...Religion and traditions beliefs are part and parcel of human life. Naturally, human beings grow up believing in a superior being. Mostly, this being is believed to have more power than human beings. That being is believed to be responsible for the presence of objects found in the environment. Religion tries to explain the origin of those objects. It also tries to help people to discover their purpose in life and tries to account for life after death. Religion instills certain values in human beings. Religion attempts to build correlations between people and divinities, sacred time, sacred space (natural world) and with one another. This paper seeks to illustrate how religious beliefs contribute to and promote these relationships. Most religions such as Christianity, Islam and Hindu believe in a divinity world. This can be one genuine God, several gods, objects in the environment, the living dead, spirits and ancestors. For instance, Christians believe in God, Muslims in Mohammed, and Buddhists in Buddha and Hindus in Brahma. Religion is responsible for creating a link between its members and the world of divinities. To some, this relationship can appear to be unreal whereas others believe that it is a real experience. Performance of rituals is a major way of connecting people and divinities. For Christians, taking part in the Holy Communion is a way of promoting this relationship. This was performed by Jesus and His apostles during the last supper. Jesus required of his apostles...
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...and sub-cultures develop identity and purpose is through their faith and religion. One’s religious traditions - like family, tribe, or nation - anchors them to the world. Religious traditions provide structure, discipline, and social participation in a community (Samovar, Porter, McDaniel & Roy, 2013). Religion, also sanctions a wide range of human conduct by providing notions of right and wrong, setting precedents for accepting behavior, and transforming the burden of decision making from individuals to the supernatural power (Samovar et al., 2013). As such, religion responds to the basic human need to understand the purpose of life. This paper will examine five major religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism along with each of their core values and assumptions. It will examine the impact religion plays in cultures as well as the overall impact religion has on globalization in the 21st century. Through a personal reflection on religious diversity in the workplace along with an overview of the Society of Human Resources best practices to handle such diversity, it will provide recommendations on how to develop a cohesive culture that values diversity and aligns the tenets of various religions with that of a positive and collaborative workplace code of conduct. The Need for Religion People have always felt a need to look outside themselves for the values they use to manage their lives as well as for guidance on how to view and explain the world...
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...in most instances as a religious call. Evolutionary biologists and cultural psychologists may explain this away in the paradigms that are satisfactory for understanding the observed world. For practitioners, however, religious yearning derives from an external intangible source that is not directly amenable to empirical verification. If there can be neutrinos and dark energy that defy easy detection even through powerful and sophisticated instruments, one could argue, why can’t there be other intangibles whose existence is beyond meters and scopes? The matter continues to be debated, but this is not our concern here. No matter what the source, this heart-felt beckoning and fulfilling framework almost defines the religious person’s existence. There are many in our group who are religious persons. Religion informs and inspires the values and visions that are part of one’s existence. It provides a backdrop for one’s life, present and future, terrestrial and beyond, real and visualized. The spiritual yearning has taken concrete forms in human history as different religions with deep historical, geographical cultural links. Though its essence transcends such links, it is through these that the religious experience becomes meaningful, enriching, and relevant in its observance. There have always been conflicts not only between those who hold particular versions of the religious spirit, but also between those who accept the validity of the religious experience as a genuine...
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...keeping up with developments in medical ethics, whilst maintaining religious principles and/or ethical values. (Total for Question 1 = 50 marks) There are several issues that arise when it comes to the development in medical ethics whilst also maintaining religious principles and ethical values. The development of medical knowledge has allowed for humans to practice different ways in helping society. But these new discoveries have found to clash with religious principles and ethical values. This can be related to the topic of abortion as it goes against monotheistic religious teachings. In the 21st Century it is allowed for a mother to abort a healthy child up to only 24 weeks in the UK. However, still within the UK it is permissible to abort a foetus with a disability up until the stage of birth. Many thoughts have been voiced as to what message is trying to be implied by this piece of legislation. Does this suggest that it is wrong to carry a disabled child? Or maybe it wouldn’t be wrong or classed as murder to abort a disabled child past the stage of viability even though it’s ready to be born. Or simply that the quality of the life of a disabled person is lesser than that of a healthy person. If this was the case then it could be a possibility that disabled people may not be classed as persons in society as they are not fully functioning humans. If disabled people are not human, this could easily lead to the human rights of these people being stripped away. Monotheistic religions...
