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History of Judaism Judaism began with the birth of Abraham in 1812 B.C.E. Abraham’s father created statues of gods and goddesses. One night, after being spoken to by God, Abraham went and destroyed all of his father’s statues. He was told to leave and God told him he would protect him. Abraham left with his wife Sara. God told Abraham to have a son. Soon Abraham and Sarah found out she was not able to have child. So Sarah told Abraham go make a child with our maid Hagar. Eventuality Sara got pregnant and had their son named Isaac in 1712 B.C.E. Around 1428 B.C.E. Israelites traveled to Egypt. To be with Isaac’s son Jacob which he is known to be the third and last patriarch (the male head of the family or tribe). When the Israelites reached Egypt they got enslaved by the king of Egypt. The Torah is the Jewish holy book kind of like the bible. Jewish people believe that no human write the holy book. They think God came and talked to this prophet Moses. And he told him to whole Old Testament which is told to have happened on Mount Sinai in 1312 B.C.E. In 555 B.C.E. Israel allied themselves with several surrounding states in rebellion against Assyria because of a payment and truth against the Assyrian King and Egypt’s King. So Assyrians resounded back by taking over the land. Now let me tell you a story about a man named Hillel and a man named Shammai. Hillel wanted to become Jewish after moving from Babylonian. Hillel was very poor and became too not able to pay the library fee to go to the study secession of the Torah. So one day Hillel climbed to the top of a ladder and tried to listen to the secession and fell. So Hillel started making fun of the religion and went to Rabbi’s houses and told them he needed to know all about their religion. When the Rabbi started talking Hillel would say “see the thing is I’m kind of in a hurry, so can you tell me everything in a sentence while I stand on one foot?” This would offend the Rabbi very greatly so they would kick him out. One day Hillel knocked on Shammi's door and said the same thing to him. Instead of getting offended Shammai said “Do unto others as you would want them to do on to you.” And with
that Hillel left and never bothered another Rabbi because Shammai made a joke out of his joke. In 34 C.E. is known to be the year of Jesus’s death. Jewish do not believe Jesus was the savior, but they do believe that he was a great man. The year 1654 came around and the first Jews made the journey to America. Everything was good for the Jews. They had somewhere to live. They were all happy and nothing could possibly turn out wrong, until Adolf Hitler came into power of Germany. From the years 1933 to 1945 Hitler made life for the Jews a living Hell. He put them in concentration camps and Ghettos. He even put them into to gas chambers where they were focused to believe toxic air that killed them by the thousands. At the end of the Holocaust over 6 million Jews had been killed.
Similarities and Differences. Judaism and Christianity and Islam seem like such different religions, but they're the same in many ways. What some people don't know is that Jews, Christians and Muslims all believe in the same God but Jews they don't think Jesus is the savior. Christians follow the old and new testament but Jews only follow the old testament because they don't believe a human can write a holy book.. Christianity is the largest religion in the world and Jewish is only the 12th largest . There is a 1.98 billion people difference in the population. Jews believe that
translation: (work makes you free) entrance to concentration camp
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when you die there is either no afterlife, heaven, eternal Gehenna, or reincarnation, while Christians and Muslims believe you go to either heaven or hell. All three of be them believe there is only one God or Jehovah and he is the God of Abraham. Judaism was founded in Canaan Christianity was founded in Palestine. Even though they are different religions founded in different places they’re not all that different.
you would feel if someone stereotyped you. Stereotypes can cause a lot of problems, they can cause people to get mad and not like one another. If we can stop the stereotypes and we can stop the people of the world from causing people the harm of being stereotyped. What is discrimination? Discrimination is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or gender. Jews have been discriminated against for many years. In bible times Jews were forced to work as slaves to the Romans. Between 1933 and 1945, 63 percent of the Jewish population in Europe was killed due to discrimination. Discriminating against a certain race, gender or religion can have great consequences. this event was the holocaust, the holocaust is a big example of the Jews being stereotyped and discriminated against.
Stereotypes and Discrimination What is a stereotype? A stereotype is a widely held but fixed
and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. People are stereotyped every day by the way they act or dress or even for their religion. Jewish people get stereotyped all the times, and not in a good way. People think that Jews are a loud and greedy people and the people who think this are wrong. Jewish people are just normal people like everyone else. Just because a stereotype is good or bad doesn't mean you should use it. Stereotypes have caused a lot of problems for people in the past. stereotypes will probably cause http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/people/DocDec.htm even more problems in the future such as war or sometimes even events like the holocaust can occur . http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/hstatistics.htm We can stop stereotypes from harming people or causing them http://users.manchester.edu/student/cmfreels/ProfWeb/ any problems. If we stop this then the world would be a much Stereotyping%20Brochure.pdf better place. Everyone no matter what race, gender or religion should be able to live together in peace. You can help stop stereotyping by just getting to know someone before you assume things about them. If you wonder about someone's religion just ask, don't be afraid to ask question. Think of how 5
Jewish Holidays Jewish holidays have many misconceptions, and are not recognized enough by Christians and other religions. There are many Jewish holidays but I’m going to inform you about four of them, and how not to embarrass yourself.
In conclusion you should really know what to say and do, when talking about Jewish Holidays so you do not embarrass yourself. Make sure you do not Schedule events during these Holidays to avoid embarrassment. Kosher
One of the most important holidays in Jewish culture is Passover. It is celebrated for seven to eight days depending on the branch of Jewish person. Almost all American Jews observe Passover in some way. Most of them during Passover avoid bread or grain products, and you should avoid scheduling events involving food, also try and avoid travelling events because it will be hard for them to get food away from home. 10% of American Jew does not work on the first and last two days of Passover, but the rest will take time off before Passover to prepare for the family dinner. To put this in perspective imagine working on thanksgiving and having to cook thanksgiving dinner after getting home from work.
