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WORLD
RELIGIONS
We have compiled a group of the more common world religions
in order to present different views on Eduardo Galeano's abrazo
"Theology/1" and to learn something new! However, this
information does not necessarily apply to every individual of
that particular religion and it would be unrealistic to say that
it does.
Christianity
is based on the idea that God created the world. He gave life
to humans with free will to reign the world as they saw fit.
Humans then, took their freedom for granted and rebelled. God
loves His people enough to keep them out of trouble and so, sent
His only son to save the people of the world. His son, Jesus,
died on the cross for our salvation with the promise to return
on Judgment day.
 Buddhism
is based on the Four Noble Truths that revolve around the universe.
Dukkha is the first of these four truths. Dukkha says that life
is suffering. Samudaya is the next truth and states that ignorance
is the cause of our suffering. Nirada, the third, says that the
cause of suffering can be attained. In other words, Nirvana can
be achieved and we become Buddha. Buddha is the enlightened one.
Magga is a compilation of eight guidelines that are necessary
to achieve enlightenment, but the journey must be made individually
 Islam means,
"Self surrender to the will of Allah." It is a monotheistic
religion based on the book of Quran, which is said to be the word of Allah.
Muslims believe that Mohammad was the messenger of Allah and is therefore
the most important prophet. The foundation of the Islamic religion begins
with the five pillars: Faith in only Allah, the promise of habitual prayer
(five times a day), Zakah, the idea that all things belong to God, Sawm,
which is fasting during the month of Ramadan, and they must make a pilgrimage
to Makkah if they are physically and financially able.
 Hinduism is
separated into 4 main denominations: Saivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism
and Smartism. Although they are all very different and considered
to be their own religion, they do share similar cultural and
religious ideas. These shared ideas are nine basic beliefs that
include: the Vedas, God's word and oldest scripture; the belief
in one almighty creator; ongoing cycles of the universe, creation,
preservation and dissolution; karma, law that one controls his
own future; reincarnation of the soul through all stages of karma;
they believe in the existence of divine beings and the ability
to connect with them through temple worship, rituals, sacraments,
and personal prayer; the satguru is the spiritually awakened
master who must know the Transcendent Absolute, as well as personal
discipline, good conduct, purification, pilgrimage, self-inquiry
and meditation; ahimsa is the Hindus' way of loving life; and
they also believe that no one religion is better than another,
they all deserve respect.
Judaism
is one of the world's oldest religions. Jewish beliefs come from The Torah,
a compilation of 613 commandments revealed by God. They do not believe
that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and they also believe that the Messiah
will be a normal person, not a God.
Rambam's thirteen principles of faith is the most widely-accepted
list of Jewish beliefs.
1. G-d exists.
2. G-d is one and unique.
3. G-d is incorporeal.
4. G-d is eternal.
5. Prayer is to be directed to G-d alone.
6. The words of the prophets are true.
7. Moses was the greatest prophet, and his prophecies are true.
8. The Torah was given to Moses.
9. There will be no other Torah.
10. G-d knows the thoughts and deeds of men.
11. G-d will reward the good and punish the wicked.
12. The Messiah will come.
13. The dead will be resurrected.
Atheism is defined as a disbelief in the existence
of deity. Atheism is all to often regarded in a negative manner.
While there are many varying reasons why one would choose to
become an atheist, their decision is based on the idea that man
is responsible for himself. Many times, people don't care to
believe that which science cannot prove. They focus on the realism
of life.
Galeano presents a very interesting argument about people's
faith. Are we simply taught what to believe or do we ever really
consider why we believe what we do? Just going through the motions
of something like attending mass or praying doesn't mean a thing
if we do it simply out of habit. Doing good for fear of hell
motivates us for all the wrong reasons. Using fear to keep someone
in line doesn't teach him or her respect, rather it teaches ignorance.
Without the ability to make choices on your own by thinking through
actual consequences and weighing the morality of it by yourself,
we are lured into doing what we believe God wants us to do. While
this is all well and good, we ought to take advantage of our
free will. The Old Testament focuses on a fear of God, but the
New Testament preaches about a loving God. This is the God that
we personally choose to believe in.
Works Cited:
Hinduism: World's Oldest Religion. December 14, 2001.
http://www.d.umn.edu/~thats/hindu.html
Judaism 101. 1995. Rich, Tracy. http://www.jewfaq.org
Positive Atheism. September 1995. http://www.positiveatheism.org
The Christian's Home Page. DCCI. http://www.christians.com
The Essentials of Buddhism. May 2001. Ramaswamy, Suresh.
http://home.earthlink.net/~srama/
The Religion of Islam. 1999.http://www.iad.org
By Jared McCune and Lisa Shiu
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