Religion

Judaism

Possibly the oldest practiced religion known to man, Judaism is the root to all other religions. Only Judaism has a national land where Jewish people are free to worship. Going back in history, Jews have been consistently religiously persecuted. The Holocaust is one of the worse genocides to ever be recorded in history, and the scapegoat was the Jews. Muslims felt hatred towards the Jews for taking their homeland, which is now known as Israel. Israel was part of a British colony, but when Britain could not deal with the problems in the Middle East any longer, they created the independent state of Israel. Israel has continuously been attacked by neighboring nations with arab populations. Israel is the homeland of the Jews, and is considered one of the most sacred places. Why then, would Jews not rejoice at the knowledge of Osama Bin Laden's death. He lead one of the main terrorist organizations that repeatedly attacked the Jewish people. The Jews realized that it is not moral for a group to celebrate a death even due to the pain that persons life has brought. They see both sides of how others may take their rejoicing and are able to contain their emotions. To read more Click Here.

Catholicism

Catholicism is one of the largest religions in the world. Catholics tend to view God as forgiving. Their are many ways to please god. The act of indulgences, good works, faith, and confessions would lead salvation is a theory believed by many catholics. Traditional ceremonies, and embellished holidays are presented to enhance the catholic religion. A large part of the catholic religion is ceremonies. For example, Saints are praised almost every week, baptisms, confirmations, communions, and many other ceremonies occur on a weekly basis. The whole institute of the Catholic religion is primarily based on faith and ceremony.

Protestantism

A large brach off of the Catholic religion, protestants cover a large variety of different religions. Puritans differ from Presbyterians, who differ from Lutherans. Martin Luther started the basis of protestantism when he aimed to reform the Church. Luther, like many other protestants, believed that the Church needed revising and that salvation could only be obtained by faith alone. Following shortly after Luther, Calvin came up with his idea of Predestination. Basing off the act of justification by faith alone, Calvin saw each individual destined to go to either Purgatory or Heaven. The different types of protestants view God in different lights, and slightly modify their religion to appease God.

Islam

Islam is one of the fastest growing religions and is estimated to be the number one practiced religion of the mid-twentyfirst century. Islamic beliefs consist of Muhammad as their profit and Allah as their God. Sunni's and Shiites are the two major branches of the islamic religion. The main difference between these branches is the belief in weather the Caliphs are/should be the legitimate heirs of Muhammad. Shiites believe in this while Sunnis do not. It is interesting to see how their are discrepancies in religion even between the same group.

Buddhism

Siddhartha Gautama, a wealthy prince, lef this palace in search of enlightenment. Eventually Siddhartha achieved enlightenment and is now known as Buddha. In Siddhartha's journeys, his found that the last step of enlightenment was Nirvana. Nirvana was the end to all suffering, through simple processes, one could reach social Nirvana. Siddhartha looked upon Nirvana as the greatest possible achievement. He saw that to be truly happy, one must be happy with themselves. Siddhartha's followers based the religion on a different light upon looking at God and where they stand in the universe.

Jainism

Jainism is a brach off of Hinduism. Jainism is unique for a couple of reasons. Janists don't believe in a god or supreme being, and Jainists worship life. Jainists go so far as to sweep the insects in front of them away from themselves, as to not kill them whilst walking. Jainism is studied through the use of long hours of meditation and deep thought. Jainists look to make peace within themselves and only then will they be truly enlightened. To learn more about Jainism, Click Here

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Sources:
http://www.diffen.com/difference/Christianity_vs_Judaism#Differences_in_Beliefs
http://www.diffen.com/difference/Christianity_vs_Judaism#ixzz1Iq6JYnBo
http://cdn.wikinevis.com/4e6d1f433fols-om.jpg.jpg
http://www.fashionsforpeace.com/fashions%20for%20peace%20images/jainism.jpg
http://students.trinityprep.org/MediaClass/education07/EducatiionDR/Images/Judaism.gif
http://www.gotquestions.org/Jainism.html
http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma6/enlightnirvana.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/02016/images/C_LuthersRoseWeb.jpghttp://hnn.us/articles/934.html
See all sources on our bibliography.