Religions have always been extremely varied. This is true due to an ample amount of external factors, such as location. Is it possible that there is at least one universal idea, present in all of them? This is largely a personal interpretation, as “common ground” (universal ideas) has a large spectrum of meanings, ranging from “kind of similar if you look at it in the right fashion”, to “exactly alike”. In any case, there are many examples, and counterexamples of universal ideas between the “main” seven religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism, which will be explored in the remainder of this essay.
Arguments could be made on how all religions share a similarity. For example, all religions were persecuted by outsiders at some point. Perhaps the most dramatic example of this was the mass genocide known as the Holocaust, where an estimated 6 million Jewish civilians were killed by the Nazis during WWII. Hitler executed this “final solution”, as a means of finding a scapegoat for all of Germany’s failures. Another dramatic example of religious persecution is the continued persecution of Muslims post-9/11 in America, where because of Osama bin Laden’s Islamic heritage, and his Muslim faith, all Muslims continue to be associated with him. On a nationwide scale, the Chinese government is currently trying to suppress all religions in China (the main ones including Daoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity), because the government
The monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have over many thousands of years established many traditions and beliefs. Many of these are from their respective book of scripture such as the Bible, Torah, or Qu’ran. Others are from the interpretation of the religions over the many years from their leaders and the generational stories that have been passed down. Many of these can be seen as quite similar between the religions, but others can be considered unique to each one of them. There are many concepts that can be analyzed across these religions. The goal of this essay will be to focus and to put an understanding to some of the main concepts that include ultimate reality, human beings, community/society and nature (science) and how these influence the believers’ understanding of what it means to religious.
Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism are religions that developed in the East. Although each of these religions possess characteristics unique to itself, they share one thing in common in that they are all religions. Their classification as religions depend on the definition of the word: religion. Webster's Dictionary defines religion as “The outward act or form by which men indicate their recognition of the existence of a god or of gods having power over their destiny, to whom obedience, service, and honor are due.” Frederick Streng's attempt to define religion as, “a process whereby people reach beyond themselves to connect with the true and
In life, one will undertake a spiritual journey in which you will uncover the meaning of the self. Many religions, including Hinduism, Confucianism and monotheistic religions, have developed philosophies placing importance of the “self.” Emphasis on morality, virtues, honest contribute to the development of the inner self. In religions such as, Islam and Judaism the importance of conducts and worship will lead you to paradise in the after as promised by Allah or Yahweh. The teachings of proper behavior, edict, ethics and conduct are also part of the teachings of Confucius, an ancient Chinese philosopher. Redeveloping the self, according to the founders of Buddhism and Christianity, will lead to your spiritual enlightenment and Salvation.
The world is full of diversities which are mostly characterised by the geographical disparities. These diversities range from the way people interact with one another socially, economically and politically. Through the lens of social organization, religion stands out to be one of the major aspects of human life. Everybody has some element of religiousness in him. Fortunately or unfortunately, often people adapt to the religious partners they find at the place of their birth. However, globalization and civilization is gradually transforming and integrating religious believes from the different parts of the world and perhaps someday, which is not known to anyone as per now, people will have a common believe in regard to religion. Till then, humanity continues to believe differently on matters of religion. Among these many religions of the world are Jainism and Daoism. Both based in Asia, these religions have a history and a following which is noticeable. Because of their prominence in Asia and a growing global integration of the ideologies upheld by these two forms of religions, this paper critically examines them with intent of exhuming any form of similarity or difference. This paper also checks into exactly what these two religions entail or teach its followers.
Those who are raised within one religious tradition may find it difficult to understand the traditions of another religion. It is not until one is educated in the basics of the other major world religions, that it is possible to see the many similarities between them. Just as there are many similarities between the countries culturally, the major religions share more things than they are different. In viewing Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism with an open mind, it is easy to see the differences, similarities and ideals that make these religions as widespread as they are.
