Contents

What is religion
Christianity Islam

Hindunism
Budhissm

 A collection of practices, based on beliefs and teachings that are highly valued or sacred an institution to express belief in a divine power Any practice that someone or some group is seriously devoted to.

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Monotheistic The belief that there is only one god.

Atheistic The belief in

no god.

Polytheistic The belief that there are more than one gods.

Human Rights. The concept of universal human rights and equality comes exclusively from the biblical idea that all people are created in the image of God. Children. In the ancient world, for example in classical Rome or Greece, infanticide was not only legal, it was applauded. Killing a Roman was murder, but it was commonly held in Rome that killing one's own children could be an act of beauty. Through a higher view of life, it was the early Christian church that ultimately brought an end to infanctide. The modern pro-life movement is largely Christian. This pro-life view has been true from the very beginning of Christianity. A Christian document called the Didache, dated from the late first century or early second century, contained instructions against abortion.

Women. In ancient cultures, a wife was the property of her husband. Aristotle said that a woman was somewhere between a free man and a slave. According to the book Reasons for God by Tim Keller (page 249), "It was extremely common in the GrecoRoman world to throw out new female infants to die from exposure, because of the low status of women in society. The church forbade its members to do so. Greco-Roman society saw no value in an unmarried woman, and therefore it was illegal for a widow to go more than two years without remarrying. But Christianity was the first religion to not force widows to marry. They were supported financially and honored within the community so that they were not under great pressure to remarry if they didn't want to. Pagan widows lost all control of their husband's estate when they remarried but the church allowed widows to maintain their husband's estate. Finally, Christians did not believe in cohabitiation.

 Founder: Prophet Muhammad (570-632 C.E.) Belief in Allah, creator and sustainer of life. To be a Muslim one must accept and practice the 5 pillars of Islam:
1. Creed Reciting with belief There is not God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet. 2. Prayer 5 Times a day: before dawn, midday, midafternoon, sunset, and nighttime. 3. Charity to the poor commonly 2.5% on all that one owns. 4. Fasting during Ramadan sustaining from food for a certain period of time. 5. Pilgrimage to Mecca journey to the sacred site at least once in a lifetime.

Secular & agnostic are views and not technically religions in themselves. But, they are often used to describe a persons thoughts about religion. Whether that person is religious or not. For instance: a Buddhist, Christian, and non-religious person may all believe in secularity alike.

Secularity is a concept stating that government or other entities should exist separately from religion and religious beliefs.
Freedom from religious rule and teachings

Agnostic

Everything in the life of the creations of Allah, especially for those who have choices to make (us), must be dictated and clarified by the One who Created everything in the fist place. We understand from this that Islam must be a complete and total way of living, explaining everything in the life from beginning to end and from birth until death. Islam is careful to remind us that it not a religion to be paid mere lip service; rather it is an all-encompassing way of life that must be practiced continuously for it to be Islam. There are other injunctions and commandments which concern virtually all facets of one's personal, family and civic life. These include such matters as diet, clothing, personal hygiene, interpersonal relations, business ethics, responsibilities towards parents, spouse and children, marriage, divorce and inheritance, civil and criminal law, fighting in defense of Islam, relations with non-Muslims, and so much more. In conclusion, we are forced to realize that ISLAM is a complete way of life for the human being. Everything is covered in Islam from birth to death to live in the complete submission to the Will of the One Who Created man in the first place.

Hinduism

"The Indian caste system describes the social stratification and social restrictions in the Indian subcontinent, in which social classes are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups, often termed as jtis or castes. Within a jti, there exist exogamous groups known as gotras, the lineage or clan of an individual, although in a handful of sub-castes like Shakadvipi, endogamy within a gotra is permitted and alternative mechanisms of restricting endogamy are used (e.g. banning endogamy within a surname). Although generally identified with Hinduism, the caste system was also observed among followers of other religions in the Indian subcontinent, including some groups of Muslims and Christians. The Indian Constitution has outlawed caste-based discrimination, in keeping with the socialist, secular, democratic principles that founded the nation. Caste barriers have mostly broken down in large cities,though they persist in rural areas of the country. Nevertheless, the caste system, in various forms, continues to survive in modern India strengthened by a combination of social perceptions and divisive politics.

Buddhism has a huge role in the Chinese culture. Since Buddhism is a more a way of life then a religion it is an obvious part of their culture. Buddhism shows itself in the way people eat, the construction of their building, the way in which people interact with each other, and they way the people of China generally live. Though Buddhism has an overall effect on all of China it only has a huge effect on the western side of China were the number of Buddhist followers is the densest. Buddhism taps into people's world-views and they grow up believing certain things that mold they way they live. It affects them from such a young age that they have no problem bringing into the Culture of their adult hood. Following the fundamentals of Buddhism such as the eight fold path requires people to mold their lives accordingly. Living continuously in a state of Buddhism requires the culture to be adapted to these views, and for people in the culture to live accordingly. Buddhism's effect on the culture of China is starting to decrease as technology grows but will never truly disappear. Still in the rural areas you can see an obvious affect of this powerful religion.