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...Society’s Daily Life By Aris Totle FOUN 1001: English Society, as it is known, is built on the basis of religious teachings. Religion has a huge impact on daily life. Almost every aspect of everyday life has been influenced by religion. Religion can be described as a system of shared beliefs. Christianity, being the most widely practiced religion in the world, especially in western territories such as the United States of America, Europe, and the Caribbean; has also been the most influential. Although many persons may not be practicing the Christian religion, their values and daily practices are still mandated by Christian beliefs. The biggest influence that Christianity has on everyday life probably is that the social norms that exist in society today are almost all based on the teachings of this religion. Social norms refer to rules that govern socially acceptable behaviour. Societal norms and practices in western civilizations are largely dictated by Christian beliefs. Religion greatly impacts the morality of individuals within these societies. Collectively as a society, and individually, persons attempt to live their lives in accordance with codes of morality and ethicality. Morals refer to an individual’s own principles regarding right and wrong. Ethics also relates to right and wrong conduct. There is a strong connection between religion and morality and ethics. Although these are distinct concepts, and morality can exist without a person being religious, the three...
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...Sacred Story: each sacred story shares the same key dimensions First: origin (the basic story) Second: history of the religious community Third: teachings that define that community, its creed, cult, and moral code. Creed: the community's fundamental statements about God or the meaning of life Cults: Used to describe even more fundamentally at odds with the world outside. Moral Code: the moral conduct people are to follow. The system of rules that guides moral activity. Sacred scriptures: record sacred traditions as they are handed/passed down. An approved text becomes established and is considered sacred or authoritative. Religious symbols: the primary means by which the sacred is expressed to the people whom it appears. Sect: sub-division within an established religion. Referred to a group of believers at odds with the mainstream tradition. Theophany: an encounter with the divine Ethics: norms of behaviour modelled on the way of life of the founder that emphasize the centrality of human dignity, human freedom, and human rights. Religious worldview: accepts some aspects of the culture and rejects others. Religious founder: proclaims the truth he or she has experienced, others who hear must choose whether or not they accept the revelation. Moral relativism: believes there are no absolute values, only those that are useful in the secular culture. Mainstream religions:...
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...Dr. Chan Thrs 231 Jannie Or Paper1 I disagree that the best way to study religion is learning from a page from the World Almanac. The information is not accurate and not adequate when comparing the world non-Christian on a few paragraph. First, Among all those ambiguous religion questions, one of them is very difficult to answer- who is the founder of the religion? According to the informative paper: "Founder of Hinduism--The Aryan invaders" which actually in the modern history people consider that there is no single founder. However, the religion is originally established by God Himself (dharman tu sakshad bhagavat pranitam) which claimed by the ancient scriptures of India; as well, "Islam's founder is Muhammad" who is known as rasul Allah, or God's Messenger to the Arabs, and to all of humanity. In my opinion, it is very difficult to specified the founder of religion into a particular person. The sacred text is difficult to conclude in some religion. For example, Buddhism's "sacred text is the Tripitaka" however, Buddhism's sacred text might include not only The Tripitaka, the Mahayana Sutras, and the Tibetan Book of the Dead. I need to think the reason why only list The Tripitaka as Buddhism's sacred text might be it is because The Tripitaka is the most important one. Another problem is how to classified the most influential sacred text, the information is not very precisely stated. For example, the sacred text of Hinduism can...
