Bio__134

Issues and Traditions in Western Religions Issues and Traditions in Western Religion Suzette Lee REL/ 134 Dr. Miguel Rodrigues 4/5/2010 We study different religious faiths in order to understand other people. Many people have strong religious convictions, and it would be impossible to understand them without first understanding their beliefs. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are monotheistic faiths practiced by about half of the world’s population. Monotheism refers to the belief in one God. The faiths are often called western religions. Today Jews from every movement or denomination face discrimination known as anti-Semitism. This discrimination and hatred is "...based on stereotypes and myths and often invokes the belief that Jews have extraordinary influence with which they conspire to harm or control society" (ADL, 2009, para1). Many Jews that live in the world today, at least 5 million of those Jews reside in the Middle East in Israel. The Jews that live in the Middle East are faced with great dangers and threats from an extremely powerful country with possible nuclear weapons, Iran. The president of Iran has publicly spoken out against the existence of the Jewish state Israel and has threatened to wipe the country off the map, literally (Haass, 2009). Jews have many rituals and traditions, and one tradition that is popular is called Kapparot which is done before Yom Kippur. This ceremony requires the participant to use a rooster if they are male, a hen if they are female, and hold the bird above their head and swing it in circles three times while chanting a phrase that says: "This is my exchange, my substitute, my atonement; this rooster (or hen) shall go to its death, but I shall go to a good, long life, and to peace" (Schwartz, Ph.D., 2009). Although, this scared tradition is not listed in the Torah, many Jewish followers believe that the Hebrew word for man can be translated into rooster and therefore a rooster can atone for their sins. An important ritual that Jews take part in is eating kosher meats. To make meat kosher means that all the blood has been removed from the meat through salting and broiling because it is unclean to eat the blood of animals. It is also forbidden to cook meat that has not been salted and prepared in this manner. There are strict restrictions on the type of salt that is used, the amount of time the meat soaks, the temperature of the water that the meat soaks in, and how it is cooked (Appel, 2008). Christians worship in churches led by ministers and priests. Most Christians practice acts of religious significance called sacraments. The sacraments include baptism, when a Christian joins the church; confirmation, when a Christian confirms his or her faith; and matrimony. The Eucharist is the holiest of Christian sacraments in many Christian churches. During the service, members of a church will eat a small wafer of bread. Christian tradition states that at the Last Supper before his execution, Jesus asked his followers to think of the meal as the body and blood he would soon sacrifice. One of the current issues that Christians are dealing with today is division over practicing homosexuality. The Christian Bible stems from the Jewish sacred texts and the Jewish law prohibited homosexuality of any type. The God of the Bible even destroyed two cities for homosexual behavior. Today there are many leaders in the church who are condoning homosexual behavior and some are even taking part in the lifestyle of homosexuality (Trosch, D. 2002). Christians in the United States are not faced with the choice of giving up their life for their faith but all over the world there are religious and political leaders forcing their residence to denounce Christianity or they will die; this is called martyrdom. Christians who live in countries such as: Iran, Afghanistan, China, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan are facing great opposition from government leaders because of their choice to be Christians. Everyday there are approximately 465 people killed because they will not give up their faith in Jesus (Gospelweb, 2008). One tradition that Christians practice is going to church one to three times per week to have fellowship with other believers. Most church services follow similar traditions such as playing music and singing, praying, collecting offerings and tithes, and coming together for special holidays such as Christmas and Easter. Most Christians also believe that the Bible is the only word of God and it is a sin to follow doctrines that do not come from the Bible (Bennett, 2008). Water baptism is one ritual that is practiced by most Christians. Christians believe that a person must be submerged into water which symbolizes dying with Christ and raising a new and clean person. There are differences of opinions on the relevancy of water baptism and its effects on a person's eternal destiny. Communion is another ritual that is practice by Christians. Communion consists of eating wafers and juice to symbolize taking the