Another important Holiday in the Jewish religion is Rosh Hashanah. It is the Jewish New Year, due to the Judaism calendar being different the holiday take place in between Labor Day and Columbus Day. It lasts one or two days depending on the branch of Jewish person. Jews that do not go to the synagogue any other time of the year will go during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, just like Christians with Easter and Christmas. If you do not want to offend a Jewish person avoid scheduling events, meetings, or tests on this Holiday. Imagine having such things scheduled on Christmas or Easter.
One other important holiday is Yom Kippur. It is a vesting day for the Jewish people. This is a 25 hour fast. Many Jews will take of work and school, even the ones who aren’t that religious. Many will want to take time off of work the evening before so they can eat a large slow meal. Like Rosh Hashanah, Jews will get offended if you schedule important events on this Holiday.
Lastly, one holiday that is thought to be the most important but is truly not is Chanukah. There is one important thing to know about Chanukah, and that is, that it is not the Jewish Christmas! The only reason why kids get presents on this holiday is so kids don’t get left out from Christian kids. In all it is a minor holiday that is only about lighting candles, playing games, eating chocolate coins, and eating potato pancakes.
In the Jewish cultural kosher is a huge part of their religion, and the Jewish peoples lifestyles. Kosher consist of a whole bunch of dietary laws that the Jewish people have to follow. To get this out of the way, not all Jewish people follow it! Before I tell you what the laws are I fist must tell you the history of Kosher.
In German Kosher means “Man ist was man isst” which means a man is what man eats. In Hebrew it means “pure”, thus ensuring health, and fitness. To be “pure” you must follow the rules and not eat any forbidden food.
Now let’s talk about the rules, and let’s begin with one of the biggest rule which is about meat. According to the Torah the only meat one can eat is game that has “clover hooves” and “chew the cud”. If you did not understand that, it means you can only eat bulls, cows, sheep, lambs, goats, veal, and springbok. When you find one of these kosher animals you must then kill it using the Schochet ritual slaughter, which one of the rules in the ritual is that you can’t cause harm to the animal when killing it, so you must make it quick.
Another rule is that they can’t eat fish that don’t have fins or scales, for example they can eat tuna, salmon, and hearing. One thing they can’t do is eat meat and milk together; in the Torah it says that "You may not cook a young animal in the milk of its mother". This means that you can’t mix milk and meat together.
In conclusion there are a lot of more rules in the Kosher that would be new to you if you were not Jewish, you can still be Jewish if you don’t follow these rules but to be “pure” you must eat kosher foods. You can find kosher foods at regular grocery stores like Kroger’s or Meijer’s. There are a lot of things to think about when converting to Judaism and eating kosher foods is an important thing to think about.
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Timeline of Jewish History
1935-1940 World War 2
Judaism began with the birth of Abraham in 1812 B.C.E. Abraham’s father created statues of gods and goddesses. One night, 1942 after being spoken to by God, Abraham went and destroyed all Final solution formulated by the Nazis of his father’s statues. He was told to leave and God told him he would protect him. 1945 1712 B.C.E.
End of the holocaust
Birth of Isaac
6 million Jews killed in a 12 year span
1652 B.C.E. Birth of Jacob 1428 B.C.E.
1948 war of independence
Israelites enslaved in Egypt 1973
1392 B.C.E.
Yom Kippur War
Moses was born 1312 B.C.E. Exodus was written Torah is given at Mount Sinai 796 B.C.E. Israel splits into two kingdom 555 BCE Assyrians overrun northern Israel; Ten Tribes are lost 422 B.C.E Babylonians conquer Israel and destroy the Temple 370 B.C.E Jews return to Israel from Babylonian 32 B.C.E time of Hillel and shammai 34 C.E Death of Jesus; beginning of Christianity 1654 First Jews arrive to America
1933 Hitler comes to power Germany
http:// www.koshercertification.org.uk/whatdoe.html http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-116578207/stockvector-a-pack-of-vector-illustrations-of-famous-symbolsfor-the-jewish-holiday-hanukkah.html? src=3vjvbB2GPNNVdFbRI_K5cQ-1-58 http://www.timesofisrael.com/golda-meir-my-heart-wasdrawn-to-a-preemptive-strike-but-i-was-scared/
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The Story Behind Christianity By: Austin Solis
Christianity was developed out of Israel 1st century . The religion was started with the birth of Jesus in 0. But It is said that the first person to officially start the christian religion was Abraham. Abraham was with his two wives and children when the religion was started. His early life On December 25,0 Jesus was born from the mother Mary and father Joseph. He was born from a virgin. He was the son God. As time grew on after his birth, Jesus was always the Messiah but many people didn’t believe him. He began to tell the stories of God at a very young age. Many time while Jesus was spending time with his mother he would tend to run off and talk to the elders of the church and share the wondrous stories of God. Around the age of 30 Jesus began to gather his 12 disciple to help him minster the word of god to the people of Israel. Jesus and the disciples did many wonderful things they healing the sick and the possessed. Once Jesus casted out 7 demons from the body of Mary Magdalena. His end Days before Easter Sunday, He predicted that one of his 12 disciples would be betray him. At the Passover meal before Jesus was caught by the romans at the garden of Eden, Jesus blessed the bread and the wine and accounted that one of the disciples the one that shared the bread and the wine with him would betray him. That night after the Passover meal Jesus the disciples expect of Judas went to the garden to pray and that was the night that Judas betrayed Jesus. The morning after Jesus was sent of trail against the people of Israel and was sent to crufixion. Jesus was crufixed with two other men and Jesus was nailed to the cross by his hands and feet and was hung from hours until he took his final breathe.
Work cited
Key People: Christianity - Explorefaith." Key People: Christianity - Explorefaith. Trans. K. H, Ms. Kendra Hotz, n.d. Web. 16 May 2014.
"Matthew 1." Matthew 1. Lumania, n.d. Web. 16 May 2014.
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Stereotypes Over The Years By: Kayla Smith
The christian community has thousands upon thousand of stereotypes. They are changing year after year. Some stereotypes were more hurtful than other but hateful all the same.
