Vol 2 Issue 2 / Mayy 2009
World’s largest religion There’s a bunch of religions, but we have the top five. Learn about what the f b h makes k these h h most popular religions around the world!
ALSO INSIDE! Islam . Judaism . Hinduism . Buddhism
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Page 1 Christianity – Worlds most popular religion. Learn what all the cool kids are worshiping. Page 2 2 Islam I l – Learn about one of the youngest religions. Though it’s young there’s a lot of history behind it. Page 3 Judaism ‐ This religion has a variety of holidays. Learn what they have to do to be in this religion. Page 5 Hinduism – There’s so many practices they do, that we needed to give it it’s own page!
Page 4 One of the most unique religions to this date. Learn what makes this religion different.
interview with the Jonas Brothers about staying pure until marriage. The boys share their thoughts. Page 6
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hristianity has grown to become one of the largest of all world religions. To begin with, the start and beginning of this religion is very different. Christianity is not the same as any other religion. In fact, there’s no other religion similar to it. Also, the region where it was founded is in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is part of Israel. Adding to those, the main points of belief in this religion are very important. They are the reasons for Christianity’s existence. Lastly, the religion consists of practices just like any other religion. They mainly worship at church. With all of this, Christianity is one of the largest of all world religions for these reasons. The place where Christianity was founded is in the old town of Jerusalem. On one hand there is, that Christianity began 2,000 years ago. It began around 80 CE. The area where it began was around the Mediterranean. It spread around later. Of course, there’s a story that goes along with this religion. Christianity focuses on the birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ. Most importantly, this religion was founded by St.Paul. After his blindness, he began to have faith. Again Christianity began a long time ago. Christianity began around the Mediterranean before it spread. An interesting fact is, Jerusalem in general is very sandy. Along with the sand, the temperature is usually very warm. Secondly, there are about 2.1 billion followers. No wonder the religion spread so much. Last of all, most of the believers lived throughout the country of Israel. Today, believers live throughout the whole world. One can see that, Christianity has spread a lot.
In this religion, there are many different ways of practices. First of all, the main place where Christians worship is the holy church. The meaning of the church is “God’s home”. It’s about God and only God. Second of all, the ones who lead the church pastors, or ministers. This depends on which branch of Christianity you abide. Third of all, the use of prayer is to connect with God. Also, so God will forgive you for yyour sins. Lent is an example p of a holy y period of time when people sacrifice their favorite thing for 40 days. This all adds up The cross represents the religion to one conclusion, there are many different ways of practicing in Christianity. Christianity is the largest religion in the world. When looking over the evidence, it is clear that the start of this religion is different. There’s no other religion like it. Even so, being started in Jerusalem, we know that it’s old. Christianity is ancient. Accordingly, their beliefs are very important. That’s why Christianity exists today. And finally, there are practices just like any other religion. Church is the main place to worship. In summary, these are the reasons on why so many people follow Christianity.
The beliefs in Christianity are special and sacred. Initially, God plays the most important role of all of the religion. Christians believe that God sent his son Jesus to Earth to save us from our own sins. Moreover, the role of a Christian individual is to live life by the golden rule and succeed. God wants positive lives, and you to treat others the way you want to be treated. Third and even more importantly, there is claimed to be a relationship with God throughout personal prayer. Also, the body of Christ is a way to receive God and connect with him. To repeat, the beliefs of Christianity are special and sacred.
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Jesus Christ after being resurrection.
