Religious Belief Essays (Examples)

Medical Dilemma

The author of this report has been asked to review and react to a medical dilemma as presented via a case study. The situation is a divorced couple that has a mutual child. The child goes into a rage of vomiting and convulsions and is eventually diagnosed with meningitis. Of course, there is a request to initiate treatment by the physicians. The mother in the situation, who is not the biological parent of the child, insists that no medical treatment take place. This is keeping with personal religious status as a Christian Scientist believer and she is of the mind that modern medical treatment is against her religious beliefs. The biological father, who is living in another state, asserts that treatment be given and that an alternative physician consult with the existing physicians on the matter so as to verify the diagnosis and otherwise assist in the treatment…

Immigration on Religious Beliefs

Religiosity is far higher in the United States than in other highly developed nations. The likelihood of an American professing a religion and regularly attending services is high. Religious participation was a critical component of the process of people becoming Americans as churches were an important pillar in the social structure. Churches support and sustain communities while also facilitating inter-ethnic marriage within the three most significant religious groups: Jews, Catholics and Protestants (Massey and Higgins). Not many immigrants arrive in America expecting to alter the religion they are affiliated to. Their focus is often achieving a respectable financial standing in the society and building a better life for themselves and their families (Chiswick).

Effects on the Distribution of Religious Groups: Immigration, Religion and Economics

In a pluralistic nation, religious communities may be viewed as markets for religious services and goods without the secular characteristics that come…

Fideism vs. ationalism

Is rationalism or fideism the best response to examining religious beliefs systems?

Fideism and rationality are both divergent and complementary philosophies that helps us understand religious systems. Fideism is faith in the unseen. It is based in inspiration and trust, often without solid evidence. Under fideism, faith is necessary even when circumstances point to the contrary. ationality, on the other hand, is based on reason and typically requires tangible proof and evidence. It demands factual analysis and shuns blind faith, tradition and religion alone.

The Christian faith, as an example, asks believers to await the coming of Christ in glory and fulfillment of God's purpose for the world. This is faith in the unseen. A rationalist, by contrast, views Biblical accounts more as historical event that are trusted as having happened. However, from their standpoint the Bible was written in a particular time period and its messages,…

Another Victorian poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, was more forthright in his beliefs. Biblical typology was a signature to his poetry, and his poems often included biblical phrasings and in the case of "The Barnfloor and Winepress," even a passage from a scripture as an epigraph. Hopkins addresses the sinning Christians and even unbelievers, and reveals to them the various gifts that Christ has rewarded them with, as a result of the ultimate sacrifice. 'And on a thousand alters laid, Christ our sacrifice is made'. He offers hope through belief, and cites historical examples in his writings reminding the reader that God is their only hope in adversity (giving the example of the people of Samaria who were besieged by the Syrians). In his poems, he also opines that God must bruise and test the human being, in order to create good, as he deals with this issue in "The loss…

Cultural and religious beliefs play a significant role in understanding works of art that are emblematic of a particular culture or religion. By understanding what these beliefs are, it is possible for viewers and outsiders to gain a better comprehension of both the form and meaning of a particular work. There are certain aspects of Jewish architecture, for example, which point towards the location where Solomon's Temple was erected. Without knowing such background information, those studying art would overlook many of the key symbolic interpretations of different pieces of art. The meaning of art is oftentimes rooted in its cultural and religious significance.

Without cultural and religious understanding of a civilization that produced a piece of art, the viewer can simply make a series of assumptions. Most of those assumptions are based on importance. For instance, in artwork in which there is more than one figure represented, the viewer can…

The other issue is the poverty that makes the population not access medical healthcare. The most common diseases are asthma and diabetes. This is because the place is damp and highly populated hence no free circulation of air. However, the community health center and the health department of New York are working together to help curb this issue by educating the people, and advocating for preventive measures (Shelley et al., 2011).

Moreover, the people in this area seem not to realize their rights to better housing as most of their apartments are infested with moulds. Advocacy for better housing and housing facilities is another key preventive measure for the spread of these diseases. Other measures taken to combat the problem are that initiative to plant trees hence, bringing clean air. Poor diets and eating habits are also a key problem to the health of the people.

A part of the…

Religion and the teaching of evolution

It has been argued by some factions that teaching of evolution theory of existence of the universe contravenes the religious belief of some people as well as the ethnic beliefs of some people. It is argued by these groups that the teaching of the evolution theory is tantamount to demeaning their religious beliefs and their ethnic upbringing hence a breach on their freedom of religion. They say, that each religion or ethic group needs to be left alone with their belief unadulterated so that they can believe what they are taught by their scripts about the coming into existence of the earth.

However, the teaching of the various theories of existence of the earth like the big bang theory as well as the evolution theory is and should remain to be a part and parcel of the academic training of the students. It needs…

Cars--Us (Cars): Will Clem succeed in his discrimination suit? What are the applicable rules and why do they apply or not apply in this case?