Lord's Supper. Some denominations take this ritual very seriously and parallel it with actual cleansing of their sins and wrong doings. Other denominations take this ritual less seriously and only observe it monthly or yearly as they feel need. The reason that Christians follow this ritual is because of the command from Jesus in the Bible to drink his blood and eat his body. Islam is an Arabic word that means “surrender to God.” Believers in Islam are called Muslims, or “those who surrender." Muslims believe that Muhammad was the last of a series of holy prophets that included Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. A prophet is a holy messenger. Christians believe that Jesus is God, while Muslims believe Allah is the only God and that Muhammad was his messenger. Allah is an Arabic term that means "the God" (al-El). Muhammad lived about 600 years after Jesus in what we now call Saudi Arabia. Muslims believe that Muhammad was visited in a cave by an angel. Muhammad repeated the words of the angel to others who learned them by heart. Eventually, Mohammad's followers collected these messages and gathered them into a book known as the Quran. The Quran is the holy book of Islam. It has been translated into many languages, but many Muslims believe that the only true version of the Quran is written in Arabic. This is why Arabic spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Often Muslims will learn Arabic as a second language, as a Jew would learn Hebrew. After September 11, 2001, many Islamic followers dealt with discrimination in every aspect of their lives because there was a fear of their culture and religion based on stereotyping. The media portrayed a scary picture of death and martyrdom that caused many Americans to treat Muslims and other Middle Eastern decent people with hatred (New York City Commission on Human Rights, 2003). Muslims face the challenge of fundamentalist ideology and division among the religious group. Some Islamic groups are teaching their followers to hate people who are Jewish, Israeli, American, and or Christian. Many people argue that Islam is a religion of peace but others say it is a religion of destruction, chaos, and control. According to Falkson (n.d.,para7) "While every adherent of Islam is certainly not a terrorist, every Arab terrorist is a Muslim." One of the most important traditions of Islam is to observe the Five Pillars of Islam which are five steps the adherent must comply to in order to be called a Muslim. This involves professing Muhammad as God's messenger, praying five times a day, giving charity to other Muslims, and taking a trip to Mecca at least once in their life. Mecca is a holy city to Muslims because it is the site of the Kaaba, a small shrine that Muslims believe to be the most sacred spot on earth. Muslims orient themselves toward the Kaaba during their daily prayers. Every Muslim who makes the pilgrimage to Mecca walks around the Kaaba seven times. Islamic tradition states that the stone was originally white, but it becomes black by absorbing the sins of the millions of pilgrims who have kissed and touched it. One ritual for faithful Muslims is to fast between dawn and dusk during Ramadan. To fast means to abstain from eating. Ramadan is sacred because it is the month in which the Quran was revealed to Muhammad. Muslims use a lunar calendar, so Ramadan falls at different times each year. Ramadan will begin November 17, 2001. In all western religions humankind is essentially sinful. We are taught that we would become better by controlling our sinful tendencies. The human body is generally seen as a major source of temptation, sin, chaos, change, and ultimate decay. Because of the separation of our soul from the body, and the general disgust of the sinful body, very few spiritual practices involve the body. Instead the followers are often urged to chastise and discipline the body through ascetic practice. Each religion has a strong influence in today's society and people from all religions are being faced with conflicting interpretations of rituals and traditions that have been passed down over the past 2000 years. The characteristics that all three religions have in common are that they all believe they serve the one true God and that they all believe that their interpretation of sacred texts is accurate and other religious groups are wrong. Bennett, D. (2008). The Christian Tradition: Living, Holy, and Relevant. Retrieved March 23, 2009, from http://www.ancient-future.net/tradition.html Islam Religion. (2009). What is Islam' (part 3 of 4): The Essential Beliefs of Islam. Retrieved March 23, 2009, from http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/4/ Schwartz, Ph.D., R. (2009). The Custom of Kapparot in the Jewish Tradition. Retrieved March 21, 2009, from http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/kapparot.html Trosch, D. C. (2002). Gays and Lesbians Catholic Homosexual Activity: Sodomites in the Catholic Church' Retrieved March 23, 2009, from http://www.trosch.org/for/gay-lesbian.html