When it comes to being Muslim there’s a lot of beliefs they have. Just like the other religions God has an important role. Their God’s name is Allah. God is always everywhere and he knows everything. He rewards the good, and the bad get punished. In this religion the basic beliefs of Muslims go into six main categories called “Articles of Faith.” Muslims have faith in the unity of God. Faith in angels, prophets, books of revelation, and afterlife. They also have faith in destiny or divine decree. In the religion, the relationship between God and the individual is strong. God Though Islam is one of the youngest religions, it has the second largest population. loves everyone unconditionally. Tough the religion requires To begin with, the story to how Islam came about is compelling. It was all because you to believe in a lot of things, Muslims are proud to believe a man had a revelation. Another thing to add is it started in Saudi Arabia. The in them them. religion li i has h managed d tto spread d ffar and d wide. id Wh When it comes tto th their i b beliefs li f th they Muslims have a variety of practices they believe in a lot of the same things other religions believe, but there’s a lot of do. The Muslims main place of worship is called a Mosque additional beliefs. Just like other religions, they have a place of worship. It’s called or Masjid. It’s a large dome that helps echo the prayers. a Mosque. Since there’s so many believers the religion must be fascinating. They have to wash their hands and can’t wear shoes. The Islam is one of the youngest monotheistic religions to this date out mosque can be used for meetings, teaching, or quiet meditation. The Islamic leader is called a Caliph. Another of the three. Even though Islam is the youngest religion, it started out thousands of interesting thing about the religion is they have the “Five Five years ago. ago The year 600 A.D A D is when it started out out. Like any other religion there’s there s Pillars” they have to follow. The first is Shahaday, they always a person who starts the religion. In this case it was a man named recite the Muslim profession of faith. To perform ritual Muhammad who lived in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The way the religion started was all prayers in a proper way five times a day is called Salat. because of a revelation. When Muhammad was forty, the angel Gabriel appeared Zakat is when they pray an alms for charity, tax to benefit and came to him. Throughout the rest of his life more revelation came to him. the poor and needy. Sawn is when the fast during Afterward he became the Gurun. Through the religion hasn’t been around as long Ramadan. Hajjjj is p pilmgrage g g to Mecca. In the religion g Islam as all the other ones ones, there’s there s a great amount of history behind it all all. they have two main holidays they celebrate. One of them is called Edu ul-Fitr, and it’s the Celebration of the Feast Saudi Arabia is not only a beautiful place to live in, but it also has many which celebrates the end of Ramadan. Eid ul-Adha is the believers living there and around the world. Unlike most of the areas around the world, Festival of Sacrifice honoring the prophet. In it they Saudi Arabia is basically summer all year round. The weather varies but it’s always hot. sacrifice an animal and have a dinner with the entire family. Most of it is desert, and it also has plateau. Overall the practices the Muslims do are hard work, but in The western region is mountainous and th end the d th they gett rewarded. d d the eastern is sandy. In addition to the Islam’s beliefs and the practices they do is great climate there’s also a huge amount striking that it’s retrieved a lot of believers because of that. of people it fill in the deserts. There are The religion is old. it’s considered one of the youngest over 1.5 billion believers. Along with the since it started in 600 A.D. even though the religion is first two facts, the religion Islam isn’t just in young, it’s managed to get a lot of believers, it being the y There’s Muslims all Saudi Arabia anymore. seconds largest religion. A lot of their beliefs are the same O One of the many palaces in Islam f h l i Il over the world. as others. They have a lot more books, writings, and beliefs. Adding to that, their practices are unique. Praying The highest population of where they live is in North Africa The symbol represents the five times a day is a lot. In the end, there’s a lot of things and Asia. Indeed Saudi Arabia is mostly desert, but the religion you have to do to be Muslim, but they’re dedicated to it. believers seem to enjoy the way it is.
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udaism is a popular religion practiced throughout the entire world. world In the beginning, beginning Judaism had a rich amount of
history. It traces back all the way to the Bronze Age. Adding to that, the religion began in Israel. Ever since then, it’s expanded throughout the world. In addition to that, the relationship the Jews have with God is interesting. The relationship is focused on very good deeds. Adding to those, their practices are different than other religions. They’re required to do additional things. Put it all together, and you’ll realize that Judaism is a very different and yet fascinating religion. Judaism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions to this present date. It all started out 4,000 years ago in Mesopotamia known as the Bronze Age Mesopotamia, Age. The Old Testament was one of the main things to start out the religion. religion After the kingdom fell apart, they rebuilt a new kingdom. One of the main people to inform the world on Judaism was Abraham. He was a nomad. As soon as Abraham came into contact with God, he was told by him a variety of requirements to become the father of the great people. If he followed exactly God’s instructions he would qualify to be the father. Later on, he was called the first Patriarch of the Jewish people. With all of this in mind, you’ll see that Judaism has been around for numerous centuries. With a great portion of Abraham’s help, Judaism is world known. Judaism traces back all the way to the Middle East. Not only y is the Middle East the origin g of Judaism, it’s also the origin g of Christianityy and Islam. Secondly, y since Judaism has so many believers it’s one of the top five religions in the world. There are over 1.5 billion believers! There are still massive amounts that are believers in Israel, but many have immigrated to other locations. Many