It is unlikely that Clem will succeed in his discrimination suit even though religion is a protected class under Title VII of the Civil ights Act of 1964 and Cars--Us has an excess of 15 employees (Meiners, ingleb, & Edwards, 2015, p.499). While it is required that employers make "reasonable accommodations" for the religious beliefs of employees, these accommodations must not cause "undue hardship" (Meiners, ingleb, & Edwards, 2015, p.501). Cars--Us can make a convincing case that not using Clem on Fridays was a significant hardship because of the need to use a floater, which interfered with scheduling elsewhere and also resulted in the need for more repairs and lower levels of efficiency. This could cost a "significant amount" to Cars--Us (Meiners, ingleb, & Edwards,…

"

(Einstein, 1954)

The other universal concept shared among so many human religions relates to the fate of the individual (or of the individuals spirit or "soul"). Judeo-Christian religious traditions generally teach that a soul survives physical death and the eternal fate of that soul is substantially determined by the behaviors and choices of the individual in life (agan, 1997). Eastern religious traditions generally reflect a more general belief in the cycles of life and in multiple successive lives sharing a fundamental kernel of identity even if not exactly in the same form of soul as described in Western religions (Armstrong, 1993). Contemporary objective moralists would (again) suggest that any energies or thought in life about perpetual existence in another spiritual form of any afterlife is a waste of time.

ources Consulted

Armstrong K. (1993). A History of God. London: Heinemann.

Egner RE and Denonn LE. (1992). The Basic Writings…

All of these Christian sects, as with all religions, have traditions. Although traditions normally stem far back in the past when a religion began, they are always changing and new ones forming that better conform to the changes in society. eligious belief systems and the accompanying traditions about such essential issues as slavery, women and even same-gender relationships, for example, have changed in many Christian religions. Yet traditions, like belief systems, are ingrained in many religions and their practices, and thus not always easy to change.

Nor, is it necessary that they do so in all cases. eligious traditions can be a positive or negative influence. From a positive standpoint, they keep families and groups of people together. They give stability and consistency to life over a person's life, from birth through death, and to groups of people from one generation to the next.

However, other religious traditions can negatively…

Conclusions

There is no one standard for what is considered right and wrong in the world of American religion. The American religion that exists today may be described as "Agnostian-Secularian" meaning it is made up of multiple faiths, beliefs and convictions, some more Christian based and some more abstract in nature.

By and large the American 'religion' or modern society is varying accepting of people of many different faiths and idealisms. Though the government of this country is somewhat heavily influenced by Christian fundamentalist ideals such as those that Bush emphasizes, the public by and large particularly in the eyes of the media, is much more open and flexible in nature. There are some beliefs that may be considered more 'universal' in nature than others. There is for example an obvious preference among people living in the modern American world to belief in the basic concepts of right and wrong.…

Whether or not God chooses to forgive the choice not to accept Christ in life, any punishment for that in the afterlife is a matter for God, not man, to consider. Likewise, the decision to forgive earthly sins based on repentance and acceptance of Christ is also a matter for God's infinite wisdom and not man's fallible intellectual powers.

In all likelihood, there are explanations besides genuine remorse for one's sins that explain the unusually high religious conversion rates observed in prisons generally, and among those sentenced to life terms and to death, in particular. For one thing, all of us have a psychological need to think of ourselves as being good people. In then outside world, so called illicit pleasures and impulses that conflict with religious morality are a powerful temptation to stray from the moral path. Without immoral temptation, after all, there would be no motivation to sin…

This ritual takes place on the eighth day after birth and the ceremony itself involves both religious and surgical elements and may be performed by a surgeon of a specially-trained Mohel who has both surgical and religious knowledge. After the circumcision is performed, a festive meal almost always follows as a symbol of thanks to God and to the prophet Abraham.

One of the most complicated religious rituals of Judaism is the ar Mitzvah for boys and less frequently, the at Mitzvah for girls. These words mean "the son or the daughter of the commandment and mark the coming of age of a male or female child" (Harvey, 325) who is then seen as an adult and is responsible for observing the commandments set down by Moses and to fill adult roles in the congregation of the synagogue. This ritual traditionally occurs on the Sabbath following the child's thirteenth birthday…

Fowler is the one who is truly upset about the bomb in the square and the innocent peoples who are killed. He says, "A two-hundred pound bomb does not discriminate. How many dead colonels justify a child's or a trishaw driver's death when you are building a national democratic front" (Greene 163). Fowler may not believe in God but he seems more moral than Pyle who is idealistic and seems like he believes anything any one will tell him. Maybe that is why he is the one who believes in God and religion in the book. He believes what he reads, and he reads a lot so he has probably read the Bible and believes everything in it. Fowler is a reporter, and he has seen a lot of life so he questions things more closely. He does not just believe every thing he reads because he is a writer…

.. The actual universe, with all its good and evil, exists on the basis of God's will and receives its meaning from His purpose. However, these two conclusions do not stand in simple contradiction, to one another. The one says that evil is bad, harmful, destructive, fearful and to be fought against as a matter of ultimate life and death. But the other does not deny this. It does not say that evil is not fearful and threatening, inimical to all good and to be absolutely resisted. It says that God has ordained a world which contains evil- real evil- as a means to the creation of the infinite good of a Kingdom of Heaven within which His creatures will have come as perfected persons to love and serve Him through a process in which their own free insight and response have been an essential element."

(Hick, 1978)

Arthur Schopenhauer,…

In fact, there is a sense here in which the will to do good deeds restores God to the universe as the fountainhead of morality, with the famous "categorical imperative" substituting for specific divine commandments. However, those who are not already convinced that moral truths are possible -- who are not already "morally certain" -- tend to find this argument circular (Palmer 259).