Right wing extremist,
fundamentalist,
homophobic
Constrainer of women
Doubter of reason
Jesus freaks
Holier than thou,
Self righteous
Do gooders
Hypocrites
Intorlent
Judegemental
The fact is that non of this sterotypes are true. Being a part of the christian community doesn't mean that you will be judgemental towards others or that you will think better of yourself above other. The truth is they are just rumors made up by people of different religions that don’t understand the reigion. Learn before to judege.
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The Practices and Beliefs By: Johnson
Are God and Jesus the same person? Well, no Jesus and God are two different people. Christians believe that there is only on God which is their father. God is the father and Jesus is the son of God. Jesus was sent save mankind from death and sin. Christians believe that Jesus and in his death and resurrection, they can have right relationship with God whose forgiveness was made once and for all. They believe that God took human form as Jesus Christ and that God is present today through the work of the Holy Spirit and evident in actions of believers. When you died they believed there is a life after earthly death. They believe that spiritual experiences in this life helps give you a look into external life. The Christians uses the word saints. The word saint is referred to a Christian who has lives particularly good and holy life on earth. When people say saints it is usually referred to catholic and orthodox churches. In the bible the word faith is used as a description of anyone who is a committed believers. Christians take their beliefs very seriously. When Christians pray they are communicating with their God. They believe that they have to follow the tradition that God taught. Some of the prayers that Christians do are prayer through Mary. She is mother of God, and is central to some churches tradition and from a traditional part of worship. The Christian Church is fundamental to believers. The church is the place where the Christian faith is nurtured and where the holy spirit is manifest on Earth. At the church Christians also are received into the faith. To Christians is doesn’t matter if you are infant or an adult the church believes in one baptism into the Christian church. The church is where the Christians are brung together into one body through the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Greek word of Thanksgiving. It’s celebration is to commemorate the final meal that Jesus took before he died.
Some Christian Practices -
Baptism
- The Eucharist - Ethical Policies, mottos & symbols - Exorcism - Ordination of women - Prayers - Speaking in tongue - slavery– Past support and opposition Practices of general population - Divorce - Holy Day -
Marriage
- Sex - Spanking Chil-
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Traditions and Holidays By: Bailey Riley
Many people think Why on Earth are Christians celebrating so many holidays? People think the Christian communities are just celebrating everyday with some random holidays or Why do we only celebrate Christians holidays around the country and How come we don’t celebrate other holidays in different religions or ethnic groups? Well, for starters the Christian community doesn't just celebrate random holidays; every holiday in Christianity isn’t just any other holiday in any other religion such as Buddhism or Hinduism or even Judaism. There air always a reason for celebrating, for example Easter Sunday, Palm Sunday or even Christmas. The reasoning behind celebrating these holiday is because they are events the involved the leader of the religion. They are situations that the leader of the religion had to overcome in their time of life. Eater Sunday is an example of a Christian holiday because it was the Sunday of Jesus, Christ’s resurrection from the tomb and it was the day that the prophecy was fulfilled. Another holiday is Palm Sunday is celebrated because it is the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem and the people of Israel laid down palm leaves and their robes on the ground of Jesus to ride upon. Pal Sunday was the day that Jesus went through his time of trail and betrayal. The last and one of the most important holiday for Christians is Christmas. Christmas is one of the most important holidays because it was the birth of Jesus, Christ
Christian holidays
Christmas
Easter Sunday
Palm Sunday
advent
All saints' day
assumption day
Lent
Mardi Gras
Reformation day
I bet you’re wondering ho Christians celebrations are different from normal celebrations. Well, Christians tend to devote the celebration to the holiday and bringing family together to celebrate the reason behind the holiday. Many christian families on a special holiday will devote time of the get together to learn and read to story from bible and teach a lesson of the story. Le time state this now is that not all families are the some. Some families just want to bring the family together to have time with their families as the holidays were celebrated before. Every family is different
Fast Fact
Lent is a Forty day fasting, the process of giving up one thing in the eyes of god.
Lent come from the old Anglo– Saxon word lengthen which means spring time
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W
By: Taylor Mills hat do you believe in? The Buddhists believe in the three jewels. Some of these things are the 4 noble truths, the 5 precepts, the eightfold path, and the dharma. Most of the things that they believe in come from the teachings of the Buddha.
The Four Noble Truths
“
The Four Noble Truths contain the essence of the Buddha's teachings. It was these four principles that the Buddha came to understand during his meditation under the Bodhi tree” (BBC 1). The Four Noble Truths are Dukkha,
Nirodha, Samudaya, and Magga. They all have unique meanings. The meanings of the noble truths are, the truth of suffering, the truth of cessation of suffering, the truth of origin of suffering, and the truth of the path to the cessation of suffering. Magga is divided into 8 different folds called the eight-
The Three Jewels
“
Just as the Three Jewels forms the simple framework for the transmission of the Buddhist philosophy, the Five Precepts are the basic ethical guidelines for the followers of the philosophy.” (Buddha101) The five precepts aren’t like the eight-
Works Cited BBC News. BBc, n.d. Web. 12 May 2014. “Buddhism- The Three Jewels and the Five Precepts.” Buddhism –The Three Jewels and the Five Precepts. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2014. N.d. Noble Eightfold Path. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Toronto Chapter. Web. 15 May 2014. <http:// www.english.fgs2.ca/?q=noble-eightfold-path>. N.d. The Foundation. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 1. The Foundation. Web. 15 May 2014. <http:// www.tibetanbuddhistaltar.org/wp-content/ uploads/2013/05/EightFoldPath-300x209.jpg>. N.d. The Golden Rule. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Freshbooks. Web. 15 May 2014. <http://www.freshbooks.com/ blog/wp-content/ uploads/2010/06/4360903186_e5518d003a.jpg>.
fold path, they aren’t a set way, and they are more like the 10 Commandments in Christianity. The First Precept says to not intentionally kill living beings. The second is take only what has been given. Thirdly is don’t misuse the senses. The fourth precept is don’t speak
The Eightfold Path
T
he Eightfold Path is the path that the Buddhists have to follow to reach Nirvana. “The eightfold path is Right Understanding, Right Intent, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.” (Buddha101) The first step is right understanding, this means to see everything in the world as it is. Next is right intent, this means to understand what your heart wants or to understand what your purpose in life is. After right intent is
right speech. Right speech is to listen to what you say and try to understand if it is hatred. Next, is right action, this means to take the ethical way of life, or watch what you do. After right action comes right livelihood. This means to live with the respect for the world so your spiritual world is stronger. Right effort is to be enthusiastic about your life and don’t take anything for granted. After right effort, this means you have to be aware of the moment and pay attention to the now and not the past or future.
