Quiz 4 – Comparative Religion
CLUSTER 4 - POLITICS
Submitted by: Sara Lone
LEADING THE CHANGE PROCESS
Comparative Religion
Comparative religion studies provide learners with knowledge of the world's major religious
faiths. We will delve into specific religious faiths, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism,
Christianity and Islam, including a bit about their history and development. Through this
study of world history and current events, global comparative analysis and knowledge of
ethical standards and practices, studying Comparative Religion equips one to understand
multiple perspectives on today’s pressing issues around the world, and to engage in informed
discussion and decision making towards sustainable solutions.
Buddhism
Buddhism, a major world religion, founded in northeastern India and based on the teachings
of Siddhartha Gautama, who is known as the Buddha, or Enlightened One. Originating as a
monastic movement within the dominant Brahman tradition of the day, Buddhism quickly
developed in a distinctive direction. The Buddha not only rejected significant aspects of
Hindu philosophy, but also challenged the authority of the priesthood, denied the validity of
the Vedic scriptures, and rejected the sacrificial cult based on them. Moreover, he opened his
movement to members of all castes, denying that a person's spiritual worth is a matter of
birth. Buddhism today is divided into two major branches known to their respective followers
as Theravada, the Way of the Elders, and Mahayana, the Great Vehicle.
The Buddha was an oral teacher; he left no written body of thought. His beliefs were codified
by later followers. However, in simpler understanding his core teachings revolved around 4
major areas: Four noble truths, Anatman, Karma & Nirvana. One of the lasting strengths of
Buddhism has been its ability to adapt to changing conditions and to a variety of cultures. It is
philosophically opposed to materialism, whether of the Western or the Marxist-Communist
variety. Buddhism does not recognize a conflict between itself and modern science. On the
contrary, it holds that the Buddha applied the experimental approach to questions of ultimate
truth. In Thailand and Myanmar, Buddhism remains strong. Reacting to charges of being
socially unconcerned, its monks have become involved in various social welfare projects.
Although Buddhism in India largely died out between the 8th and 12th centuries AD,
resurgence on a small scale was sparked by the conversion of 3.5 million former members of
the untouchable caste, under the leadership of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, beginning in 1956.
A similar renewal of Buddhism in Sri Lanka dates from the 19th century.
Hinduism
Hinduism is the world’s oldest religion, according to many scholars, with roots and customs
dating back more than 4,000 years. Today, with about 900 million followers, Hinduism is the
third-largest religion behind Christianity and Islam. Roughly 95 percent of the world’s
Hindus live in India. Because the religion has no specific founder, it is difficult to trace its
origins and history.
Hinduism originally started as a tradition from within the brahmin class, making it difficult
for people of lower castes to access, but it gradually grew more popular. Sometime around
1500 to 500 BCE, two epic poems called the Mahabharata and the Ramayana were created
and eventually written down in the early centuries of the Common Era. These poems laid out
information about Hindu values and gods—Vishnu, for example—through dramatic stories of
love and war. When these stories were written down, they spread more quickly and easily
throughout India. Another text, the Bhagavad Gita, was a poem that highlighted Hindu values
and the possibility of salvation for people who lived those values. The Bhagavad Gita helped
popularize Hinduism among lower castes because it asserted that people could achieve
salvation by performing their caste duties.
Judaism
Judaism is the oldest surviving monotheistic religion, arising in the eastern Mediterranean in
the second millennium B.C.E. Abraham is traditionally considered to be the first Jew and to
have made a covenant with God. Because Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all recognize
Abraham as their first prophet, they are also called the Abrahamic religions.
Judaism is the way of life of the Jewish people. Judaism embraces the intricate religious and
cultural development of the Jewish people through more than thirty centuries of history,
stretching from Biblical times to medieval Spain to the Enlightenment, and then to the
Holocaust and the founding of the modern state of Israel. The result is an experience that
reflects the elliptical relationship between religious practice and peoplehood. From a religious
perspective Judaism is a theistic system. It consists not only of Torah (divine revelation) and
mitzvoth (divine commandments), but also the diverse cultures of the Hebrew, Yiddish, and
Ladino languages. Judaism is perhaps best conceptualized as a triad with three points of
reference: God, Torah, and the people of Israel (that is, the Jewish people). None is central;
all are interdependent, with varying degrees of emphasis at various times.
Hence a new movement was born for the improvement of the Jews: the Haskalah (“the
Jewish Enlightenment”). Centered in Berlin and fathered by the German-Jewish philosopher
Moses Mendelssohn, the Haskalah was one of the first important movements of Jewish
modernity. While preserving the essentials of Judaism, it sought to change the public image
of the Jew through secular education. Its motto, “Be a Jew at home and a German in the
street,” became the underlying ethos of modern Jewish acculturation.
The philosophical endeavor to reconcile traditional religion with modern culture has long had
a place in Jewish history. Philo of first-century Alexandria, Rav Saadia Gaon of tenth-century
Babylonia, Maimonides of twelfth-century Spain and Egypt: many great Jewish thinkers have
taken pains to integrate the Judaism of the Torah and the Talmud with the best of
contemporary thought. Secular Jewish culture lives on today in phenomena such as the
Yiddish revival, Klezmer music, and many other areas of Jewish arts and letters.
Christianity
Christianity started as an offshoot of Judaism in the first century C.E. Until the emperor
Constantine converted to Christianity in 324 C.E., early Christian communities were often
persecuted. It was then that the Roman Empire became the Holy Roman Empire, and its
capital relocated from Rome to Constantinople (formerly Byzantium and now Istanbul). The
development of Christian groups derived from major and minor splits. The Orthodox Church
and its patriarch split away from the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope in 1054 C.E.
because of political and doctrinal differences. In the 16th century, Martin Luther, upset at the
corruption of the Catholic church, spearheaded a reformation movement that led to the
development of Protestantism. Originally, Christianity was a small, unorganized sect that
promised personal salvation after death. Salvation was possible through belief in Jesus as the
son of God—the same God the Jews believed in.