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...Kierkegaard’s Stages of Subjective Response to Absurdity Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) was a great Danish philosopher who attempted to understand what motivates a person to make the decisions they do throughout their life. His work was based on the idea that the human condition is objectively “absurd”, and that “truth is not to be found in objectivity, but in subjectivity, or passionate commitment to an idea” (236). Human nature seeks for meaning of existence, but objectively this is impossible to comprehend become of the complex and immeasurable answer to such a contemplation. Kierkegaard believed that meaning could only be found through one’s personal development and search for a uniquely subjective meaning of existence. He categorized three types of subjective responses to this absurd condition, being aesthetic, ethical, and religious. These three responses represent stages of life that a person must go through to reach a point where they are most connected with their true identity, represented with a connection with a higher power in the religious stage. Before a person can reach this point, they must go through the other stages in succession to build and develop their subjective meaning of life out of the innately absurd condition. The first stage of life that a person goes through is the aesthetic phase, defined by an overwhelming desire to fulfill one’s own self interests. In the aesthetic phase, Kierkegaard describes the decision-making process being based on the immediate...
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..."Describe and evaluate a significant moral controversy in medical ethics, with reference to the topic which you have investigated” [50 Marks] Abortion is the deliberate expulsion of a foetus in order to terminate a pregnancy so that a woman does not give birth to a child. The issue of abortion has raised a serious amount of controversy in the medical and religious world which continues to create conflict to this day and age. There are two ways of which a pregnancy can be terminated which are widely known and carried out from a day to day basis, the treatments vary on how far along the women is which generally becomes more of an issue the further along they are when they decide to have an abortion as it only legal to have an abortion within 24 weeks of pregnancy before it is deemed to be too late. One type of abortion consists of taking a pill which is also referred to as a medical abortion which has a different action dependant on what time they decide to have the abortion, if the women if earlier than 9 weeks pregnant the pill will work as an agent of causing the woman to have an early miscarriage. A woman who is further along than 9 weeks takes a pill that terminates the pregnancy by means of causing the womb to contract and push out the unborn child but this has to happen before 24 weeks or it is deemed illegal. The second and more commonly known method of abortion is what is known as surgical abortion, just like the medical abortion it has two different treatments dependant...
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... 2014 Daniel Davis Hinduism is considered the World’s oldest organized religion, it is also the third largest in the World. “It consist of thousands of different religious groups that have evolved in India since 1500 BCE. Because of the wide variety of Hindu traditions, freedom of belief and practice are notable features of Hinduism”. (Hinduism: The World’s third largest religion, 2014) The way Hinduism expresses its spiritual traditions is not by one unified religion but by supreme variations of religious paths, this allows for no central tradition but a diverse worship of deities. There has been various definitions of what Hinduism actually is and what it involves so it is important to understand what connects these various beliefs and practices in order to form the religion Hinduism. What makes up the Hindu Religion is that it is not a standard type of religion, but it is a set of religious traditions and beliefs that has evolved over time. Although the Hinduism religion is various in many ways, all of the religious groups and traditions follow certain types of beliefs and practices but also acknowledge and follow the ancient scriptures called Vedas. These sacred writings contain hymns, incantations and rituals from ancient India. “According to orthodox Hindus, the Vedas are not the work of any humans. They are considered shruti texts—those which have been revealed, rather than written by mortals. They are the breath of the eternal, as “heard” by the ancient sages, or...
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...strongly for defining and strengthening a global culture of values, morals, ethics, and humanity. Thus, a new role of humanity in the context of human belief system needs to be redefined. Extremism, fundamentalism, and terrorism in all aspects of human life (religious in particular) as well as hunger, poverty and misery, and economic disparity between rich and poor globally provide sufficient evidence for the necessity of redefining humanity. With no equilibrium system in world...
