Today this site will cover the main religions which we have in England
and the rest of Britain today, which include Christianity particularly
the "Church of England" together with the more fundamentalist
Protestant sects, (like Puritans and Presbyterians) and the Roman
Catholics plus the recently introduced Islamic faith by mainly Asian
immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Africa. The faiths of Jews,
Sikhs and Hindus will follow. We will look at the fundamental beliefs
of these Religions as well as the rules which sometimes result in
customs which help to ignite mockery, suspicions, jealousies and hate.
These will include rules on prayer, birth, marriage and death, the
rules for men and women and rules for diet and dress. We cannot exclude
the cultural habits which generally have been shaped by the rules of
their religions. The whole of the Western World for example as been
influenced by the Christian faiths whilst much of the East and Africa
has been influenced by Islam
What is Religion and what
does the word faith mean? We have from the
Oxford Dictionary:
- Religion System of Faith and Worship. Human
recognition of a superpower, more often than not a God, entitled to
obedience.
- Faith Belief in a divine truth without proof.
- God The supreme being
Here lies the root of many religious led problems. "Faith is a belief
without proof." It is much easier to conduct an argument if the parties
involved can prove the point they are trying to make. With many
religions this is impossible. For example you cannot be a Christian
without believing that:
- Jesus was the son of God
- Jesus rose from the dead. That is after he had been
crucified by
the Romans (in present day Israel) his dead body disappeared and Jesus
was seen alive again. This proving to Christians that he was very
special, indeed the son of God
- At death only those who believe the above will go to a
place called Heaven which is a paradise.
All very difficult to
prove.
It might have been easier to look at religions coming from a position
of somebody with no religion. This is almost impossible as there are
very few countries in the world which have no religious history or
religious schooling and hence a religious bias to the extent that the
local religion is right and all other religions are not so right or
even wrong. An easier route is to come from the position of the Atheist
(A person who does not believe in God) but wants to learn. Many
religious teachers over the past 1500 years have advised pupils to
start with meditation coupled with an emptying of the mind followed by
a slow refilling around words which describe PEACE and LOVE rather than
WAR and HATE.
One of the worlds oldest religions has always advocated this approach
(Hinduism) and Yoga is the physical discipline designed by Hindus to
aid this process. Many famous people (including of course the Beatles)
have tried this approach.
This being a site about England you may start with the first monogod
religion which was brought to these shores more than 1500 years ago by
the Romans, CHRISTIANITY. Or for those who wish to study the second
largest faith in England only introduced in the last 50 years, ISLAM,
Click here
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