... into their rituals statues of the saints, candles, and other Christian relics. It is combinations like this that form religions such as Santeria, a blend of Voodoo and Spanish Catholicism, that proves what a malleable religion it is. Voodoo has spread throughout the world into major communities on Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, Miami, and New York city. Vodoun has as many as 50 million followers throughout the world now. Although varieties of this religion occur in different regions there are some basic tenets common among them. They all believe that the pulse of life resides in nature's elements like fire or wind. This force is also in union with the dead an ...
... national pantheon, by considering them as diverse manifestations of the gods they had inherited from the great civilizations which preceded them and from which they had derived their culture ( Leon-Portilla, 1970 ). Although the Aztec priests tried to unite in a single concept the different gods of the different tribes the people as a whole would not admit that their local god was subject to any other or that he was only an attribute of a superior being. An exception to this generalized thought was Huitzilopochtli, the Aztecs' own tribal god, and other deities associated with him in the national myths kept alive by Aztec pride. In later legends this god is associ ...
... class of India. When he was 29 years of age, he left his family to find religious enlightenment. After six years of wandering, Siddharta Gautama. experienced enlightenment. (To himself), he discovered the way to escape this unhappy existence called life. After enlightenment, people called him the Buddha, which means, “enlightened one.” Various Buddhist schools have developed after the founding of . The two most common schools are the Mahayana and the Theravada. They have much in common. But also they differ in very important ways. The actual meaning of the word Theravada is “ Way of the Elders.” It is the oldest of all traditions. It is the primary prac ...
... and the like. They also persecuted anyone of another religion, and tortured him or her until confession. These examples do not speak highly of the man and religion that now do not want their good name smeared. Yet, times change. In modern times the Catholic Church has changed dramatically, and the view on religions has as well. Hopefully, there is no more adultery amongst bishops and torturing has stopped. For as long as the living of today remember, the pope has indeed been a symbol of spiritual uplifting. We have also learned to accept other people's beliefs, or at least tolerate them. I feel strongly about this topic, and a lot of my feelings are mix ...
... been called Satanism. The first is Religious Satanism, This faith includes the recognition of Satan either as a deity or as a principle. Three main denominations exist: the Church of Satan, the Temple of Set, and the Church of Satanic Liberation. Other short lived Satanic groups currently exist and have existed in the recent past. According to Statistic Canada, the 1991 census found 335 Canadians who identified themselves as Satanists. The actual Number is probably significantly larger. A United States Department of the Army pamphlet #165-13 "RELIGIOUS REQUIREMENTS AND PRACTICES OF CERTAIN SELECTED GROUPS - A HANDBOOK FOR CHAPLAINS" (1978 - April) estimated t ...
... once again. One reason the Ten Commandments should be posted is that the government has never passed a law implementing a separation of Church and State. Amendment 1 in the Bill of Rights states the following: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” This Amendment does not even suggest the Separation of Church and State. The phrase, “Establishment of Religion”, means that Congress could not set one Christian religion above another or establish a national church like the Emperors and Kings had done throughout the years. The two phrases, “Establishment of Religion”, and “Separatio ...
... stands for the people who are educated in the Torah and who do good deeds. The Lulav, or branch of the date palm, stands for the Jewish people who have knowledge but no good deeds. The Hadas,or myrtle, symbolizes the people who do good deeds, but are not educated. The Aravah, or willow, stands for the people who have no good deeds and no education. These plants are carried around the synagogue in a procession while prayers are recited for blessings on the land and fruit of Israel. In biblical times, the willow, the palm, and the Etrog were used in decorating the Succot. At the end of the Autum harvest, on the fifteenth day of Tishri (September-October) Succot ...
... Epistles to the Ephesians, Colossians, and Philippians. It is reiterated in the Letters of Ignatius, and accounts for Pliny's observation that Christians in their assemblies chanted a hymn to Christ as God. But the question how the Son was related to the Father (Himself acknowledged on all hands to be the one Supreme Deity), gave rise, between the years A. D. 60 and 200, to number of Theosophic systems, called generally Gnosticism, and having for their authors Basilides, Valentinus, Tatian, and other Greek speculators. Though all of these visited Rome, they had no following in the West, which remained free from controversies of an abstract nature, and was faithful ...
... the warrior class, the Vaisyas which were the landowners, Merchants, and Herders, and the Sudras who were the laboring class made up of the servants and peasants. Hindu’s believed in Reincarnation also. It is the rebirth of the soul in another body after death. Hindu people believed the action of the people in their life were rewarded or punished in their next life. The Social affect this religion had on its people was that the caste system and its believes provided an organized society in which people believed social mobility comes only through reincarnation. Christianity believes that there is only one true God, Jesus, the Son of God and redeemer of human kind. ...
... manner. If a Christian decides to wear Christian apparel or accessories, they should not be treated any different. They have just as much a right to pray before school, or at lunch to show their individuality, as those around them might through clothing, attitude, and word of mouth. As long as they follow the school codes as expected, they should be treated just as their non-Christian equal. No place in the constitution does it say Christians should be treated different. In fact the first amendment (passed September 25, 1789 and ratified December 15, 1791) Religion and Political Freedom states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishmen ...