For the rest of us, it is a very different proposition to develop and defend a moral framework in the absence of religious certainty. e can simply reframe our notions of good and evil in terms of personal responsibility, as Kierkegaard does when he defines wrongdoing (sin) as the very absence of certainty itself. In this approach, human nature is split between conviction (or faith) on the one hand and anxiety on the other. "The anxiety of sinfulness manifests itself either as an anxiety about evil or…

eligious Life of Planet Earth

This report seeks to establish if planet Earth is a religious planet. In so doing, the report will primarily outline the criteria used to determine if the inhabitants of the planet are religious and the various beliefs and behaviors they exhibit in line with the criteria. Further, the report will also highlight the function of religion (as it appears to be) on the planet under consideration.

To establish whether or not Earth is indeed a religious planet, the very nature of religion on the planet must first be understood. This can be accomplished using a number of approaches. On of the most effective approaches in this case has got to do with evaluating the primary characteristics of religion. This is the criteria the report utilizes in an attempt to determine if the inhabitants of planet Earth are indeed religious.

Characteristics of eligion: What eligion Looks…

eligious Liberty as Stated in the First Amendment

eligious Liberty

The practical and legal ramifications of religious liberty are not difficult to determine, for they follow from the theological implications of the concept of religious liberty. The idea of religious truth, such as defined by the North Carolina state government in 1776 which forbade anyone from serving who denied the truth of the Protestant religion, has no place in a country that holds religious liberty as law. Yet, religious liberty has not always been practiced, as North Carolina and Maryland (which was officially declared an Anglican state in 1692) both show. Today, the first amendment has been ratified to make such claims untenable. Nonetheless, many scholars question whether religious liberty itself is defensible. By acknowledging the right of religions to be exercised publicly, the U.S. constitution sets the stage for a massive fight between various and contending religious beliefs, which…

religious history of my family as I know it, and its impact on me.

I myself am from Vietnam and am studying in New York. My parents are Vietnamese and living in Hanoi, Vietnam.

We follow a mixture of Buddhism and Confucianism, although I think that somewhere way back, my grandparents or great-grandparents - I know little of either side -- may have been pure Buddhists. Actually, I see similarities in both, in that both focus on peace within oneself, and I think that the popular way of how Americans see Buddhist belief of nirvana as believing that we are feted to suffer is wrong.

Thinking of my family's beliefs and how it has shaped our lives and my life in particular, I think it is more Vietnam's beliefs in general; that has impacted us rather than that of my particular family. The two primary beliefs in Vietnam in general,…

religious tourism and its future potential development, evaluate to what extent the holy sites are important in promoting tourism and how they could be utilized as a tool for further promotion and overall development of tourism industry in the future. The research indicates that there are both strengths and weaknesses related to present day tourism of religious sites in Jordan. The strengths include the presence of some of the most important holy sites including Mount Nebo and the Baptismal Site The weaknesses of the current state of tourism involve the lack of proper services and facilities to attract and retain the presence of tourists in the region. In the future one of the primary goals is to create trails that connect the holy sites together. It is believed that this is needed for both practical and promotional purposes. As it stands such trails do not currently exist.

There are also…

ideals of Religious faith looking at such questions as "What are the grounds of religious faith? What does a faith do for a life?. Examples used are historical data such as Germanic faith, Vedic cultures and faith from Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Bibliography cites four references

Faith; Blind love or stupidity

What are the grounds of religious faith?" This question is as ambiguous, and as difficult to answer as the question "Does a God exist?" There are many ways of understanding the need and grounds for a religious faith, such as psychological, sociological and cultural. It also needs to be recognized many devout followers believe that their God is supreme, for instance followers of the Muslim faith.

However, to answer the question, where are the grounds for faith in religion, we need to look at the evidence and the reason of the existence of faith. The moist common answer may…

(Casanova, n.d., pp. 10 -- 26)

The Secularization by odney Stark

In the article titled Secularization, Stark (1999) is discussing how secularization is having a dramatic impact upon the society. This is because organized religion has not offered any kind of new or creative ideas in over two hundred years (which are leading to its decline). Moreover, many of the more mystical religions are experiencing similar decreases. The combination of these factors are important, in showing how there has been fundamental shift in morals and values. (Stark, 1999, pp. 249 -- 273)

Evidence of this can be seen with observations from Stark who said, "The day will come when religion has been relegated to memory and museums. This will not have been caused by modernization, and the demise of faith will bear no resemblance to the process postulated by the secular doctrine." (Stark, 1999, pg. 269) This is illustrating how…

Hinduism and People

Unlike most religions which ask their practitioners to prescribe to a designated set of behaviors wherein they shall all behave uniformly, Hinduism bears the motto that "People are different." Most religions begin from a dogma which is a written interpretation of what the creators of that religion state their God or Gods want from the followers of that religion. Because of this, the religions are slow to evolve and more or less stagnant. According to J.N. Nanda, "Hinduism is not limited by the view of a single founder, a single holy man or a single holy book" (106). That is to say, those that practice Hinduism understand that there is no one type of person. Individuality, by its very definition states that people will have singular ideas and singular personalities. There is no one type of person living in the world, just as there is no one…

beliefs, ideas, and customs that come from different people in the world. And, people from different countries such as Israel, Japan, and Suadi Arabia feel the same way about their countries as Americans feel about America. They honor the traditions, believe in their country as a whole, and fight anyone who wants to attack it. And, they will also obey the old and new customs of their land. So, when they have visitors they expect them to respect their old fashion customs when entering the country.