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By: Qamari Hassan
Siddhartha Gautama and The History
M
ost historians would agree that Buddhism originated in Northern India in the 5th century. The religion, Buddhism, follows the path of Siddhartha Gautama also known as The Buddha. Siddhartha didn’t begin his path to enlightenment until he saw a sick man, dead man, holy man and old man. This experience opened his eyes to suffering that he could be put through. The Buddha’s teachings shortened into The Four Noble Truths which he delivered after gaining his enlightenment. After Buddhism’s 2500 year course in history, Buddhism has experienced many schisms, and years of modifying Buddhism has branched off into three major sects. Shortly after Buddha’s
death, hundreds of monks came together and joined each other at the first council at Rijagrha. A few centuries later the original unity of Buddhism started to fragment. One of the most meaningful events in the history of Buddhism is the chance encounter of the monk Nigrodha and the emperor Ashoka Maurya. Ashoka, succeeding his father after a bloody power struggle in 268 B.C.E, found himself annoyed by the carnage he cause while suppressing a revolt in the land of Kalingas. The history of Buddhism has taken its course on the followers of Buddhism in the present day. There are 500 million followers of Buddhism in the world to this day. (“The Buddha” 1).
Works Cited N.d. Buddha Temple Hours. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 1. Farha Holidays. Web. 15 May 2014. <http://www.farhaholidays.com/images/buddhatemple-map2.jpg>. N.d. The Buddha. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. PBS. Web. 15 May 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/thebuddha/photos/gallery/>.
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By: Danielle Duff
K
arma is based off of the idea that for every action there is a reaction. If a person does bad, there will be a bad consequence and vice versa. If a person lives a life of good deeds, then the person will be reincarnated into a higher class (“Karma” 1). For example, a person started as a mineral until they did so much good, they reach humanity. Reincarnation believes in Samsara, known as The Law of Karma, which is controlled by Karma. These two beliefs intertwine to create the Buddhism’s belief of “afterlife.” The goal to a Buddhists life is to reach Nirvana and keep from doing ill deeds.
K
Karma
arma is seen to be actions that will mold a person’s future and shows how Buddhists place an abundant of importance on being mindful of their actions. The actions must have good motives and is not a system of punishment. Karma is a law that is seen similar to gravity and is not rewards dealt out by a god. Buddhists believe that people are in control of their fate and should take conscious control of each other’s behavior (“Karma” 1).
R
Reincarnation
eincarnation was incorporated from Hinduism; the idea of being reborn after an individual dies. The belief of reincarnation is based on Samsara also known as the cycle of rebirth and wheel of life. To get a higher standing in the ecosystem or social class an individual has to do good deeds. Reincarnation is based off of a person’s karma; good karma allows a person to be reborn into a better life and vice versa. If a person lives a life of ill deeds, the individual will be reborn into a lower class (Dowdey 1).
Nirvana
N
irvana is the goal to Buddhism, and the root of the word means to blow out. This refers to extinguishing greed, hate and delusion. These defilements are destroyed by wisdom. Very few people have ever reached defilement, and there are only two people that are said to have reached Nirvana: Jesus and Siddhartha. Nirvana is also defined as the ultimate happiness and is seen as a worthwhile goal (“Buddhist Studies: Nirvana” 1).
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Buddhism vs Christianity
T
he belief of reincarnation is similar to Christianity’s Heaven and Hell because it is a reflection of a person’s life. Depending on an individual’s actions during their life time, decides whether they go to Heaven or Hell; or what class the individual will be reborn into. Heaven and Hell is based on another world that a person’s soul is taken to, while reincarnation is based on the soul being reborn on Earth. Karma also, in a way, ties together to Christianity. If a person does an ill deed, the consequence is going to Hell or being reborn into a lower class.
Buddhism vs Hinduism
B
uddhism believes in no God while Hinduism believes in multiple Gods or deities. The main deities of Hinduism are: Brahma, Shiva, Lakshmi and Vishnu. Both religions believe in the Dharma which is “the power that maintains society” and makes “gives humans the opportunity to act virtuously” (Hinduism “Dharma” 1). Buddhists also believe in the Dharma as well as karma which are the same as Hinduists. Siddhartha use to practice Hinduism which is why the religions have very like beliefs ("Buddhism
Works Cited "Buddhist Studies: Nirvana." Buddhist Studies: Nirvana. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2014. "Buddhism vs Hinduism." Difference and Comparison. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014. Dowdey, Sarah. "HowStuffWorks "Reincarnation in Buddhism"" HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2014. "Hinduism." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 10 May 2014. "Karma." BBC News. BBC, 17 Nov. 2009. Web. 07 May 2014. "Karma Quotes and Sayings." Karma Quotes and Sayings. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2014. "Quotes About Reincarnation." (112 Quotes). N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2014. "Reincarnation Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 09 May 2014. HinduSwastika. N.d. Wikimedia Commons. HinduSwastika. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 1. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 15 May 2014. <http://
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Islam Stereotypes in Reality When you hear the word “Muslim”, what are the first words that come to mind? Are they words you would be embarrassed to say if a Muslim were around? Keep this statement in mind as you read. The Muslim religion has been faced with stereotypes of all kinds for decades. Stereotypes like “terrorists” and “Jihad” are two very common words used as an insult towards Muslims. Misconceptions about Islam as a religion range far and wide, the assumption that Allah is the Islamic god, and is a different god than the Christian or Jewish one. The Arabic word “Allah” is simply the translation of the English word “God”. The most common stereotypes that Muslims are faced with today, fall along the lines of terrorism. The origins of Muslim stereotypes like ”Jihads” and “terrorists” starts right around the time the United States began getting involved in the Middle East. But, the true relevance and explosive spread of unfair treatment, begins with the attacks on the World Trade Center, September 11th, 2001. From this point on, all kinds of people began accusing and ridiculing an entire race of people based on the actions of a few. The Islamic community has been neglected even before 9/11, though. The words “Muslim” and “Islam” are often printed in American media next to words like “Terrorist” or “violence” or “fundamentalist”. As a general rule, the Muslim religion is very peaceful, and wishes against the use of violence and the cause of war. But people see the actions of a few groups of Islam that have extremist personalities and judge the entire religion based on their actions. After interviewing a Muslim woman, she told us things about the stereotypes she has encountered. Some of which we had not even thought of. I am not going to write them here based on the nature of the words spoken. When asked about the extremist groups, Muslim people of all the sects claim that they do not own or want anything to do with the extremist cults.
