Agnostic Variation and Religious Opinions

Re: Agnostic Variation and Religious Opinions

Leaders
Buddhism: Monks and nuns
Christianity: Priests/ministers
Hinduism: Gurus, Holy Man, Priests
Islam: no clergy
Judaism: Rabbis
Confucianism: No clergy

Basic Beliefs
Buddhism: Persons achieve peace and happiness know as nirvana, by eliminating their attachment to worldly things. Nirvana is achieved by following the Noble Eightfold Path; right views, aspirations, speech, conduct, livelihood, endeavor, mindfulness, meditation.
Christianity: There is only one God, who watches over and cares for his people. Jesus Christ was the son of God. He died to rate humanity from sin. His death and resurrection made doesn life possible for others.
Hinduism: The soul never dies, but is continually reborn. Persons achieve happiness and enlightenment after they free themselves from their earthly desires. Freedom from earthly desires comes from a lifetime of worship, knowledge, and virtuous acts.
Islam: Persons achieve salvation by following the Five Pillars of Islam living and a a just life. The pillars are: faith, almsgiving (charity), fasting, pilgrimage, prayer.
Judaism: There is only one God who watches over and protects his people. God loves his people, but holds them accountable for their sins. Persons serve God by studying the Torah and living by its teachins.
Confucianism: Social order, harmony, and good government should be based on strong family relationships. Respect for parents and elsed is important to a well-ordered society. Education is important to the welfare of the individual and to society.

Major Sects of Larger Religions
Christianity: Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant: AME, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Church of God, Prebyterian, Mormon, Episcopal, Lutheran.
Buddhism: Theravada, Mahayana, Mantrayana.
Hinduism: Shaktism, Reform Hinduism, Vaishnavites, Shaivites.
Islam: Sunni, Shi'a
Judaism: Reform, Orthodox, Conservative

End of Part 2. Part 3 coming after the next reply.

Re: Agnostic Variation and Religious Opinions

I'm pretty sure Islam has a religious leader of some sort.. *goes to look it up*



According to Wikipedia...the main islamic leader (equivalent to the Pope) is called a Caliph, but there hasn't been one since 1924.

Islamic Clergy are known as Mullah and are considered experts on the teachings and meaning of the Qur'an.

^_^


Also, for clarification purposes, Allah, Yahweh, and Abba are all considered to be the same deity. The main difference between Islam, Judaism and Christianity involves God's laws, and the proper way to get to heaven.

Re: Agnostic Variation and Religious Opinions

A moderately more detailed overview

Buddhism:
Worship - Most Buddhists worship only The Buddha. The basic teachings of Buddhism is that in order to achieve perfect happiness and enlightenment one must completely detach oneself from all worldly desires and materialistic goods. This is achieved by following the Eightfold Path and the Middle Way, a life between earthly desires and extreme forms of self-denial. The Buddhar teachings are said to symbolize a wheel, which is the symbol of their religion. Leaders of the Buddhist religion consist of monks and nuns who are divided up into many different sects. The one major thing they have in common is belief in achieving nirvana and enlightenment and one must suffer poverty, meditation, and study as a life. A formal ritual by Buddhists is when Buddhist women sweeping the grounds to avoid killing insects believed to have souls in them which are reincarnated. 3 cardinal faults of Buddhists are greed, hatred, and delusion. The sacred writing are Perfection of Wisdom Sutra which contains about 8000 verses written in Sanskrit.

Christianity: As the largest religion in the world, Christianity is divided up into many smaller sects (see above). The symbol of Christians is the Cross, the object on which their founder was crucified. This represents Jesus' love for humanity in dying for its sins. A common ritual among Christians is to annually visi the Basilica Guadalupe in Mexico for it is said the Virgin Mary (mother of Jesus Christ) appeared there twice in 1531. Their teachings come solely from the Bible and the clergy. The Bible is divided into two major parts. The Old Testaments focuses on Jewish history and religion. The New Testament describes the teachings of Jesus Christ.

more coming, again, when I get to school (about 2 hours) I will put all the posts together.

Re: Agnostic Variation and Religious Opinions

Hinduism:
Hinduism is the world's oldest religion, and a large religion in India. Hindus worris several gods, all a variation of the representation of Brahman, which is the most divine spirit in Hindu religion. Hindus seek to attain enlightenment by freeing themselves fro earthly desires like Buddhists. They achieve this goal through worship, gaining knowledge, and selfless acts. The symbol of Hindus is the OM or the AUM depending on pronunciation. Many Hindus make a pilgrimage to the Ganges River in Shoeic. It is considered a sacred site because Hindus believe by bathing hear the ink water will cleanse them and cure them. When Hindus die they are generally cremated and their ashes spread over said River. Gurus or spiritual teachers play a major role in spreading Hinduism. They are believed to have the Gods words spread to them. The sacred text of the Hindus is the Vedas, they contain major hymns and philosophy. The 3 main Gods of Hinduism arm Brahma(creator), Vishnu(preserver), and Shiva(destroyer).

(still coming )

Re: Agnostic Variation and Religious Opinions

Islam: The Islam religio is based on the teachings of the prophet Muhammad (ironically also the most common name in the entire world). They are very concentrated in Southwest Asia and speak Arabic. Coincidentally, Muslims believe in all prophets of bug Christianity and Judaism. They show their devotion by performing lifelong acts of worship known as the Five Pillars of Islam. There Five Pillars are faith, prayer, charity, fasting, and pilgrimage. During the scare months known as Ramadan the Muslims east, from dawn to dusk. They do this to display signs of obedience, humility, and self-control. [my favorite part] The most important might of Ramadan is the Night of Power (Laylat al-Qadr) which is supposed to be the night the angel Gabriel spoke the the prophet Muhammad for the first time. The Hindu religion is represented by a crescent moon. Its meaning is generally unknown, but thought to relate to the new moon that begins each month the Islamic lunar calendes changes. At least once in their life all Muslims who are physically and financially available are required to go on hajj or pilgrimage, to the lol city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The acme of hajj is the day millions of believers stand at a place named Arafat, there they ask for God's forgiveness on the same spot where Muhammad gave a farewell sermon. Traditional physical symbols of Islam are Prayer Rugs, and the Qur' an. Prayer rugs are religious rugs which have Islamic designs on them that are to knelt on while praying. The Qur' an is the sacred cool consisting of 114 chapters, designed to guide Muslims through life.

Re: Agnostic Variation and Religious Opinions

Judaism:
Judaism is a religion consisting of more than 13 million followers. Judaism was the first major religion to teach th existance of only one God. The basic laws and teachings of Judaism are from the Torah, which is the first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible.The greatest symbol of the Jewish people is the Star of David. This emblem refers to King David, who rules Israel from 1000-962 B.C. Some Jewish people follow very strict dietary habits based on passages from the Hebrew Bible. Basically they state that in oper for a Jew to consume certain foods they must be kosher. The laws of what is kosher can be elaborated if needed, I'm not personally going to unless requested. Several women worship bug the Western Hall- a place of prayer and pilgrimage held sacred by Jews. This structure formed the western wall of the Second Temple of Jerusalem. The structure is maimed because in th year 70 A.D. the Romans destroyed it. Another crucial symbol to Jewish tradition is the Yarmulke and the Torah Scroll. The Yarmulke is a cloth given to Jewish men to wear over their heads for it is considered disrespect to expose one's head. The Torah Carol is a set of laws Moses was believed to have set down before before children of Israel (paraphrased the exact quoting).

Re: Agnostic Variation and Religious Opinions

What the hell is this thread?

Read Rule #2.

--Guido