Essays on Religion

... 250 and 950 A.D. (Seligson "Honduras" Grolier). The Mayans also had lived in Mexican states: Yucantan and Chiapas, British Honduras, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador (Burland 1770) By 1200 B.C., they had dominated trade routes. The trade routes extended from the modern Mexico state of Guerrero to Costa Rica (Miller "Maya" Grolier). The Mayans had constant cultural and commercial contact from other tribes such as the Aztecs. They were with the central and coastal Mexican civilization that had influenced them and influenced other cultures (Harrison "History of Latin America" Grolier). The Mayans worshiped peace deities (Matthews 45). They also worshiped a c ...

... yields a basis for all decisions that must be made in adolescent life; it forms the moral and ethical skeleton of an individual, and affects all choices that are made and all actions that are taken. The students here at Texas Christian University are faced with difficult choices each and every day, and are in dire need of a source of higher direction. It is my opinion that a belief in the religion known as “Kadelphianism” serves as a firm basis for self commitment, peer commitment, and social commitment, and provides an excellent example of the correct way to lead one's life. The religion known as Kadelphianism differs from many conventional religions ...

... missionaries to come to Kent (Wakeman, 2-9). In the year 585, Gregory, a missionary, saw some white skinned, blue-eyed, blonde haired slaves for sale in Italy. He then sought permission to leave Rome and devote himself to missionary work among the heathen English. He was not allowed to leave until years later when he became pope. He then chose his friend, Augustine, a monk, to be the one to go to England. Augustine and his group met the King of Kent and were allowed to make converts. Eventually, the King even allowed himself to be baptized, and Kent became an independent branch of the Catholic Church (Stendahll 332-335). After Augustine's death, evil ...

... somewhere or someone . They have also been known to bury their dead in the fetal position, reproducing the way in which they came into the world in order to accelerate the journey into the next world . The views of the ancient civilizations of the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans have been well-documented. All three of these ancient societies believed in numerous Gods, who each held domain over certain aspects of that particular culture. These Beings were represented as being somewhat human, extremely powerful, and sometimes at odds with one another - even to the point of warring between themselves. The rise of Christianity led to many new ideas about the nature of Go ...

... make such statements. Another question one may ask themselves is exactly how different are the authors of the Biblical texts from ourselves. Is it their lifestyle or career that makes them so exotic in relation to us? Is it just because they spoke another language? They are children of God, just as we are. Science today is still discovering new evidence that proves the existence of a "mother of all humanity." We all share a common gene pool, we are all descendants of Adam and Eve. Since the beginning of recorded history, religion has had a profound impact on the present society. Romans, Greeks, Hindus, and Catholics have all molded their societies and laws ...

... divinity." Through the oppression of the salve trade, the Yoruba Africans worked to keep there own conception of region intact. "Even under slavery, and under post slavery persecution in the late nineteenth century, the Yoruba of Cuba and Brazil managed to maintain sporadic but precious contact with Africa through networks of friends and traders. They sought the sacred cowries, seeds, and beads of Africa for their religion." This example of perseverance of their native ritual and worship practices, shows the magnitude that region held for many Yoruba Africans. They kept their own religion alive through many hidden tactics such as unsuspected culinary art, by g ...

... world in this way. He creates this grey world to show the observer that the world is not all really black and white. The painting is really divided into two separate pictures. One depictng the “good” scene inside the Garden of Eden. The other side depicting the “bad” scence, outside the garden of Eden. Michelangelo splits the picture like this so that he can create the dichotomus world on which his painting will be based. Although the whole theme is the non-dichotomusness of the world he must do this so that people will have something to relate to. Once this has been achieved he can continue to paint in the greyness whick joins the good and the evil. Th ...

... euthanasia. It is my feeling that many Catholics are searching for sects that will allow them to retain their faith in Christ without a central body (i.e., the Vatican) speaking on behalf of them on issues that they are capable of rationalizing for themselves. Among Catholics and Protestants, there is a trend toward less rigid attendance of religious services. If we examine the figures from Stark and Glock's 1968 survey, 54% of Americans surveyed at the time attended church more often than once a month. This figure shrank to 40.7% in the 1994 survey. Though the Catholic church insists on weekly attendance of church, weekly attendance dropped from 52% in 1978 ...

... of the problem is to face the problem head on. As a social drinker myself (I put my self in this classification) I don't feel I have an alcohol problem just because I enjoy a drink now and then. I do not abuse it and would never put myself behind the wheel of a car to take the risk of taking someone else's life. You don't need to be drunk to cause an accident, it's been proven in many cases only a few drinks can impair someone's stability. If more thought of this there would be less tragedies on our highways. When it comes to food and there are people starving in the world, when we could help by not converting food grains into alcohol, this should be made ...

... of farming into this time period. Farming brought the people together. Small cities began to develop because the people didn't have to move around as much. With all this closeness, the people developed moral views on what to think about thieves or murderers. If certain civilizations didn't mind violence and killing, then they developed into a Brutal civilization. Consequently, the religions of these civilizations were evolved around sacrificial rituals and allegiance to brutal gods. The Assyrian civilization worked around this principle. They used scare tactics to overcome their enemies and treated their captives badly. They also believed in powe ...