Muslim is not true. If you look back on the religions of Judaism and Christianity, they both started in the Middle East, and still hold a high population in the area. Stereotypes such as their practices being harsh and austere are, yet again, untrue. Muslims have both prescribed and prohibited acts. They prescribe prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage, and prohibit drinking alcohol and eating pork, for example. The impression that all Muslim women are oppressed and uneducated is completely naive. Most Muslim women lead happy and successful lives. Many are well educated and are productive members of society. There are as many, if not more, women than men in most Middle Eastern universities. They face the same struggles in their professional and personal lives as women all over the world. The stereotypes that Muslims face are wrong and led by biased and judgmental media and mindsets. We judge an entire religion and group of people based on the actions of a small group with the wrong idea. Getting knowledge about what is the truth and what is reality to the public can give people a new point of view on the Muslims. With some effort we can stop the mistreatment and neglect that the Muslim religion receives. Article Written by William Neumann
Sources:
http://jsis.washington.edu/outreach//file/ Country%202pagers/THEME%20PAGES/ Mideast%20misconceptions.pdf
The stereotype that everyone in the Middle Eastern countries is 16
History of Islam In the 7th century, in a cave on Mount Hira is where the prophet Muhammad got his first revelation. That event started a whole new religion known today as Islam. Islam was founded on the teachings of Muhammad who is known for creating the Qur’an. He was praying in a cave right outside of the city of Mecca where he lived, when the Archangel Gabriel came to Muhammad and gave him his first revelation. Islam first began in Saudi Arabia and it did not spread till 570 AD where it spread to different parts of the Middle East. There were two major conquests, the conquest of Africa and the conquest of Spain. The conquest of Africa happened in 640 AD with the arrival of the army. It happened in front of the Byzantine fortified town of Babylon. The Arabs captured it after and established their own town east calling it Al Fustat. The army moved to Alexandria and the people of Alexandria were able to hold out the Greeks for 14 months. Eventually the Arabs signed a treaty and the Greeks left peacefully. In 642 AD Muslims captured Cyrenaic and Tripoli but they weren’t really affected. After those captures the Arabs have trouble capturing the indigenous Berber inhabitants of the coastal strip. In 670 AD a new Arab garrison town at Kairouan. It was sixty miles south of the Byzantine city of Carthage. In 698, AD Carthage is again destroyed. In the early 8th century Africa is controlled by the Arabs. In 711 they entered Spain to try and take over. To this day most of the African coast is Muslim. (History World, 2)
With both of these conquests helped with the spread of Islam. Article Written by Samantha Vanderwall
Hagar and Ishmael eventually ran out of water and were close to death when, God told Hagar he was going to take care of them. Hagar looked out to the desert and saw a spring. Ishmael grew up to be a strong man who had many children. His children had other children and they became known as Ishmaelites or the Arab’s. The History of Islam is not the oldest but it is still one of the most important religions. Article Written by: Samantha Vanderwall
Men of Islam Abraham, Muhammad, and Ishmael are famous figures and leaders in Islam. They impacted Islam greatly and without them Islam would not be here. The story of Abraham is that his father was a Idol maker, and one night Abraham had a dream and God told him that he had to destroy all of his dads idols. So he did, the next http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/ islam/history/spain_1.shtml http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/ PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=edl
morning Abraham told his dad, and his dad was so mad he threw him out. Abraham took his wife Sarah and they moved The next biggest conquest is south and went to the land of the Philiswhen Arabs invaded Spain. In 711 AD tines. God had promised Abraham and Arabs entered Spain and it took seven Sarah a child but when he hadn’t given years to take over the Iberian Peninsula. It them one Sarah told Abraham to have a later became the greatest Muslim civilizachild with their made Hagar. Together tions. It continued to be Muslim until they had a son named Ishmael, 13 years 1492, when Granada was conquered. It later Isaac was born. Sarah got really jealtook about seven years to just conquer one ous of Ishmael and told Abraham to send area of Spain. Maybe people in Spain did Ishmael and Hagar away. (Jacob Isaacs) not want to go to war so when the MusAbraham sent them to the desert and that lims made term agreements with parts of is where the Miraculous well was found. Spain in which they accepted. (BBC) 17
(continued from page 3) Ishmael did not start Islam, Muhammad did. Muhammad was born in 570 AD. In Mecca a small town in Saudi Arabia. He is a prophet of God who Muslims believe created the Qur’an. Muhammad went up to a mount Hira where he prayed in a cave for several weeks out of the week. On one of those visits he got a revelation. The Archangel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad, and told him that God want him to memorize a verse. Muhammad only had one other revelation and those verses he got are in the Qur’an. Abraham, Ishmael, and Muhammad all are famous leaders in Islam and they all make up the history of Islam without them there would be the religion we know today as Islam.