The people of Suadi Arabia are just like Americans because they hold their country close to the heart and are proud to be in that country. Even though some people may view Suadi Arabia as a horrible country to live in due to the strict customs and the fact of the many wars in which they have, Suadi Arabians want to be proud and…

Freud, Nietzsche & Russell

The Discovery and Realization of the Self in the Philosophies of Bertrand Russell, Sigmund Freud and Friedrich Nietzsche

With the emergence of nineteenth and twentieth centuries, human history had been introduced to new philosophies that seek to celebrate individualism and the intelligence of human beings. From the philosophical discourses proposed by Sigmund Freud, Bertrand Russell, and Friedrich Nietzsche, it becomes evident that there no longer exists subsistence to religious idols and personalities, which had been the prevalent ideology and philosophy among societies in human history's early history until the 18th century.

In the texts that follow, this paper discusses and analyzes the philosophies of the three philosophers cited earlier. With references to the following texts, "Thus spake Zarathustra" by Friedrich Nietzsche, "Why I am not a Christian" by Bertrand Russell, and "Lecture 35: A philosophy of life" by Sigmund Freud, this paper argues that the philosophers'…

eligion provides a valuable source of spiritual meaning for those who might feel lost psychologically without a larger purpose to their lives. eligion contributes a comprehensive moral framework for human social interactions that generates a motivation for ethical conduct in the human community.

One of the most profound benefits of religion is the extent to which it allows some people to negotiate emotionally trying circumstances, especially in relation to the loss of loved ones. Irrespective of whether or not religious beliefs about the afterlife and the continuous existence of the human soul after physical death are true, they undoubtedly help countless people cope with emotional loss.

eligious traditions enable the efficient passage of social culture from one generation to the next and serve to connect the current generation to those in the past in a manner that also allows entire communities to maintain a unified social system and a shared…

Religious Field Search

AHMADIS: THE OTHER FACE OF ISLAM

For the purposes of this paper I visited the local Ahmaddiya Muslim Community or as they prefer to called Ahmadis. Ahmadis are a sub-sect of the Islamic Community. What attracted to me to study this community was that unlike the general image we have of the Islamic community, this community is non-violent and is considered heretical by the larger Islamic community for having a prophet in succession to Muhammad, the founder of the Islamic faith. In many Muslim majority countries the Ahmadis are banned and in many others they have been ex-communicated from the Islamic mainstream. Apparently -- as I discovered- one of the other contentious issues between them and the rest Islamic community is the controversy over Jesus Christ's death, which I found interesting given that I considered Jesus an exclusively Christian figure. To my amazement it turns out that…

Religious Service Reflection

My chosen observation was of the Jehovah's Witnesses, a fundamentalist Christian organization. I have never known very much about them other than the fact that they have a community ministry, offering their pamphlets from door to door. They are often ridiculed for their beliefs against traditional celebrations such as Christmas, Halloween and birthdays. I know people who believe that they are a cult; however, I do recall a boy from elementary school who was a Jehovah's Witnesses. He did not salute the flag or participate in holiday parties with the rest of the class. He was nice, stayed to himself a lot and was a very good student. I was always a bit curious about him and thought I'd try to learn more.

As a Christian, I have always been skeptical of the Witnesses because of what I viewed as their extreme and improper beliefs. By chatting…

Confucianism promotes the "ideal of the scholar, who cultivates virtue in oneself and shares it through service in government, teaching, and daily life," Canda explains on page 1. The pure idea of Confucianism is to benefit all the citizens and those benefits have a ripple effect starting with the individual, through the family, and out to the Korean society and then the world (Canda, p. 1).

Confucianism has had an influence on many spiritual and physical Asian-based traditions; for example, Confucianism had a big influence on the development of martial arts, acupuncture, and meditation, according to Canda.

Shamanism: There are about 300 shamanistic temples within an hour of the capital of Seoul, according to an article in the New York Times (Sang-Hun, 2007, p. 1). The article points out that shamanism is presently enjoying a renaissance after "centuries of ridicule and persecution"; indeed, shamans were "demonized by Christian missionaries and…

Numerous artists have made use of religious principles as they devised ideas to use in their work. "It is no wonder, therefore, that so much of the finest art of history has religious meaning, from the Parthenon and Chartres to the Taj Mahal and Rothko Chapel, from the Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost through the erman Requiem to the Brothers Karamazov" (Dutton 230).

