Kaden Bodine

Feb. 18, 2017

Larson ELA 1010

God, Are You Out There?

What is god? Is god a who or an it? Is this my god? I have

been asking myself these questions for as long as I can remember.

When I was young my grandma used to take me to her church, but

quite frankly, the only part of the entire church session that

made sense to me was that she brought me a bag of Lucky Charms to

eat under the chapels benches. At this time, Lucky Charms were

my god. This was dissimilar, obviously, to all of my peers in

church, which brought me to wonder; How do different people view

god?

In How Different Religions See God by PJ Kiger, the author

states that the different religions in the world have created

entirely different cultures and artworks. According to the

author, there is two core kinds of religion being monotheism and

polytheism. Monotheism is dealing with one god while polytheism

is more than one god figure. Kiger implies that of the five major

world religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all

monotheistic while Hinduism is polytheistic. The final of the

five major world religions, Buddhism, according to the author, is

neither polytheistic not monotheistic because it focuses on

spiritual growth of oneself rather than worshipping one figure of

god.

This article was particularly helpful by answering the

question of how many gods certain religions believe in. I learned

of monotheism and polytheism. Three of the five major religions

identify as monotheistic while one identifies itself as

polytheistic and the final of the five doesnt identify as

polytheistic or monotheistic.

After reading this article, it led me to ask another

question. What role do the followers play in these religions or

what does it mean to be a human within these specific religions?

In the textbook Think World Religions by Roy Robson, it states that

each religion has different explanations as to what it means to be

human. In the introduction, The author uses an analogy having to do

with South Park and Hello Kitty to explain the overall question. He

states that popular character Eric Cartman of South Park symbolizes

the worst in us while Hello Kitty symbolizes the innocence and

kindness within us, very opposite from each other. He continues to

conclude that we can learn what it means to be human from our idolized

view of these characters through clarifying acceptable and

unacceptable behaviors. He later states that Hindus look at being

human as a stepping stone in the process of enlightenment. As a soul

is reincarnated, it moves up or down or down a ladder towards moksha,

which means full enlightenment. The author claims that in Buddhism,

humans can work towards enlightenment or nirvana by following the

Eightfold Path, which includes obtaining the right virtue, wisdom, and

meditation. Being a human in Buddhism means to accept that everything

is changing around you while your mixture of characteristics passes

from life to life. It is stated that within Judaism, being human means

to have free will while being created in Gods image. Jews believe

that they are the chosen people as humans because they are followers

of the father of Judaism. The author says that Like Jews, Christians

too believe that humans were created in gods image. The humans can

reach heaven by not committing sin and repenting when having done

such. Islamic people, the author states, view being human as an

opportunity to incorporate their religion into their social and

political lives.

This book was extremely useful to my study. I learned what

different religions view being human as meaning.

Through this book, a new question arises; how do the followers of

certain religions worship or pay homage to their god(s)?

In 5 Major World Religions: How Do They Worship? By Whitney

Evans, it is explained what the sabbath looks like for different

cultures. According to the article, the Jewish sabbath is known

as the Shabbat and takes place from Friday evening, lasting until

Saturday evening. Most Jews will attend a special service on

Friday nights after a holy meal, then read their holy texts on

Saturday. Muslims, the author states, pray five times per day.

While they recognize no formal sabbath, men and women gather to

pray separately on Friday afternoons in mosques. Within Buddhism

and Hinduism, Evans says, there is no specific day of sabbath but

rather specific days of festival or ritual on their lunar

calendars. In the article it is states that the vast majority of

Christians recognize Sunday as their sabbath. Many Christian

churches pass sacrament during church sessions.

This article was useful in a sense of their weekly calendar,

but not as much on what goes on during their sabbath or group

worshiping sessions. I did learn that Hindus, Muslims, and

Buddhists have no sabbath while Jews and Christians do indeed

worship on specific days of the week.

I have learned that Religions view god in a number of

different ways. Monotheism and polytheism are the main two types

of religions. Sabbaths within different religions are not the

same, and some religions do not have a holy day of worship. A lot

of religions believe in some sort of afterlife, whether it is

heaven or enlightenment. I have come to believe Hinduism as a

fantastic religion because of my research. Hinduism teaches a way

of peace through acceptance and free will. The question of how

different religions view their gods is important because it can

help someone better understand their peers. If you live in a

religiously and ethnically diverse area, knowledge of how people

around you view god can be crucial to forming relationships and

seeing their point of view.

Cited Sources

Evans, Whitney. "5 major world religions: How do they worship?"

DeseretNews.com. Deseret News, 18 Mar. 2015. Web. 10 Feb.

2017.

Kiger, Patrick J. "How Different Religions See God." National

Geographic Channel. Nat Geo, 05 Apr. 2016. Web. 10 Feb.

2017

Robson, Roy R. Think World Religions. Boston: Pearson, 2013.

Print.