Religions/ Belief Systems

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Religions/Belief Systems
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Islam - Origins

• Developed on the Arabian Peninsula in the year
  622 CE, and quickly spread to other regions.
• Monotheistic
• Founder is Mohammad (prophet)

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Five Pillars of Faith

• First Pillar
• The Declaration of Faith
• There is no god but God, Muhammad is the
  messenger of God.
• God is Allah
• Monotheistic

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Second Pillar

• Daily Prayer
• Muslims face the holy city of Mecca to pray 5
  times a day
• Muslims worship in mosques

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A Holy Mosque
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Third Pillar

• Giving charity to the poor

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Fourth Pillar

• Fasting from sunrise to sunset during the holy
  month of Ramadan
• Akeem Olijawan NBA basketball star
• Kareem Abdul-Jabar NBA
• Mohammad Ali - boxer

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Fifth Pillar

• Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca
• Muslims in the US (NYC) charter planes to
  complete this
• Muslims are trampled

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The Quran (Koran)

• Islamic holy text
• Retains the sacred word of God as revealed to
  Muhammad

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More Hajj Pics
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Islam-Impact today?

• Islamic Fundamentalists show opposition to
  westernization
• Dominant throughout the Middle East, including
  Southwest Asia and North Africa
• Fastest growing religion

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Judaism

• Oldest monotheistic religion
• Founder-Abraham is generally recognized as the
  founder of Judaism due to his covenant with God.
  However, Moses is also considered a founder due
  to his role in the liberation of the Hebrews from
  Egypt.

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• Geographic Origin-Developed in the Middle East in
  and around the area that is currently Israel.
• Currently Practiced-Worldwide, but the greatest
  majority of  Jews reside in Israel, the United
  States, and the former Soviet Union.
• Sacred text Torah (Old Testament)

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Judaism - Teachings

• God made a covenant with Abraham to be the god of
  the Hebrews
• God chose the Hebrews as his people
• Moral standards and justice
• One true god is present everywhere
• Strongly influenced Christianity and Islam

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Impact?

• Constant persecution
• Romans expelled Jews from Palestine in 135 AD
• Diaspora scattering of Jews
• Holocaust

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Christianity

• Christianity is currently the most popular
  religion in the world based on the number of
  worshippers found throughout the world.
• Monotheistic religion

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Origins/Founder

• Founder-Jesus of Nazareth and his disciples who
  helped spread his teachings.
• Geographic Origin-Developed in Judea (now
  Israel), located in the Middle East bordering the
  Mediterranean Sea sometime around the year 30 CE.

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• Currently Practiced-Christianity is the dominant
  religion in North America, South America, Europe,
  and Russia.
• Significant Writings-The Holy Bible, consisting
  of both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

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Christianity beliefs/teachings

• Place of worship church
• Many different sects of Christianity
• Catholicism
• Protestant
• Lutheranism
• Baptist
• Episcopalian
• Presbyterian

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Christianity - teachings

• Faith in one god
• Achieve salvation and eternal life
• Jesus was the son of God and the Messiah
• Bible includes the Old and New Testament
• Mercy, sympathy for poor

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Impact?

• After persecution, Theodosius made it the
  official religion of the Roman Empire
• Holds western Europe together during the M.A. and
  becomes very powerful
• Crusades 1050, holy wars,
• Christian goal is to win back the holy land from
  Muslims
• One of historys most successful failures.
• Protestant reformation
• Luther
• 95 Theses
• Printing press

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Hinduism

• Established- Elements of the Hindu religion can
  be traced back to the ancient Indus River Valley
  civilization (approximately 3000 BCE) in
  modern-day Pakistan.
• Founder- no specific founder
• Geographic Origin-Developed on the Indian
  subcontinent.
• The soul never dies, it is just reborn.

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• Polytheistic belief in many gods
• In Hinduism, salvation is achieved through a
  spiritual oneness of the soul, atman, with the
  ultimate reality of the universe, Brahman.
• To achieve this goal, the soul must obtain
  moksha, the endless cycle of birth, death, and
  rebirth.
• As a result of these basic teachings, Hindus
  believe in reincarnation, which is influenced by
  karma (material actions resulting from the
  consequences of previous actions), and dharma
  (fulfilling one's duty in life).

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• Ahimsa non-violence
• Support the caste system

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Impact

• Caste system today?
• Non-violence
• Gandhi
• Salt March, civil disobedience
• Rejects the caste system everyone should be
  equal
• Ganges River horribly polluted, yet sacred to
  Hindus

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Buddhism

• Founder-Siddhartha Gautama, or Buddha, which
  means "enlightened one."
• Geographic Origin-Developed in India.

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• Currently Practiced-Most common in Southeast Asia
  and Japan
• Significant Writings-Tripitka, or Three Baskets
  of Wisdom.
• Places of Worship-Buddhism may be practiced
  individually, but temples and monasteries do
  exist.
• Significant Religious People-The Dalai Lama

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Four Noble Truths

• Life is full of pain and suffering.
• Human desire causes this suffering.
• By putting an end to desire, humans can end
  suffering.
• Humans can end desire by following the Eightfold
  Path.

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Eightfold Path

• Right conduct
• Right intentions
• Right mindfuless
• Right speech
• Right conduct
• Right livelihood
• Right effort
• Right meditation

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Ultimate Goal

• Nirvana union with the universe and release
  from the cycle of death and rebirth
• Karma
• Darma
• Reincarnation
• Monks and nuns

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Confucianism

• Founder - Confucius
• China
• 551 BC
• The Analects a collection of Confucian ideas
  and teachings

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Five Relationships

• Older brother to younger brother
• Ruler to subject
• Husband to wife
• Father to son
• Friend to friend

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Other ideas

• Filial piety respect for your elders
• People are naturally good
• Education is the road to advancement
• Maintaining social order
• Ethical behavior

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Taoism (Daoism)

• Founder is Laozi
• China
• 500s BC
• Teach people to live in harmony with nature
• People should contemplate the Tao, or the way

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• The best government is the one that governs the
  least
• Yin and Yang - balance

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Animism

• Africa
• Traditional values
• Story telling - griot
• Animists practice nature worship. They believe
  that everything in the universe has a spirit.
• Ancestor worship

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Shintoism

• Japan
• 500 BCE
• Respect for nature
• Ring of fire
• Everything has a spirit or kami

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