Bermudez, Jose Luis, Art and morality, (Routledge, 2003)

Dutton, Denis, the art instinct: beauty, pleasure, & human evolution, (Oxford University Press, 2009)

Widdows, Heather, the moral vision of Iris Murdoch, (Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2005)

Even though there are many individuals who promote the belief that art should not be associated with religion, people appear to ignore the fact that religious concepts can functions as catalysts strengthening the relationship between man and the divine. Art practically represents the best that humanity can give birth to and it should…

eligious Discrimination

With far reaching negative effects that have always culminated into national and regional instability, religious discrimination is not a phenomenon that came up recently. Many authors consider it as discriminations on an individual based on their religious affiliations. Accounts of religious discrimination can be traced back to the 1800s with reference to various discrimination stories that have always appeared in articles talking about religious discrimination. One such story is the story of Harry Fischel (1865-1948), a ussian immigrant who could not be given a day-off on Saturday to enable him observe the "Sabbath"; the period in which this act of discrimination occurs gives insight into the long history of religious discrimination (Friedman, 2008). Some of the recent complaints related to religious discrimination include handling of alcohol, the mode of dressing, and observing the Sabbath (Trottman, 2013).

eligious discrimination occurs in two forms: direct and indirect religious discrimination (Bennett-Alexander…

The Aztecs believed 13 to be a sacred number. The Aztec week was thirteen days long and the number was respected as a measure of time and completion (Number 13, 2010). The Aztec calendar year was 260 days long, which was calculated as 20, thirteen day periods, called Trecenas. The goddess Tlazolteotl was the ruler of the 13th Trecena, who was the goddess of sin and could forgive sins (Number 13, 2010). In Hinduism, the thirteenth night of the waning moon in the month of Maagha is sacred to Shiva, and notes a cause for celebration of creation and preservation (Number 13, 2010). For those reading tarot cards, the tarot 13 is the card of death. In Scandinavia, the day of the Saint Lucia celebration is December 13th (Number 13, 2010). egarding United States currency, the number 13 is seemingly glorified. On the one dollar bill, there are 13 leaves…

Religious Life on Planet Earth

hat does religion look like? To my alien culture, religion will take different forms. It will be seen through kindness, through humility, through love and altruism. In this paper, religion is not a dogma, it is not something that necessarily takes place in a building. Religion to my culture is a spirit, an act that inspires hope, a conflict that has been resolved. It is people helping each other in time of need.

Three examples of behaviors that meet the criteria are: a) affection shown between two people such as holding hands, hugging, looking deeply into each other's eyes, or kissing; b) a smile on the face of a person being served food by another; c) a person picking fresh vegetables from a garden and sharing it with others.

My Report on Religion in North America

On arriving in Hillsboro, a small town near Portland,…

In 1924, the American Congress greatly reduced immigration with the Immigration Act, but this system was removed in 1965 which allowed for a huge wave of immigration from parts of Asia, such as the Philippine Islands, Japan and China; also, immigrants from Haiti and Mexico flooded in and greatly increased the population of American Catholics. With the arrival of the 1960's, five events are of high importance. First, John F. Kennedy became the first Catholic President of the United States in 1960 which "due to his popularity, charisma and personal integrity reassured non-Catholic Americans that Catholicism was legitimate and that Catholics could be trusted" (Emerson, 256).

Second, Pope John XXIII who had been elected as Pope in 1958 became one of the most popular and beloved Catholic Pope in modern history, due to his attempts to bring Catholics and non-Catholics together in friendship and appreciation. Third, John XXIII also convened…

People can be affected by religion in different ways and The Misfit becomes the perfect character to uncover the grandmother's gullibility. She, in turn, is the perfect person to expose his evil nature. This contrast allows O'Connor uses to reveal the delicate nature of man. Somehow, in the midst of everything, the two people bond, leaving the grandmother with a false sense of hope. She believes, because she knows best, that she has transformed his life. She truly believes she can change him. Parini writes that at the moment he shots her, she realizes "they are connected, and through a horrible act of violence she has received a moment of understanding, if not grace" (Parini 231). The showdown becomes one between The Misfit's powerful convictions and the grandmother's shallow beliefs. O'Connor proves with these individuals the importance of being passionate about the right thing. Being passionate about Jesus is good,…

Trees take in carbon dioxide (which includes pollution in the air) and give off oxygen so we can all breathe, and so God's plan can be carried through. The teaching of values, morals, and discipline must be part of the program for a Catholic teacher, and also the involvement of parents brings the school, the Church, the children and the families together in a fellowship of learning and praying.

As was mentioned earlier in this section, involving parents in their children's learning activities is a powerful way to keep our faith strong and growing in the context of education and Christianity. This is particularly poignant because on page 9 of the "Our Catholic Schools" one of the major issues facing Catholic education is the "…inadequate home and parish involvement with schools," and we can mitigate this problem by working closely with children to get them inspired enough so they want…

Of course, it could say that the invisible world is superstition and unreal. It might not exist, or be part of an old system of belief that is primordial. It would see those old beliefs about an unseen realm or the infinite as absurd. But are they? Have they vanished?

Lecture 14: Religion and the Self.

The levels of self are body, mind, soul, and spirit. One sees a similar emphasis here in modern society. The body and mind are valued. Advertisements sell all kinds of products for the body, and health is a huge industry with gyms, sports, and diets. Mind is stressed through education and the way to succeed is to develop your mind rationally rather than be inclined to emotions or use it to experience through insight and intuition a spiritual value. The question is why the layers of soul and spirit are less important. Yes, there…

Collaborative Learning Community on Issues elated to HIV / AIDS

Culture refers to a complex set of material, intellectual, spiritual and emotional characteristics that define a social group or a society. It comprises of fundamental rights, ways of life, traditional beliefs, and value systems in society. Some cultural beliefs, practices, and norms related to sexuality contribute to the spread and increased risk of HIV acquisition. Cultural beliefs such as negative attitudes towards the use of protective mechanisms such as condoms as well discussing its use among societies is one among the contributing factors. For example, men in some communities do not prefer using condoms because they consider flesh-flesh sex with masculinity and promotion of health.