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...they believe in many different Gods such as India where there are millions of Gods. This influences praying rituals and sub groups that may focus more on one single God rather than others. Rites of passage are also important. These are transitional periods from one social status to another. Within Judaism, the Bar Mitzvah transitions young boys into men where they have to take on other responsibilities and society views the, differently. Within African cultures, each village or tribe may have their own local religious rituals as well. Despite these sharp differences, there are also some similarities. One major similarity is that most religions have some sort of organizational structure. This means that it is an established institution that exists separately of the people involved. Leading these organizations are clerical members and priests. Priests join the ranks by either going through training programs or apprenticeships. While the exact rituals by which religious leaders are initiated or conduct their work may be different, the main element of having a core infrastructure with designated leaders is still present throughout various cultures. Another major set of commonalities is that they all share common stories, use symbols (such as a crucifix in Christianity or the Star of David in Judaism), have rituals and undergo change. This is because the core function of religion is to transmit information and beliefs onto the next generation. Thus, using symbols and anecdotal...
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...issues are of more use than religious approaches (35) When looking at the Maldives and other quickly diminishing countries, coupled with raising temperatures and huge variations in extreme weather across the world, it is clear that environmental ethics must be taken very seriously. But there have been a number of ethical approaches towards the environment trying to tackle and provide moral guidelines on how to treat and use the earth. During the course of this essay I will attempt to outline a few of the main secular and religious approaches to environmental issues and then through evaluation come up with a conclusion on which I feel is the best to follow. To make a good environmental theory, the ethical approach must provide moral guidelines for governments, big businesses and individuals alike. One secular theory, which tries to achieve this, is Conservationism. The conservationist theory aims to look at the value of that the environment has to humans and how looking after it and using it will affect us. The conservationist approach takes a shallow ecology approach, which believes that the earth has instrumental value. This means that if lowering the carbon emissions to protect the Maldives will benefit human life then a conservationist approach will argue that this is a good thing to do. The conservationist approach can be closely linked to Bentham’s hedonistic approach to Utilitarianism, sharing the ‘ if its beneficial enough to humans then we will do it but we wont...
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...between philosophy of religion and sociology, history, theology, and religious philosophy. philosophy of religion focus on the truth and reasonableness of religious beliefs. While the historian or sociologist may study religious beliefs, but his focus is not specifically on the truth or reasonableness of such belief theologian looks at religous beliefs from within, as an adherent or representative of a religous tradition. philosophy of religon may be engaged in by thinkers who are not religous at all, as well as by committed religous thinkers philosophy of religion not so much religious thinking as it is thinking about religion. Religious Philosophy is Religious thinking Explain the arguments for and problems with fideism. Fideism: human beings are never religously neutral; they are always either in faithful service to or in rebellion against God. Claims that faith is the precondition for any correct thinking about religion Problem: fideist cannot attempt to win over his critics by rational argument as the presupposition of such dialouge means the possibility of common ground (fideists deny common ground) eliminates the possibility of showing the nonbeliever the superiority of a religous worldview where should one place one's faith? What 2 factors do Evans and Manis raise in answering the fideist claim that critical reflection about religious beliefs is arrogant and presumptuous? God, if real, wnats humans to reflect about religous truth the manner in which the thinking...
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...before but we live in a planet amongst many others. The theory of revolution of Charles Darwin taught people that we are a member of many different species of animals. These discoveries challenge us to think about the world in general, life and humans in a different way. Nowadays faith cannot forget reason and psychology has to be taken with the importance it needs. During this assignment as indicated by the title we are going to see the relationship between faith and psychology (reason). First we start by showing the type of relationship that can take place between them then we explain how and why they go hand in hand with religion. In the second chapter we see how reason challenges our faith, then conclude by giving some suggestions how reason can contribute with faith. The relation between faith and reason: You cannot actually talk about the relation between faith and reason because there are many psychological reasons like there are religions. Faith cannot be separated from the human person. Even less the Christian faith which concentrates mostly on God which became a human like us. The word of God is directed to the people and the answer to this message is to be given by people. In other words the revelation of God was made for humans and faith is the answer for us. It is important therefore that religion understands the people before it explains the actual purpose...
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