now live in Eastern and Western Europe. The largest communities are in Israel and Palestine. In other countries there are at least 8 million living elsewhere. Even though the religion started in the Middle East, it has managed to scatter throughout the world incredibly. The thing that keeps the relationship between God and the Jews going, is the good deeds. On one hand, the religion is monotheistic so they only believe in a single God. They say their God doesn’t have a body so they can’t distinguish between a male l or female. f l The Th Jews J believe b li that th t God G d is i everywhere, h so therefore th f he h knows k everything. thi God G d punishes i h the th bad b d andd rewards the good. He loves everyone unconditionally. When it comes to the Jews, they do good deeds in exchange for the relationship with God. They also follow the 10 commandments. They have to keep God’s laws and then in return, bring holiness into their lives. Another thing they do is help others and in return, get paid by God. Having a relationship with god is very important. God has a relationship with every Jewish individual. Overall, if a Jewish person does what they’re supposed to do, their relationship with God will be flawless. The Jews have a varietyy of things g when it comes to their practiced. p One of the main things g theyy worship p is the synagogue. A synagogue is their place for worship, and is considered their church. Unlike some religions where praying is only done once a day, in Judaism they multiply that by 3 so they pray 3 times. Saturday is also a day of worship. There’s a medley of celebrations and holy days in Judaism. Some holy days would be Hanukkah, Passover, Purim, and Sabbath. An important celebration is when the boys and girls turn 13 and become adults. Being Jewish can be an obstacle, but it has its special benefits. Even though Judaism is a very old religion, it’s still managed to exist and be practiced. Judaism is such an ancient religion. li i There’s Th ’ suchh a great amount off history hi behind b hi d it. i With Wi h it i tracing i back b k all ll the h way to Israel, I l it’s i ’ basically b i ll the h home h off Judaism, but it isn’t just Israel’s religion. There are billions of believers everywhere. If a Jews relationship with God seems dysfunctional, the best thing to do would be to fix it. Jews must be close with god, and they can patch it up by doing good things. They do a lot of extra things when it comes to their practices. That shows lots of dedication and significance of their religion. Since it’s a popular religion I’m more than positive it’ll be around for years to come. A bar mitzvah is a celebration to
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show that a boy is becoming a man.
Buddhism is an eye-catching religion that’s managed to attract followers throughout the world. In the religion it started differently than others. A determined man stayed under a tree for weeks without doing anything else. Also, Buddhism started out a while ago. It traced back 2,500 years ago in Nepal The religion also has a different kind of god Nepal. god. Actually, there is no god. Though most religions pray, Buddhist meditate instead. To reemphasize Buddhism is unlike any other religion. The religion started out all because of a determined man. To start out with, the religion started a while ago. To be exact, 2,500 years ago in Nepal Adding to that, Nepal. that there there’ss always someone who starts out a religion. In this case the man’s name was Siddortha Guata who was born in 500 BC. Another important thing to add is how Siddortha Guata started it. He was trying to find his path to enlightment. He basically traveled everywhere, but that didn’t work. Finally he sat under a tree and emptied p his mind completely. p y He didn’t move at all for an entire seven weeks. After the seven weeks, he finally found his path to enlightment. Putting the facts together, you can obviously see Siddortha was a determined man. The believers of Buddhism are throughout the world. First and foremost, where the religion started has all the basic seasons, but it’s mostlyy considered wet and dry. There’ a lot of mountains and also hills. Nepal also has eight of the top ten highest mountains in the world. Even more interesting is the number of believers. There are 376 million followers! When the religion started, most of the believers lived in Asia. A great majority of believers still live in Asia. There are also 200,000 people who live in the United States. In total, Buddhist live everywhere.
Buddhism doesn’t have too many beliefs, but the beliefs are original. This can be first be seen when you look at the kind of God they have. They have no God because they don’t have belief in a personal God. Buddhists’ main beliefs are simple. Nothing is fixed or permanent, and change is inevitable. Meditation is the path to enlightment. With karma, all actions and thoughts will positively or negatively affect you in the future. It doesn’t matter when; it could be this life or the next. Since there’s no God, there’s no relationship between God and the person. It’s mostly the person ‘getting in the moment’ when they meditate. When looking at all the facts, the beliefs are original. Buddhism is very open to how they’re able to do their practices. ti T To start t t off ff with, ith th they can worship hi just j t about b t anywhere. This includes at home or at a temple. In addition to where they can worship, they also have decisions on how they can worship. Meditation is one way. They’re also able to chant. Since music is very important, they can play the instrument called the Mantru. Buddhist are basically the one deciding when and where to worship. Buddhist also has a variety of holidays holidays. The most important one is Wesak. Wesak To celebrate it they have a festival one the first full moon in Mayi, which marks the birth of Buddha. So as you can see the religion has rich variety. Throughout the world, Buddhism has managed to reach many people. Most religions started the same way or for the same reason. In this case a man wanted to go onto a path to enlightment and didn’t didn t do anything for weeks. weeks It started thousands of years ago; actually more, 2,500 years ago. In Nepal, this is located in South East Asia. Adding to even more differences to the religion, there isn’t any God. The person is in control on what they do and when. Karma is the main thing they follow. To repeat, Buddhism is a unique religion that’s managed to spread throughout the world.