Christianity is the most widely practiced religion in the world, with more than 2 billion
followers. The Christian faith centers on beliefs regarding the birth, life, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians are monotheistic, i.e., they believe there’s only one
God, and he created the heavens and the earth. This divine Godhead consists of three parts:
the father (God himself), the son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit.
Today Christianity has three major streams, each possessing its own internal pluralism — the
Catholic Communion, the Orthodox Christian Churches, and Protestant movements. In the
early twenty-first century, Christianity has more adherents than any other religious tradition
on earth. One third of all humans call themselves Christians. The Christian scriptures have
been translated into a multitude of languages in cultures throughout the world. Even today’s
dominant religions have continually evolved throughout history. Early Christianity, for
example, was a truly broad church: ancient documents include yarns about Jesus’ family life
and testaments to the nobility of Judas. It took three centuries for the Christian church to
consolidate around a canon of scriptures – and then in 1054 it split into the Eastern Orthodox
and Catholic churches. Since then, Christianity has continued both to grow and to splinter
into ever more disparate groups, from silent Quakers to snake-handling Pentecostalists.
Islam
Islam is the second largest religion in the world after Christianity, with about 1.8 billion
Muslims worldwide. Although its roots go back further, scholars typically date the creation of
Islam to the 7th century, making it the youngest of the major world religions. Islam started in
Mecca, in modern-day Saudi Arabia, during the time of the prophet Muhammad’s life.
Today, the faith is spreading rapidly throughout the world. Taking roots from humble
beginnings in the Arabian Peninsula, the followers of Muhammad managed to conquer the
superpowers of the time: the Sassanian Empire and the Byzantine Empire. At its peak (750
CE), the Islamic Empire stretched all the way between parts of modern-day Pakistan in the
east and to Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula in the west. Although initially spread by
conquest, Islam would later flourish through trade to expand beyond its initial borders and
around the world. In the present day, it is the world’s fastest-growing religion.
Islamic scholars, poets, writers, and artisans have contributed to developments in virtually
every area of world culture and continue to do so in the present day. It is unfortunate that, in
the West, Islam today is so often associated with violence and terrorism because, at its heart,
Islam is a religion of peace and understanding. Muslims around the world, one-third of the
world’s population, follow – or at least try to follow – the path of peace Muhammad revealed
14 centuries ago and his legacy of compassion and dedication to the divine and the greater
good continues even to this day in the form of his followers.
Today the Islamic community remains divided into Sunni and Shi'i branches. Sunnis revere
all four caliphs, while Shi'is regard 'Ali as the first spiritual leader. The rift between these two
factions has resulted in differences in worship as well as political and religious views. Sunnis
are in the majority and occupy most of the Muslim world, while Shi'i populations are
concentrated in Iran and Iraq, with sizeable numbers in Bahrain, Lebanon, Kuwait, Turkey,
Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
Comparative Religion in Contemporary World & Importance of studying comparative
religion
As events unfold it is becoming evident that the study of religions is acquiring vital
importance in the world today. It is also becoming difficult for any man or society
irrespective of its inclinations, motives, ideas, philosophy, or culture to isolate itself from the
dramatic changes taking place owing to unparalleled development in the fields of mass-
communication and information technology, disciplines which have turned the world into a
"global village". Interaction between people has not only narrowed down cultural differences
as well as creating an atmosphere of mutual understanding and coexistence, it has also forced
man to contribute to the welfare of his community and civilization by trying to understand
others.
In the present situation where we witness one nation trying to control others economically,
politically or military one might think that the proverb "Might is right" is emerging as the
order of the day. Since no one challenges the necessity of understanding other people and
societies it becomes imperative that one should study their religions as religion accounts for a
greater part of their cultural norms, the shaping of their social infrastructure and the molding
of their behavioural motives as well as explaining their psychological experiences. Religion
represents the driving instinct, the guiding faith and the emotional attitude. In short it
represents a dynamic force that drives human being wherever he is, whichever society he
belongs to. In addition to all these arguments which necessitate a sincere endeavour in
studying others' religions as an instinctive force, a social phenomenon, a psychological
experience and as a cultural movement encompassing its various aspects, its historical
development and the factors influencing it ' irrespective of ones personal views ' there are
other factors which urge man to these studies.
Whether we like it or not, individuals and communities are inspired by their religious
identities to take action in the world. Those actions can have positive effects on the world,
such as social outreach or providing a sense of community to adherents, or negative ones,
including violence against rivals or intolerance for others. The fact remains, however, that
their actions are often rooted in religious ideals, or their worldview. The principal concern of
religious studies is to expose differences in those worldviews so that we might understand the
beliefs and practices of a wide variety of cultural actors. Different religious groups imagine
the world differently, and that affects how they respond to contemporary concerns.
The academic discipline of religious studies does not train students to be Catholics or
Buddhists or Jews any more than political science trains students to be Democrats or
Republicans. The idea is to built a scholarly desire to understand the world’s inhabitants and
cultures. To read closely, think deeply, write cogently and, above all, analyze carefully the
important -- and sometimes decisive -- role that religion plays in the lives of cultural actors
across the globe.
But the most important attribute that the comparative study of religion offers is even more
vital and far more concrete: the ability to understand others. In a world in which we are
increasingly exposed to difference of all types, what could be a more vital skill for navigating
the future?
