Religious Reflections. Please Respond: Identify (3) 1)

¶ … Religious Reflections." Please respond: Identify (3) 1) Judaism, 2) Shinto, 3) Buddha, things discussed fully, explain learned (3) things Identify (3) surprising things learned quarter, explain surprised.

Religious reflections

The phrase 'Judeo-Christian ethic' is often used as a broad-based term to describe the philosophy of most residents of the United States. But this is rapidly changing. It can no longer be assumed that the majority of United States residents grew up in a household where either Judaism or Christianity was the predominant faith. As a member of a workplace where there is a high percentage of Asian and Asian-American employees who were brought up in households with Buddhist, Confucian, and Shinto traditions, I would liked to have learned more about these different faith and philosophical perspectives. However, what I did learn has proven useful in seeking to understand and empathize with my colleagues' worldviews.

It is often said that Buddhism is more of a philosophy than a religion. To some extent this is true, given that it is not a conventional, monotheistic, religion focused on the worship of one god and one god alone. However, from talking to my colleagues, I recognize that Buddhism also can very much resemble a faith, with various traditions and rituals. I would liked to have learned more about the distinction between the philosophy of Buddhism and how it is actually practiced 'in the field,' and also more about the different ways that Buddhism has been interpreted in different countries. Monastic, Tibetan Buddhism seems very different from how Buddhism is practiced in a more modernized nation like Japan.

Additionally, I would also have liked to have learned more about Shinto, a religion that seems to be complementary to Buddhism in Japan. In Japan, Shinto is a native religion -- it is particular to the nation of Japan and tied to locations and aspects of natural phenomena in Japan. Unlike in the U.S., many Japanese people are very comfortable practicing what we would call two religions -- Shinto and various kinds of Buddhism. In Western cultures, most families and people feel a need to 'pick one' religion and are not comfortable practicing several. I would like to have learned more about how Shinto and Buddhism have interacted with one another over the years, and the extent to which they have affected Japanese culture but also have been changed by modernity.

The only religion in the United States that seems to have the same 'cultural' orientation as Shinto is Judaism. Although Judaism is a religion, many of my friends who profess to be Jewish do not actually consider themselves to be believers at all. Once again, I would liked to have learned more about the different definitions of what constitutes a 'religion' and how people can be 'religious' without professing faith.