Hinduism, Buddhism and Shinto, while vast in differences there is much to learn about these three religions similarities as well. Some facts and history of Hinduism include, Hinduism (being the oldest of the three) is dated back in pre-history before 10000 BC even believed to predate the Indus River Valley Civilization! The Vedas (the holy text of Hinduism) is the foundation for Indian culture and also the basic belief system of Hinduism. The basic belief structure of Hinduism is as follows, the three doctrines; Samsara (1) which means “successive rebirths” indicating the belief in reincarnation started by ATMA or the spark of life given by the god Brahma. This cycle continues until the soul collects enough good Karma (2) to break from the
The first path consists of Samma ditthi, the right understanding of the Four Noble Truths. The second path is Sammas sankappa, the right thinking and following of the right path in life. The third path is called Samma vaca and this is the right speech meaning no lying, criticism, condemning, gossiping, or the use of harsh language. Samma kammanta is the fourth path which says the right conduct by following the Five Precepts. Samma ajiva which states the right livelihood to support yourself without harming others. Samma vayama is the right effect to promote good thoughts and conquer evil thoughts. Samma sati is the right mindfulness that one becomes aware of your body, mind and feelings. The eighth path would be Samma Samadhi which states the right concentration that one can meditate to achieve a higher state of consciousness.
During the second-wave of civilizations, during more than a thousand years, people have evolved in their traditions as well as in their attitudes in regards to their ideals and philosophies including their religious influences that brought upon their outlook on life. Later, these regions began to adopt these concepts into their own government, being an impetus for people to begin to independently search for their own unique perspective of "truth" and what is "good". Though there are many different thoughts and explanations about how to live, there is some common ground between them. Throughout the year 600 B.C.E. to the year 600 C.E. the ideas of religion such as Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucianism and philosophy like those of Plato, Laozi, and Socrates. From 600 B.C.E. to 600 B.C. religions began to impact the traditions and attitudes in Europe and Asia resulting in multiple different, but yet similar approaches to the same goal of living morally and truthfully.
In Chinese history, there were three main philosophies: Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism. These beliefs helped shape Chinese culture as well as Chinese history. Not only did people believe in these ideas, but the three helped to govern the mighty Chinese dynasties. These dynasties all provided an impact to each doctrine; the philosophy that had the greatest impact was legalism because it ended the Warring States Period, provided structure, and strengthened agriculture, and the military of China. Although Confucianism, Taoism and Legalism had a few things in common and at times tried to resolve the same problem, they were very different from each other in their beliefs, character, and ways of life.
Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe. In today’s society there are many religious lifestyles people stand by. Popular ones consist of Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism. When looking at Christianity and Buddhism it is easy to identify some major differences. For instance, both the religions were started and founded by different people and in dissimilar ways. A second one would be what they believe in; number of deities, and what they base their knowledge around. A final difference between the two would be how they practice their religion and worship their “God.”
Often times in our society we take one another for granted and treat each other with cruelty. Some of the times our best communication with one another is constant war, fights, and brutality to one another. Religion on the other gives us the opportunity to set aside our differences and come together as one. In order to do that we must believe religion works and set all concerns to the god or gods. Religions have become beneficial because it make things certain but also to put our uncertainty to the superior. Which means god will provide. Another way you or others can see this being affective is putting trust in the god and god’s. Back in the Early Middle Ages moving to the Dark Middle Ages, life was brutal and not choosing what religion you belong to makes it even harder for the individual. You had to believe and set aside your difference with religion.
All too often in modern society it is the differences and conflicts that serve to separate religious groups that are emphasized. The mainstream media, fundamentalists’ propaganda, and other sources choose to ignore the numerous similarities that many religions share, and instead focus on the divisive elements. In this paper, I will attempt to shed light on the many commonalities in dogma that I believe exist between the major religions of the world. I also want to illustrate the fact that in addition to having similar core teachings, many religions have histories that have either endured or arisen during times of persecution. It is ironic that in many cases, the persecution that a
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all have similar origins, development, beliefs, and sacred texts. Contrary to popular belief all three of these religions share more common ground than one would think. The differences are present of course, but the similarities help one understand where all three were derived from and why. All of the religions share the common ground as to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, the belief of monotheism, and “ethical standards required social justice for individuals and for the community” (144). Judaism is the oldest religion out of the three, then falls Christianity, and lastly Islam.
There are so many religions in the world today that it would take several lifetimes to fully understand each and every one. Luckily, we will just be discussing the four major Eastern religions in this essay which are Hinduism, Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. Each religion has similar ideas when it comes to the lack of value of the material world and finding true spiritual meaning but differs in many things. For instance, how to escape the material world, practices, the purpose in life, and moral values. For this reason, I am going to go one by one to each religion to do a full analysis of each one so that we can understand what each religion is about rather than just generalizing them like the media does. My goal is to gain the
Our team discovered while looking at different religions that there were many religions than what we will define here. It is certain that a discussion about religion will at some point bring up the subject matter of there being so many different religions, and do they have any common components. Our group agreed that although that are many differences, there are some similarities, impacting four basic