to explain a reason for purposely putting myself in that position. My friends are not the most tolerant people when it comes to non-European faiths. Leading up to this Sabbir had to educate me in my behavior, dress, and what to expect in general. I was to wear casual attire but no shorts or anything with loud print. He said the best thing to do would be to wear something that I would wear to my church. The emphasis was on not wearing anything distracting. He also said the best thing to do would be to watch and keep silent and ask questions afterwards. You don’t talk during the prayer itself. I went to the Maghrib, or the evening prayer. It is the fourth daily prayer which is completed just after sunset. Apparently the exact time varies if you are Sunni or Shia but in these mosques they are usually performed in the Shia tradition. I had to take my shoes off before I entered and the room itself looked at first like a gymnastics studio. There were mats laid out covering most of the floor. The room began to fill and people found their places. I stood in the back and watched with a few other curious bystanders. I was not permitted to be on the mats at the time and I was fine with that. They said that if I wanted to partake in the prayer ritual I needed to make an appointment with one of the church coordinators (their term). The prayer...
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...Power of Prayer Prayer is the process of communication between man and deity. The deity is referred to as God or the supreme entity of a religion. Prayer can be secretive or shared openly to encompass unity and strength. Prayer is not just for worship, but communicating and strengthening a believer’s relationship with their God. Prayer has been a tool used throughout humanity as the means to communicate with holy beings. Man is instituted with mechanisms in their nature that assist them in reasoning with shortcomings and facing issues that are outside their abilities. Facing a difficult time in life, the loss of a child, or being responsible for inflicting suffering in the strive to survive are all reasons that man can seek a supreme being to explain life. Deep mediation may start as lamaz or quieting the mind to focus energy on the worst problem at hand. After a certain level of focus is reached, man’s nature allows for connection and worship to be offered to a force that cannot be viewed in his natural eye. Becoming enlightened, or removing the current mindset towards life and seeking a different path to resolution, changes the energy that is given to a problem and lightens the emotions that are connected with this issue, until the problem itself is dissolved and the only aspect left is emphasizing the conclusion. A connection with man’s spirit is made, and changes in his environment are seen. Prayer is now a method to try and observe the result of this new avenue of faith...
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...accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree… yeah, makes perfect sense now. To most followers of Christ the photo alone is representative of a beautiful sacrifice. We all know the story of how Jesus Christ died for our sins. In accepting this concept as followers of Christ we are to be permitted into the “Kingdom of Heaven” where we will have an everlasting joy filled existence, upon His return. This is only offered to those who truly believe. Sadly there are many who are only “Sunday Christians,” “Christians in times of wants/needs,” “Holiday (Christmas/Easter) Christians” or whenever it’s convenient for them. The bible teaches these are not true followers of Christ, and will not be permitted into the Great Kingdom. This belief has caused non-Christians, Agnostics, Atheists and other non-Christian faiths to try and destroy what Christians hold so dear to them. The integrity of our Father, God, His son Jesus Christ, (God in human, mortal form) and every Christian’s belief has been defamed and mocked. This particular photo comment dissected and what we believe as followers of Christ: * The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie: God sacrificed his only son so that we may be forgiven our daily sins. He was raised from the dead by the Grace of God. We are born sinners. *...
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...and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise the up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (New International Version, James 5:13-16). If you are righteous, pray, confess your sins and you will be healed. I feel that this verse states that if you are a follower of the Lord and you praise God you will be relieved of your sickness and your sins will be forgiven. The roles of various team members in the healing hospital address caring for the sick by including spiritual assessments, being cultural diverse, not biased, and respect the dignity of others beliefs. They allowing the patient’s and family members to identify their needs of a spiritual leader and performing prayer or practices that allows components of healing. Williams-Orlando, C. (2012). Spirituality in integrative medicine. Integrative Medicine: A Clinician's Journal, 11(4), 34-40. Retrieved on August 17, 2013 from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5&sid=d92204c9-a2c4-4019-b128-81a326ed0ef7%40sessionmgr111&hid=115 DQ2 Will the expectation of care vary based on the faith base of the patient involved? How can the practitioner change care practice based on the faith of the patient?...
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...Running Head: Faith Diversity Health Care Providers and Faith Diversity Jolly Allesh Grand Canyon University HLT-310V January 9, 2012 Abstract Health care providers care for patients from a number of different religious traditions and need to gain as much knowledge as they can, regarding such religions and their cultures to provide quality care. Three religions that are often encountered in health care are Baha’ism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. All of these religions share many similarities and, at the same time, have many differences. This paper answers the following questions about each religion: ‘What is the spiritual perspective on healing?’ ‘What are the critical components of healing, such as prayer, meditation, belief, etc?’ and ‘What is important to people of the particular faith when cared for by a health care provider whose spiritual beliefs differ from their own?’ It also compares these religions with Christianity and its philosophy of faith and healing. Health Care Providers and Faith Diversity The diversity in religions and faith beliefs is becoming more and more apparent in health care facilities today. As health care providers, our job is to show acceptance of a diversity of faith expressions. In order to do so, however, it is essential that we gain more information about different religions and how we can deal with such individuals in a hospital setting. Three faiths that will be discussed are Baha’ism, Buddhism and Sikhism. The Baha’i Faith can be encountered...