such as the astrolabe, the quadrant, and the navigational maps and charts that made the future European voyages possible. The past and the present effects people greatly. Surprisingly, one religion can have an effect on the way people use math today, geography, art, agriculture, science, the concept of zero, and even the medicines used today in society. Article Written by: Demante Walker
Article Written by: Samantha Vanderwall
Hinduism The Impacts of Islam Islam has a big effect on everything such as government and people. The past and present impacts how Muslims worship their religion and the laws of the religion. The Muslim community grew after Muhammad’s death. Over the years, vast numbers of people went to three countries Africa, Asia, and Europe. The people there chose Islam as their way of life. One of the reasons for the big spread of Islam is because everyone admired their doctrine. Islam calls for faith in only one god. As millions of people started to embrace Islam, they brought with them the heritage of ancient civilizations like Egypt, Greece, India, Persia, and Rome. Many Muslim scholars traveled to these cities seeking knowledge. They translated into Arabic volumes of philosophical and scientific works from Greek, Pahlavi and Sanskrit. As a result, Arabic became the language of scholars. People migrated from all over the world to study in the Muslim Universities. In the present, Islam has impacted the world through science and math used throughout the world. After the death of Muhammad in 632 C.E, Islam spread widely and Muslim rulers and the empire extended from North Africa all the way to South Asia. The empire was better than Rome at its zenith. After the Dark ages, Islam kept spreading the religion along with astronomy, mathematics, and medicine. Some topics included the Elements Of Euclid, Almagest of Ptolemy, and the works of Hippocrates and Galen were all Arabic. After that the next 700 years, Arabic became the most important scientific language of the whole entire world. The achievement of scholars working in the Islamic tradition went far beyond of ancient learning. These advancements were a cause of the fast spreading religion in Europe. These were all advances that the medieval Muslim community had an impact.
Sources:
http://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-9.htm http://www.discoverislam.com/poster.asp? poster=DIP2004_08&page=1
Many systems, such as algebra, the Arabic numerals, and the concept of zero were formulated by the Muslim scholars and shared with medieval Europe. Muslims also created instruments, 18
place of 4 major religions including Hinduism so before you go about judging India by “Whats with those Indians all worshipping hinonly looking at Hinduism know that you are duism?” “How can you worship multiple gods?” The truth in these statements/questions generalizing Sikhism, Buddhism, Islam, and other religions in a non-theocratic governare that they are misconceptions for the most part, while there may be some truth to them it is ment. However, the Caste System is a government dictated moral code in a democratnot the whole truth and is often times considered truth due to ignorance and having no way ic republic that is being phased out step-byof knowing otherwise. So when these things are step. In doing this they are making a more true Democratic Republic known as India. adopted as fact can you imagine that the hindu people and Indian people get offended in such a Hinduism is mainly located in India. But way you might be if you were christian and that does not mean that Hindus are just in someone were to say something ignorant about India this is just a stereotype. At one point your god. These are also called stereotypes if of time Hinduism spread to Nepal Banglayou didn’t recognize that. These are just some desh, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam on of the most common stereotypes of Hinduism 570 ad. But around 1300 ad Hinduism althere are definately others. What you may not most disappear. The culture of India is know about Hinduism is that it is the third bigamong the oldest in the world0. It comes gest religion (not including atheism) in the back to almost 5000 years. Right now Hinworld with 900,000,000 people worldwide, duism has about 900,000,000 followers. even in Fort Wayne. While the majority of HinTheir sacred texts are Vedas, Upanishads, dus live in India not all Indians are Hindu; conBhagavad Gita, Epics. The trary to popular belief. In fact, india is the birth-
“Why do those Hindu people worship cows?”
term "Hinduism" derives from
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. -Mahatma Ghandi a Persian word that refers to the Sindhu (or Indus) river in northwest India; "Hindu" was first used in the 14th century by Arabs, Persians, and Afghans to describe the peoples of the region. The reason why Hinduism didn’t spread is because Indian ruler felt no need of an empire and another reason Is because the mountains that were surrounding them at the time. But they still had small Hindu kingdoms spread in multiple areas but nothing big. Hindu people believe in karma and dharma. Karma means what goes around comes around. So a Hindu person is doing bad things in the present life time. When it dies is going to reincarnate and have a bad life. Dharma is the principle of cosmic order. Hinduism was founded in 2000 bc. Right now in present time Hinduism is the third largest religion. Hinduism original language is Sanskrit.
Hindus worship in 2 places temple or home shrine. According to all the research there is not a founder of Hinduism. Hinduism is not a single religion but embraces many traditions. The traditions which flow into Hinduism may go back several thousand years and some practitioners claim that the Hindu revelation is eternal. Hindus in general believe that time is cyclical, much like the four seasons, and eternal rather than linear and bounded. Hindus commonly conduct pujas in shrines in three different environments: in temples, in the home, and in outdoor public spaces. It is equally common for any of the deities to be worshiped in any of these three types of shrines. In Hinduism, the cow is revered as the source of food and symbol of life and may never be killed. However, many non-Hindus interpret these beliefs to mean that Hindus worship cows. This is not true. It is more accurate to say the cow is taboo in the Hindu reli-
gion, rather than sacred. In ancient India, oxen and bulls were sacrificed to the gods and their meat was eaten. But even then the slaughter of milk-producing cows was prohibited. Hindus believe in reincarnation. This means to be reborn in a new body. But depending what you did in your past life either good or bad that’s what determined the type of life Hindus have when they are reincarnated. Hinduism is a decidedly theistic religion; the difficulty lies in determining whether it is a polytheistic, pantheistic, or perhaps even monotheistic religion. It should be noted at the outset, however, that this chiefly a western difficulty: the Indian mind is much more inclined to regard divergent views as complementary rather than competing. 19
Practices
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Shinto ceremonies are designed for Kami. These ceremonies consist of abstinence, offerings, prayers and purification. With purification, you wash yourself with water. It purifies and cleans your ‘dirty’ thoughts, mind, actions, and sins. A traditional Japanese home has two family altars: one, Shinto, for Kami and the goddess Amaterasu Omikami, and another, Buddhist, for the family ancestors. Pure Shinto families will have all ceremonies and services in Shinto style. The Shinto religion doesn’t have weekly religious services. Some may go to the shrines on the 1st and 15th of each month and on the occasions of rites or festivals, which takes place at certain times during the year. Shinto followers visit the shrine at their convenience; though some devotees pay respect to the shrine every morning.
