Religions and beliefs

Religions and beliefs

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A RELIGION INSTITUTION AND A SYSTEM OF BELIEFS?

Human cultures identified in religion a deep sense of integration with the explanations that given the complexity involved in the definition of the concept of man and humanity, a characteristic that has led to an approach to the cultural values of the groups and the emergence of manifestations consistent with the ideals and perspectives that drive the sense of existence of society.

It comes from the Latin word religere (back together) the religion establishes standards of conduct and dogmas through which the ownership of a group will be clarified and defined in accordance with the levels set for this purpose.

Malinowski (1931) portrayed religion as filling a gap between aspiration and human capabilities, thereby giving the sense of individual involvement, personal-generating activities developed by religion. Parsons (1952) believes that religion is filling the gap between the experiences and expectations. Geertz (1965) defined religion as a relief from the intense anxiety that people feel when they are within the limits of their analytical and moral insights. The approach of religion as a structure of ideas and thoughts offered the possibility of responses to facts and events where the probabilities of human certainty do not allow for speculation and questions to its principles.

We cannot deny the strong cultural ties that religions have given to the cultures. Since ancient times man has felt the need to respond, either objectively or not their concerns about the world, which has led to generate forms of social organization supported by certain beliefs and structures from the articulation of the ideas.

Religions in the contemporary world have transcended the stage in which they were established. The diversification of cultures gives to religions an important role in building the model of society.

“Belief drives behavior, but often belief is not based on experience and so does not reach or reflect the intimately lived dimension of human existence. Indeed, the very nature of belief precludes the necessity of experience. Belief does not merely dispense with the evidence of experience, it can go further and deny the evidence of experience. And it often does. Therein lies the power of belief. Belief is motivation by reliance on an assigned version of reality or an assigned version of what might be imagined. Ultimately, the problem introduced by belief is not a matter of believing versus non-believing, because annulment of the will to believe is not possible. The true conflict here is between believing and learning.” A system belief is a mental idea or knowledge assumption that a person believes that is the truth and accepts that as his/her point of view on something concrete.



http://www.trufax.org/general/beliefsystems.html

Buddhism, based on the

teachings of Siddhartha Gautama

Buddhism is a tradition that focuses on personal spiritual development. Buddhists strive for a deep insight into the true nature of life and do not worship gods or deities.

Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, was born in the sixth century B.C. in what is now modern Nepal. His father, Suddhodana, was the ruler of the Sakya people and Siddhartha grew up living the extravagant life of a young prince. According to custom, he married at the young age of sixteen to a girl named Yasodhara. His father had ordered that he live a life of total seclusion, but one day Siddhartha ventured out into the world and was confronted with the reality of the inevitable suffering of life. The next day, at the age of twenty-nine, he left his kingdom and newborn son to lead an ascetic life and determine a way to relieve universal suffering.

For six years, Siddhartha submitted himself to rigorous ascetic practices, studying and following different methods of meditation with various religious teachers. But he was never fully satisfied. One day, however, he was offered a bowl of rice from a young girl and he accepted it. In that moment, he realised that physical austerities were not the means to achieve liberation. From then on, he encouraged people to follow a path of balance rather than extremism. He called this The Middle Way.

That night Siddhartha sat under the Bodhi tree, and meditated until dawn. He purified his mind of all defilements and attained enlightenment at the age of thirty-five, thus earning the title Buddha, or "Enlightened One". For the remainder of his eighty years, the Buddha preached the Dharma in an effort to help other sentient beings reach enlightenment.

http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhistworld/buddha.htm

Judaism: Beliefs, practices,

Jewish-Christian relations, news...

http://www.religioustolerance.org/htm

Judaism is an Abrahamic religion, a faith which recognizes Abraham as a Patriarch. Others include Christianity Islam, and the Baha'i Faith. Although Jews comprise only about 0.2% of the human race, Jewish influence on the world has been vast -- far more than their numbers would indicate.

"Dearer to God than all of the Israelites who stood at Mount Sinai is the convert. Had the Israelites not witnessed the lightning, thunder, and quaking mountain, and had they not heard the sounds of the shofar, they would not have accepted the Torah. But the convert, who did not see or hear any of these things, surrendered to God and accepted the yoke of heaven. Can anyone be dearer to God than such a person?"

Tanhuma (ed. Buber),

Lekh Lekha 6:32

Catholicism

Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioural characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole.

For many the term usually refers to Christians and churches belonging to the Roman Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See. For others it refers to the churches of the first millennium, including, besides the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church, and the Assyrian Church of the East. And for others again it refers to "adhering to the catholic faith as it has been inherited from the earliest Christians seeking to restore the faith and order of the primitive church", as claimed by the Anglican Communion and other churches of the second millennium.

www.catholicism.about.com/middleage