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...On December 12th, the Central Mosque of Charleston (CMC) held an event called “Meet Your Muslim Neighbor”. Initially, I was nervous about attending the event because of the negative stereotypes people associate with the Muslim faith, especially considering the recent events that have occurred over seas. As soon as I walked through the doors, to my surprise, the nervousness was immediately lifted. There were three young women with big smiles who greeted me, offered a scarf to wear over my head, and then proceeded to say that taking off your shoes and wearing a scarf was completely optional. Out of respect, we did take our shoes off before entering the lecture hall. When we got inside, there were about fifty or so other people- women, men, and children of all different backgrounds who were also attending to learn more about the basics of the Muslim faith. The ceremonial leaders stood up front and answered all of the questions in which the audience asked. From these questions I learned that Muslims formally pray five times a day. Each prayer is spaced evenly throughout the day starting at dawn, then noon, afternoon, sunset, and evening. Each individual has a certain schedule that he or she follows regarding how long each prayer is. These prayers are said for Muslims to be reminded of God’s continuous support and guidance throughout the day and to also ask for forgiveness of their daily sins. I learned about Ramadan, which is a month of fasting and also a Pilar of Islam. There are...
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...Supplication and the Power of Prayer. Prayer is a blessing and privilege that can enrich man’s relationship with God, aid in spiritual development, and positively affect the life and associations of the believer. According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, prayer is an address to God, and act of communication. According to the Webster dictionary, power is “ability to act, capacity of undergoing or suffering and the faculty of doing or performing something. Supplication is defined in your dictionary as the act of humbly begging from something on someone else behalf or yourself. An example of Supplication is you go to God on your knees and pray. (Mark 11:24) says, “Therefore I say unto you, what things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them”. So therefore, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgivings, present your request to God” (Philippians4:6). To me prayer is talking to God one on one, about anything that should happen to be on my heart at that time. In my opinion, prayer is a vital necessity in building a relationship with Christ. Prayer changes things and many of us have heard this statement before, whether it was from our parents, grandparents, strangers, and even our pastors. Prayer is common and important in the Bible. Prayer also leads to a greater understanding of God’s will for us, and leads to a more meaningful communion with God. Prayer gives vision in the secret place...
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...Health Care Provider and Faith Diversity Jill Gillespie Nursing 310 V Spirituality in Nursing Introduction: As nursing professionals, we are in constant contact with persons from many walks of life and who have unique spiritual and religious backgrounds. To give quality holistic care, nursing professionals need to be understanding and compassionate about these differences and respect the diversification of the patients that we treat. By having an open mind and actively seeking the knowledge to provide unbiased and compassionate care that incorporates each individual’s spiritual faith. To begin to understand differences between spiritual beliefs, three distinct faith practices were compared to the traditional Christian faith. Buddhism, Shintoism and Bahai philosophies were examined through patient interviews to gain the knowledge needed to provide compassionate nursing. A Christian perspective on Healthcare: Christianity is a religion of personal experiences. It is a spiritual movement, not a lot of theories or "isms." It is a movement of life, truth, the Holy Spirit, and love. The important thing is to have a personal, real experience. Through the right relationship with God we can recognize and understand the Lord's will. There are many ways in which we can experience God's blessings. I recommend fasting and prayer as the most powerful of these. The Bible has much to say about fasting and prayer. Joel wrote, "Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with...
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...From the second to the fifth century, worship, prayer, and baptism have evolved and transformed drastically. Following Christianity becoming the state religion under Constantine, these communal and public acts of spiritual sacrifice and the profession of faith by numerous individuals have molded and thrust the religion into the sophisticated practice it is currently. There were changes and developments in the forms of Christian worship during the first five centuries of Christianity. Among the factors influencing the changes was the adoption of the New Testament to be the Christian scripture in addition to the rise of the church into public life under Emperor Constantine in the fourth century. Initiation rites of the new converts into...
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...who follow this model are either spiritual or scientific. They do not believe the two are intertwined. Entwistle further divides the Enemies into Secular Combatants, who embrace psychology without any religious authority, and the Christian Combatants, who embrace religious authority and work to protect it from human interference (Entwistle, p. 138). The Spies model recognizes the benefits of religion and Scripture but does not seek to integrate the religious aspect into psychology. If religion does try to play a part, it is reduced to the most minimalist form. Therefore, the therapist may recognize his or her client attends Church and even encourages such attendance. However, the therapist will not seek to discuss Scripture or use prayer as a counseling tool (Entiwistle, p. 142). Those following a Colonist model are more inclined to introduce Theology into Psychology, but with restrictions. Colonists will carefully select what elements of Psychology are useful and then work to conform it to...
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...World Religion-Islam Lanise A. Middleton HUM/130 12/07/2014 Marc Rhoades What is Islam? The word Islam comes from an Arabic root word meaning, “Peace and Submission”. The religion instills that one will discover peace by submitting to Allah totally with all your heart. Islam is the 2nd largest religion in the world. There are over 1.6 billion followers. Islam is a monotheistic faith along with Christianity and Judaism. Followers of Islam are called Muslims. And as followers of Islam, Muslims have basic beliefs that they believe in: Faith in unity of Allah (God) Faith in Angels Faith in Prophets Faith in the books of Revelation Faith in the afterlife Faith in destiny Faith and good deeds go hand in Islam. Belief in Allah makes obedience a duty. Everything in life has to be an act of worship. This is known as the Five Pillars of Islam. The first pillar is the Testimony of Faith or Shahaadah. This is believing and professing God’s unity. There is no god but God Muhammad is the messenger of God. Second, is Prayer (Salat). A daily ritual of praying five times per day. This is done to strengthen belief in God, purify the heart, comfort the soul, encourage the good and get rid of the evil in a person, and develop the mind. Next, Almsgiving (Zakat). This is known as charity. At the end of the year Muslims must donate a small portion of their wealth to needy Muslims. The fourth pillar is known as fasting (Sawm). Frequent fasting is recommended, however the mandatory...
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