Practices such as the male circumcision influence the risk of HIV disease. Studies show that the social practice significantly reduces the risks of HIV disease among them male during penile vaginal sex. Social practices embedded…

These values might seem obvious to some, but they are actually values which so many religious institutions may preach, but not practice at all in their religious thought. Ultimately, those who view themselves as spiritual but not religious don't feel that faith can be shoved into scientific or empiricitic frameworks, and these same individuals reject the notion that all is real and can be known: rather these individuals believe that love, kindness, generosity, awe and wonder are some of the most important pillars of life and that it's nearly impossible to put these aspects in a box or encompassed in black and white thinking of certain religious dogmas. Many people who ascribe to this belief system truly do believe that there are secular movements in the world today which have similar spiritual foundations, but that many of these religious movements are just out of touch with those foundations (NSP, 2013).…

Religious Symbols be worn in Schools?

Many parents and students were confused, when a school district in Nebraska stopped a 12 years old girl, Elizabeth Carey from wearing a necklace because it resembled a rosary. Rev. Joseph Taphorn said to press that "One ought to be able to figure out whether she's trying to promote a gang," he added. "If she's not, why would she be punished for her right of religious freedom and religious expression? (Haynes)"

Symbols are the powerful source of meaning and ideas. They have different meanings in different religions and are considered very important by the religious individuals and communities. The religious symbols also have a very close connection with the identity of a religion. The individuals believe their identity to be strongly connected with the symbols; therefore preserving these symbols is very important in their daily lives (Renteln 1575). Unfortunately, the United States of America,…

Eastern religions, on the other hand, conceive of much broader definitions of God and deemphasize any direct relationship between individuals and God, in addition to allowing for multiple Gods.

Other religious beliefs reject any supposed consciousness of a supreme being, conceiving God as representing nothing more than fundamental elements of the natural universe and objective principles. In that sense, in addition to increasing awareness and specific knowledge of other religions, the study of religion also introduces an entirely foreign concept, at least from the perspective of students socialized in any of the Western religious traditions. Specifically, the broadened understanding of different religious frameworks raises the possibility that the highest form of spirituality possible in human life is the complete acceptance of our absolute aloneness in the world and the relative meaninglessness of human concerns in a universe that may very well be finite in existence as well as entirely godless.…

(Krukowski, 2001) Civil religion and workplace mysticism each change the institutional locus of religious expression from the church, synagogue, or mosque to another public organization- the state or the company. The existence of these different organizations hoists the main question of individuality and perhaps challenging faithfulness.

Both civil religion and workplace theology do not show the likely clashes and problems often met by employees who are also religious practitioners. Jews, Christians, or Muslims who are workforce of a company may well have grounds to question the customs of their company on religio-moral basis. Workplace theology in a funded organization does not distinguish these possible clashes. Institutionally conveying workplace theology is obviously not identical with permitting individual employees to convey their beliefs and customs at work. This grave outlook of workplace theology should not be realized, as a censure of persons who want to live out their definite religious or spiritual…

Constructive Charge Case

A CASE OF RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION?

Constructive Discharge

Mr. Charles Wright, Chief Executive Officer (date)

From: Mr. Terence North, Manager, Elementary Toy Division

Re: Employee Constructive Discharge Claim

Our legal counsel, Atty. Edison Hawks, today informed the undersigned in writing that a former employee, Mr. Alfred Peterson, had filed a claim of constructive discharge against the company. Mr. Peterson resigned last week from his post at our Production Department when our new policy on shift work became effective. He based his complaint on the provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibit workplace discrimination against religion. Mr. Peterson alleges that the enforcement of the new policy on shift work is discriminatory in that it requires employees to work on Sundays, which his religion observes as a holy day. Prior to this new policy, production employees worked from Mondays to Fridays only. Attached is…

beliefs and practices of the Eastern Orthodox Church can be somewhat differentiated from the basic beliefs and practices of the Western Church due to its veneration of iconography or spiritual imagery of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church can be differentiated as well from the Western Church in that they pray for the dead and are stated to believe that icons "…are a meeting point between the living and the dead; they believe God's grace is active in relics of the saints, they pray to angels; they have a view of sacraments that is differentiated from those of the Western Church in that salvation "…deposited in the Orthodox Church and the priest gives saving grace through the sacraments, so that people have a relationship with the Church rather than with Jesus Christ." (Young, 2007, p.1)

General Information

The Eastern Orthodox church is reported to be a fellowship of…

Interview of 70-year-Old oman

Psychological and Religious Development

This paper represents the results of an interview with a seventy-year-old Caucasian woman named Elma Rose. Research includes her personal background, life experiences and crossroads as well as her beliefs concerning marriage, family and lifestyle.

Elma Rose was born April 13, 1934 in the small Appalachian town of Abingdon in the northwestern corner of Virginia. The youngest of eight children, she now has one surviving sister. Elma Rose has been widowed twice and currently lives alone. She has four children, ten grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Her parents were devout Catholics of middle class status who instilled an appreciation of education in their children. However, as Elma Rose explains, this did not mean that she and her siblings all graduated from college or even from high school for that matter. In fact only two brothers graduated from college, while three, two sisters and…

Worldviews, Crosscultural Explorations of Human Beliefs by Ninian mart.