History: The religion of Shinto has no founder or founding date. When the Japanese people and culture became aware of themselves, Shinto was already there. Yayoi culture, which originated in the northern area of the island of Kyushu around the 3rd or 2nd century BC, is directly related to later Japanese culture and Shinto. Confucianism reached Japan in the 5th century AD, and by the 7th century, it had spread among the people together with Chinese Taoism and yin-yang philosophy. All of these stimulated the development of Shinto ethical teachings. With the centralization of political power, Shinto began to develop as a national cult as well. Confucianism is a way of life taught by Confucius in the 6th–5th century BC. Buddhism was later introduced into Japan in AD 552 and developed from there. In the 8th century, they emerged tendencies to interpret the Shinto religion from a Buddhist viewpoint. Shinto kami were seen as protectors of Buddhism, since the shrines for tutelary kami were built within the Buddhist temples. Shinto kami were made equivalent to deva (the Buddhist Sanskrit term for “gods”) who rank highest in the Realm of Ignorance, according to Buddhist notions. By the late 8th century kami were thought to be incarnations of buddhas and bodhisattvas. Bodhisattva names were given to kami, and Buddhist statues were placed even in the inner sanctuaries of Shinto shrines. Depending who, in some cases, Buddhist priests were in charge of the management of Shinto shrines.
Reincarnation: Shinto believes that when a man's life comes to an end, he becomes a Kami. Kami is regarded as a supernatural being who is equivalent to God. That is the time when he attains the universal self and becomes equal to God. But it would be wrong to assume that. Shintoism believes in worshiping spirits. It believes in existence of God within all living creatures which become manifested after death and equalizes to the supreme God. The dead spirits are better known as Kamis. It is a belief that there is a Kami residing within all living and nonliving beings and again there are supreme Kamis residing over all the Kamis. It is said that the world consists of about eight million Kamis.
Location: Shinto is mainly in Japan. Shinto has no founder, no official sacred texts, and no formalized system of doctrine. Shinto has been formative in developing uniquely Japanese attitudes and sensitivities, creating a distinct Japanese consciousness. -Haley Walters At the core of Shintos beliefs is the mysterious creating and harmonizing power(musubi) of Kami , Kami include the gods that created the universe , but can also include , the spirits that inhabit many living beings , some being themselves , Elements of the landscape like mountains and lakes , powerful forces of nature, like storms and earthquakes , human beings who became kami after their deaths . The term Kami is sometimes applied to spirits that live in things themselves - so the kami of a mountain or a waterfall , may be the actual mountain or waterfall , rather than the spirit of the mountain or waterfall . Not all Kami are sufficiently personalised to have names , some are just referred to as the kami of a such and such place , in principle human beings, birds , animals , trees , plants mountains , oceans , all may be Kami . According to ancient times whatever seemed strikingly impressive , possessed the quality of excellence , or inspired a feeling of awe was called Kami . The concept of a kami is hard to explain . Shintosis would say that this is because human beings are simply incapable of forming a true understanding of the nature of Kami . Kami is regarded as a supernatural being who is equivalent to god . That is the time when he is attains the universal self and becomes equal to god . The most popularly worshiped of all Kamis happens to be the sun goddess “Amtersau” It started at least as long ago as 1000 B.C.E but is still practiced today by at least 5 million people The followers of Shintoism believe that spiritual powers exist in the natural world . The believe that “Spirits” called Kami live in natural places such as in animals, plants , stones, mountains , rivers , people and even the dead . 20
Followers: The Shinto religion (together with Buddhism) is tied to Japanese society and culture. Shinto's relationship with other religions in Japan is generally cooperative and harmonious. Shiniest insist on maintaining their own characteristics and inner depth while working toward the peaceful coexistence of human beings. In keeping with Shinto values, Shinto ritual should be carried out in a spirit of sincerity, cheerfulness and purity. Although Shinto worship features public and shared rituals at local shrines, it can also be a private and individual event, in which a person at a shrine (or in their home) prays to particular kami either to obtain something or to thank the kami for something good that has happened. The Shinto has no founder; however the Shinto has 2,700,000 followers that are Japanese.
Worship: Worship takes place in shrines built with great understanding of the natural world. The contrast between the human ritual and the natural world underlines the way in which Shinto constructs and reflects human empathy for the universe. Norito are Shinto ritual prayers that are addressed directly to the kami during formal ceremonies. They are recited by a priest on behalf of the worshippers. The norito are spoken in formal Japanese phrases of great beauty. Shinto believes that certain words have spiritual power if properly spoken, and this style of language is used because of a belief that using these 'beautiful', 'correct' words will bring about good. Shinto places of worship are called shrines and are usually found in beautiful natural settings. The shrine contains an Inner Hall which is only entered by Shinto priests since it is believed kami are present. Shinto priests can be either male or female. Purity is important to Shinto followers and therefore they rinse their mouths and wash their hands and hang up wooden tablets with prayers on them before entering the prayer hall. Once inside, the kami is summoned with a bell and offered rice or money. After which the worshiper bows twice and claps twice to welcome the kami then bows again. The most important kami is Amaterasu, the sun goddess. She is believed to be the ancestor to the emperors of Japan. Her shrine is at Ise and is the most important shrine in Japan. Inari, the rice producer, is also an important kami since rice is such an important food in Japan.