This is one of the ways they worship, by meditating.
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Hinduism is the world’s most ancient religion that has believers just about everywhere. The best place to start with is when the religion started which allowed them to get so many believers. Five thousand years ago is when it started, but oddly enough there are no records on how it all started. In addition to that, the religion has more than enough believers. They have well over 700 billion Hindus all around. On top of that, there’s not just one god they worship. There’s million of Gods that they believe in, and each one is different for each person’s personality. In addition to those those, they do spiritual practice practice. Not just once a day day, but three times. times In short short, the religion has managed to grow big with all the years it’s been around. Hinduism is the oldest religion, but they way it started is unknown. First and foremost, Hinduism is the oldest religion. It started 5,000 years ago in the Indian South Continent in the year 3,000 BC. In addition to the first fact, there’s no story behind how the religion started. Most religions do, but not Hinduism. They didn’t have records or stories as to how the religion came about. So there are really no writings on it. Most importantly, in the religion there’s no founder or leader. Since there there’ss no story on how it started, then they sadly don’t don t have any founder of the religion. The best way to sum it up is even though the religion has no history on how it started or who did, the religion is still successful. Hinduism is the second largest religion in the world. For instance, the worldwide number of believers is 700 billion. Next, in the beginning of the religion there were many believers. A majority of them lived in India. Accordingly, the religion of Hinduism has managed to spread throughout the world. Thought, a great number still live in India, there’s also a great number living parts of the world. Clearly, y, Hinduism in the second largest g religion. g in the U.S and other p Hinduism has a variety of Gods. To begin with, Hindus main recognize one god, Braham. Different communities have their own divinities on who they worship Braham is not the only one. Likewise, they recognize Brahma as the creator. The significance of Brahma is not as important as other Gods because his work is down and over with. Moreover, Hindus are often classified into three groups according to which form of Brahman they worship. The three groups are those who worship Vishnu (the preserver), Shiva (the destroyer), and those who worship Parvati. Reemphasizing, Hinduism doesn’t just have one God. In this popular religion, they also have numerous practices. The best place to start is with where the Hindus worship the God. It really doesn’t matter where they pray, which is also called Puja. They’re able to pray at home or at a temple. The praying requires to be done three times a day. Adding to that, the religious leader in this religion is called a Guru. A Guru is someone who has great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in the religion. Having these abilities, all they basically do is help guide others. Even more interesting is the different things they do to show how dedicated they are to the religion. There are secret rituals, bathing in water, and holidays. In the secret rituals they sacrifice animals. The only animal they don’t sacrifice is the cow because it’s sacred. With bathing in water they do it to cleanse their skin. They believe is the die there, then they die in eternal bliss. The most important holiday they have is called Holi, which welcomes the spring season. Adding this all up, you can see the dedication they have for the religion since they have numerous practices. With no records on how or who started the religion, it hasn’t stopped the religion from expanding everywhere. Initially, the religion is the oldest out of any religion. Five thousand years ago is i when h it started. t t d Adding Addi to t that, th t the th religion li i isn’t i ’t the th largest l t but b t it comes close l making ki it th the second biggest. All over, there are over 700 billion Hindus. Even more interesting is how they have more than one God. There’s millions. Not everyone believes in the same one, it depends on a person’s personality. Adding to the last three, they do many secret rituals. They sacrifice animals to show their dedication to the Gods. Even though the religion really doesn’t have a history, they’ve managed to build one creating a very successful religion.
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Buddha is one of the symbols used in this religion. Sometimes people rub his belly for good luck.
The band of three brothers have announced that they're still virgins and that they plan on holding on to their chastity until they get married. When chatting with National Geographic for Teens magazine, Nick, Kevin and Joe Jonas said that they each have chosen to wear purity rings to signify their "promises to ourselves and to God that we'll stay pure till marriage." Kevin's ring is from Tiffany's and Nick's is from Disney World. He says, "It's pretty awesome." I have this feeling, though, that they're taking out their sexual frustration by dressing up in goofy suits and tight pants. I hope it's working.
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1800‐PURITYRING