Read and review the book.

Understanding and being understood are significant factors when studying human beings. This Professor Ninian mart was a distinguished professor at the University of California in anta Barbara. In his book, Worldviews, which was published in 1981, he discusses the globalization of religion and the growing interest in religious studies. He espouses to the belief that it is a basic human need to want to be understood, regardless of religious or ideological persuasion. mart believes that as we continue to globalize our world, peoples of diverse cultures, religions and perspectives will be brought together and at some point will not be able to ignore their differences.

Let's consider what Religious tudies embody. Basically, it is an attempt to foster an awareness of the nature of religion and the religious experience and to cultivate an understanding of the…

Clifford is trying to make in the story of the ship-Owner (Meister, 359)?

Despite the contention that religious belief has no moral downsides, having the belief can result in a refusal to take practical actions and thus does have many negative consequences for humanity. Even if no one was hurt due to the shipbuilder's belief in providence, this belief does not result in the shipbuilder taking prudent precautions. Similarly, religion can act as an inhibiter, preventing people from looking at an issue with scientific objectivity to make an advance in medicine or for a government to undertake appropriate social policies because of a religious notion like the poor are always with us.

Q2. What, according to Clifford, makes holding a belief right or wrong? (Be careful here. I'm not asking what makes the belief true or false, but rather what makes it OK to hold the belief.) (Meister, 360)

Holding…

Midnight Rising

Religious beliefs were the sustaining platform for the positions on slavery of both Robert E. Lee and John Brown, although both men were compelled in disparate directions as a result of their faith. John Brown's Calvinist background shaped his perceptions about the sinfulness of slavery and his strict upbringing led him to believe that the sinful practice slavery would only be won through relentless battle. Robert E. Lee was raised an Episcopalian, a variable that supported his belief that slavery would exist until God ended the practice.

The nineteenth century male, as he might be characterized in a reductionist fashion, was the officially ordained head of his household, who was most likely to be spending considerable time away from the home -- in the corrupt realm of public enterprise. Decision-making was the purview of males, which naturally included standards for commerce, politics, civic roles, and home life. Life…

Building Political Support Through Church:

How Politics Affects Community

America is a country founded on the right to religious freedom. Upon the creation of its laws, the founding fathers created a religious-based constitution. Throughout the many decades, lawmakers have found it just to change particular portions in order to make it more generally accepted by all religions. The lines between law and religion have been skewed, and the way in which a politician may build support through religion has become extremely sensitive. Because religion affects community, as does the politician, it is important to examine as to how and how much.

Whether or not one is religious or of a particular religion, they may benefit from the religious community's efforts. Religion has long been a force of unity, and those with strong religious practices are often good citizens and good neighbors in a community (McKanan, 2010). Religion contributes to its…

Furthermore, the policy seems to put a burden on the hospital to help provide those services, which seems to put an undue burden on the hospital. Writing policies that guaranteed access would be permitted, but did not in any way guarantee facilitation of that access would seem to be a better policy.

One of the least understood religious groups in the United States is the Church of Scientology. There is a strong belief that members of this religious group are adverse to modern medical care, a belief that I shared before researching their organization. However, from the information that I could find, Scientologists are not opposed to modern medicine. On the contrary, the Church of Scientology has an official policy of not being involved in either medical diagnosis or treatment of medical illnesses. They believe that underlying illness inhibits a person's spiritual journey, so that they encourage members to seek…

Accounting for Religion at Work

In general, religious discrimination is intolerable. This fact certainly applies to human resources management, in which department heads are tasked with hiring various people for positions in any number of organizations across vertical industries. However, the reality of this situation is that religious practices and observances can create substantial complications for organizations that can actually interfere with the fulfillment of organizational objectives. On some occasions, certain facets of behavior that individuals engage in associated with their religions can actually contradict with their job responsibilities and even prevent them from fulfilling them. As such, organizations that do not discern job placement based on religious tendencies may incur situations in which they are paying people to fulfill job responsibilities that they cannot do. Therefore, it might behoove organizations to consider religion as one of the factors for hiring people, and human resources management professionals need to be…

Medieval Cultural Exchange

Contrasting Medieval eligious Expression:

An analysis across Christian and Islamic Civilization

In Chapters 7, 8 and 9 of John McKay's A History of World Societies, the similarities and differences of medieval Christian and Islamic civilization across Europe, the Middle East and Africa are detailed as the rise and fall of political and religious actors are presented. One fascinating subject that stands out from such a tremendous amount of material and which returns the student of history to the human scale is how the two civilizations influenced each other in developing new perspectives on religious expression through art, ranging from architecture to calligraphy to even everyday objects such as religious clothing. An understanding of how these two civilizations influenced one another contributes to a more complete understanding of the broader issues of politics, religion and geopolitical competition that defined this historical epoch.