Stereotypes: Shinto is often presented as the indigenous religion of Japan, a cultural formation that supposedly has existed in an almost unchanged form from the remotest past as the unique expression of the Japanese. Shinto understands that the kami not only exist as spiritual beings, but also in nature; they are within mountains, trees, rivers, and even geographical regions. In this sense, the kami are not like the all-powerful divine beings found in Western religion, but the abstract creative forces in nature. There is no special day of the week for worship in Shinto - people visit shrines for festivals, for personal spiritual reasons, or to put a particular request to the kami (this might be for good luck in an exam, or protection of a family member, and so on). -Kaylan Devreax
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The Population and Spread of Christianity
By Jaccob Whiteaker
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hristianity today, is the largest religion in the world with a staggering 2.1 billion people which makes up over a third of the world’s population. In the last hundred years, the amount of Christians has tripled and is still growing at incomprehensible rate. Christianity is now even beginning to spread to parts of the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and more. In fact Christianity is so widespread that no continent or region can even claim that they’re the center of this massive religion. Christianity used to be primarily in Europe during the 1900s with almost two thirds the population being located in the continent. Today, Christianity has almost three quarters of its population located outside of Europe and this population of people is growing rapidly. In India, Christianity is growing so quickly that the citizens are calling it the new India. In China, the world is seeing China embracing Christianity with over 67 million claiming the religion. Even more surprising is that China is on track to become the largest Christian country in the world even though China openly discriminates against Christians. With this growth in China, a study shown that it’s expected that over 2.6 billion people will become Christian by 2020. This is massive growth and population, but how did Christianity spread so fast and become so large?
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hristianity started in Judea which was a Roman province at the time. Rome in this time was the most powerful force on Earth. Rome in the beginning discriminated, and suppressed Christianity but eventually Christianity became the main religion of Rome. When Christianity became the main religion of Rome it began to spread when Rome conquered other nations. Christianity then became the primary religion of Europe several decades later. Several centuries later, Christopher Columbus sailed off and ended up finding the Americas. He found people living there and began to trade with them. Eventually the Spanish Empire brought an army to conquer the land and to use it for gold and silver mines. When they conquered, they spread their religion which happened to be Christianity. After this we see France starting to get involved and sending expeditions out to present day North America. France began to bring up settlements in North America and claim lots of territory. There were many Indian tribes in this area so they conquered them and began to spread Christianity there. Effectively, the combine efforts of the Europeans spread Christianity across the Americas. One of the biggest changes of all time was when America invented the internet. This allowed people to communicate across the globe instantly. This allowed people from all different cultures to communicate their religion and their ideas to each other. When more people start getting access to this technology I expect even more people to become Christian. This is probably the biggest way Christianity is spreading is through this method of communication. This is also probably the main reason that Christianity is going to be 2.6 billion strong by the year 2020. The population of Christianity is only to increase, and it’s going to keep spreading in foreign countries. Works Cited Raushenbush, Paul Brandeis. "Christianity Sees Major Shifts In 100 Years, Percentage Of Population Remains Constant." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 19 Dec. 2011. Web. 15 May 2014. "The Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population." Pew Research Centers Religion Public Life Project RSS. Pew Research, n.d. Web. 14 May 2014. "When Did Christianity Begin to Spread?" Biblical Archaeology Society. Bible History Daily, n.d. Web. 15 May 2014. 22
Adherents to Christianity
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hristianity has a lot of followers with a staggering 2 billion people of all ages and races. In 2010 there was an estimated of 6.9 billion people on the globe, so one third of the population is Christian. The positive influence of Christianity is far reaching, especially in the rich history, and culture of Western Civilization despite a long standing ignorance or denial of its contribution. The Bible is responsible for much of the language, literature, and arts we enjoy today as many writers and artists were heavily influenced by its writings, for example The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. Christian influence on values, beliefs, and practices in Western culture are great and well put into the flourishing society of today. Locally, around Fort Wayne. Christians believe in justification by faith - that through their belief in Jesus as the Son of God, and in his death and resurrection, they can have a right relationship with God whose forgiveness was made once and for all through the death of Jesus Christ, the Trinity. Some of their holidays are Sunday In Christianity, the day of the week devoted to rest and worship is Sunday, or the "Lord's Day. “Christmas The celebration of the birth of Jesus. The English word "Christmas" derives from the old English Crises masses, or "Christ's mass. Easter is a spring festival that celebrates the resurrection of Christ. It is the oldest Christian holiday and the most important day of the church year. These are just some of their main holidays they have many more traditions and other holidays they celebrate. Christanity affects the people by giving them guidelines to follow and Christians are about Christ and Christ is about good. So they are supposed to live a life doing well. Now just because they're supposed to, doesn’t mean they do some people say their Christian and don’t follow the laws or anything they most likely just say it because a family member or relative is so therefore they must be.
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hristianity affects the people by giving them guidelines to follow and Christians are about Christ and Christ is about good. So they are supposed to live a life doing well. Now just because they're supposed to, doesn’t mean they do some people say their Christian and don’t follow the laws or anything they most likely just say it because a family member or relative is so therefore they must be. There are a lot of different stereotypes about each religion. Some of the stereotypes for Christianity are their just white they are very strict they don’t have fun, that they don’t sin yet they live a life of sin. Some people say they use politics to persuade or force their beliefs, like limiting people’s rights yet were a free country. There was a newsfeed I was reading one day it said something about a broad coalition leaders and organizations announced a pledge of solidarity and call to action for American Christians to stand with persecuted communities in Egypt Iraq and Syria. “The targeting of religious minorities in the Middle East is heart-breaking, and we should respond with a combination of tears and anger,” said Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals during a press conference on Capitol Hill. Now why would they want to respond with anger, if Christians are supposed to be good and live a life of good? Some Christians are still Christians they just don’t follow the laws.
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