One of the most prominent areas…

eligious Life of Planet Earth

Criteria Employed to Identify eligious Behavior

Based on what we already know about religion in other parts of the cosmos, we will consider the following criteria to be indicative of religiosity on Earth: (1) itualistic prayer; (2) Symbolic rules that have no apparent utility or function beyond symbolism; (3) Ceremonial sacrifices (Sagan, 2002). Previous experience suggests that most religions are theistic and that the hallmarks of theistic religiosity are rituals used to demonstrate, reinforce, and transmit traditions to successive generations; symbolic rules that have no functional purpose beyond their symbolic value; and sacrifices meant to appease or thank imaginary supreme beings (Armstrong, 2003). While there are other forms of religiosity that involve more complex spirituality than presumed direct relationships between "gods" and living beings or causal relationships between the pleadings of living beings and natural events, for the purpose of a preliminary investigation, the foregoing…

Therefore, the Pentateuch plays a very important formal role in the Jewish faith.

However, the oral Torah may be as important to the Jewish people. One of the underlying components of Judaism is that the Jews are God's chosen people. As God's chosen people, even the non-religious history of the Jewish people becomes religious. This is because God informs their activities in a way that is not necessarily acknowledged in other religions. For example, a history of Christianity should include the Crusades, because they were driven by religion, but because Christianity is not envisioned as a living religion in the same way as Judaism, the history is not viewed in the same way. In contrast, the history of the Jewish people is not separable from the religious relationship that the Jewish people have with God as his chosen people.

Frankel's viewpoint of the Oral Torah, particularly the Siddur and Mahzor,…

It is likely that in order to achieve this "release" from the tedium of one's worldly conception of one's self will only be achieved with the guidance of a Guru (or siddha) who provides inspiration but does not intervene on one's behalf.

The key scriptures in Hinduism are referred to as "Shastras" (a collection of spiritual guides and laws revealed by "saints and sages" along the historical route through which Hinduism traveled (Das, p. 1). The deities (gods and goddesses) that are associated with Hinduism number into the "thousands or even millions," Das explains (p. 2). These many deities all represent particular aspects of "Brahman," which is the supreme Absolute, Das goes on. Notwithstanding all those deities, the most powerful and visible of the deities is the "Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva -- creator, preserver and destroyer, respectively" (Das, p. 2). It is also known that Hindus worship trees,…

For fundamentalists, law and authority come from God.

This is true not only in formally theocratic societies, like Iran, but can also be seen expressed in the views of fundamentalist U.S. Christians, who have an obsession with having the Ten Commandments displayed outside of secular buildings, advocate school prayer and the need for laws to be justified by Judeo-Christian values.

Female sexuality must be contained; boundaries must be established between men and women.

The female body is an obsession: hence the obsession with women staying home and not working in fundamentalist Christian circles, as well as the extreme control of women by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Sexual behavior is a major concern of all fundamentalists

Opposing gay marriage, abortion rights, sexual education unite almost all fundamentalist groups.

Fundamentalism and nationalism converge.

"The moral life according to the will of God can only be fully lived in a society of fellow-practitioners…

The Hasidic Jews are extremely pious and their numbers are small around the world. Each of these sects has relatively different views of their faith and values, but they all consider themselves bound as Jews beyond their specific beliefs.

It is also important to note that Jews have been some of the most persecuted and hated of religions of all times. They were thrown out of Babylon in their early history, they were consistently banned from European cities and countries, Hitler exterminated millions of them during the Holocaust, and when Israel was created in 1948, the Arab neighbors immediately attacked and tension continues in the region. Jews have maintained their beliefs despite all these setbacks, which points to the strength of their religion and beliefs.

In conclusion, Judaism is quite different from Christianity in its philosophy and beliefs, but that does not mean it is "wrong" or "bad." There are…

religious dualism and contrasts it to ibles teachings and understanding of the existence of oth God and Satan. It explores the authenticity of dualism as a doctrine while providing strong iblical evidence of the supremacy of God. The paper highlights iblical origin of Satan and prophesies of his end. Satan's limitations are also highlighted as a proof that he is not God's equal but is in fact subservient to Him.

Religious Dualism

Religious dualism is a doctrine that acknowledges existence of two powerful and eternal supernatural beings of equal powers antagonize one another, often depicted as a representative of good and evil (Mizii 1999). However, it is important to understand what the ible says about dualism. Satan might have little power over human beings, but he is not equal to God in any way, in the book of John, the ible says, "you, dear children, are from God and have…

The evolution of mankind on all levels, and especially the new focus of the modern society on technology and material development, has brought about an estrangement from the spiritual life.

The new world offers "alternatives," as it were, to love, through a complexity of personal, both material and social developments, that seem to been able to replace or fill the spiritual needs.

Although men and women still interact what happens between them seems to be different from what was called love before, and it is often said that more and more isolation and solitude result from these interactions. The pressure of the material complex world and of the various social facts do not allow for the openness required by love. It can be said that the complexity of the modern society influence the emotional sates of the individual and make it impossible for him or her to return to the…

JGH Profile

Privacy

The author of this report is asked to profile and otherwise answer questions regarding Canadian company JGH. A description of the services and structure will be offered and then the author will speak of the management theories and practices that the company engages in. How obvious and transparent these practices are will be discussed and whether or not it would be prudent and wise of JGH to continue that strategy. The climate of the organization will be summarized and critiqued as well as the diversity orientation of the firm. While JGH certainly has room for improvement, they are indeed doing many things quite well and they are certainly moving in the right direction.

Questions Answered

JGH stands for Jewish General Hospital, a research hospital based on Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are a McGill University teaching hospital and their website is tailored to the mixed language disposition of…