NationStates Jolt Archive

I am the first to admit that I do not know much about other religions. I find that on this site many people hold misconceptions about the religions of others. So why not, instead of fighting and arguing (or trying to convert people or prove who is better) we just explain the basics of our religion?

I am Catholic

We are a little old fashioned, but we have been around a while. We have the belief that God, the creator of the universe, was embodied as a human being in Jesus. He came and told us to love ourselves and our neighbors and care for one another.

So we nailed him to a tree.

But instead of taking his revenge on us, he forgave us all. We are grateful for this and (most of us) thank him daily. And we aresupposed to forgive others the way he forgave us. (Of course it is far more complicated then this, but that is the basics)

So what about your religions? I am particularly interested on hearing something about Wiccan Muslim and Atheist, as I believe the information I have gathered to this point is probably distorted.

k...i'm gonna do 2 or 3 which I have studied quite a bit

first, atheist:
Atheism, despite what people say, is NOT a religion. There is no central literature such a a bible, torah, or koran. There are no central tenants or structure, or even a real belife system. The only thing all atheists have in common is the lack of belife in a god or gods. That simple.

Now, 2 of the most misunderstood religions in the world:

Voodoo:
Voodoo arose from the Yoruba religion of northern and central Africa. Under French colonialism in Haiti, the religion took on many catholic belifes, such as adopting something very similar to the 10 commandments and adopting many many catholic saints.. The most important (and least recognized) concept states that if one sends a spell after someone who is undeserving, the spirits will place that spell on the caster ten fold. A major concept is "As in the microcosm, as in the macrocosm", which states what happens in mineature happens in the real world. This is the basis for voodoo dolls. Um...i think that about covers the very basics. The religion is very similar to tibetan buddhism actually.

and now, Santeria.
Santeria arose from Yoruba as well. However, it was impacted by Spanish colonialism in Cuba. Due to political pressures, the religion became a much more "underground" religion than voodoo. There are several different levels of practice, from the casual observer to the very devout. There are the Siete um....um...cant think of the word. But it translates to the seven spirits essentially. These are the most important "gods" (if you could call them that) and are contated in most religious practices. The basic tenents are the same as voodoo, but rather than a French Catholic twist, this has a Spanish Catholic twist.

K, I'll tell y'all bout Judaism and Agnosticism

Judaism:
It orgininated from a wandering ancient Mideastern tribe known as the Hebrews. It's the first of the three surviving monotheistic religions; its followers are the descendants of Abraham. Primary contents: 10 commandments (deal w/relationship towards G-d (you never spell His name if you're Jewish; it's disrespectful), relationship w/other people. And keeping kosher (at its base, staying away from pork) is basically founded on the idea that the pig is an unwholsome animal to eat.

Agnosticism
Literally from the Greek "A" (without) and "Gnostic" (knowledge), So basically, agnostics admit they lack the knowledge of knowing for sure if any sort of divine being(s) exist or not. That goes true for both good *and* evil divinity.

Catholicism-Just put Jesus as the Messiah with similar rules to Judiaism.

Voodo-Like other guy said. Also the people are afraid to have the zombie curse put on them.

Buddhism-I consider this a philosophy. Basically made by prince somebody after seeing three things he never saw before, old age, disease and death (I think disease is one of them). So he made up a belief that to end suffering you must end wanting. Reincarnation is involved and when you loose all suffering and wanting you go to nirvana. There is the eight fold path or something and something with 4 noble truths

I have studied alot of religions. I do not fully believe any of them so have not devoted myself to any of them. I will tell you about the religion that my fiances family folows Mormanism.

The mormon (L.D.S Later Day Saints) religion was founded by Joseph Smith because he wanted to find the true church. He then went to a grove and prayed to god. God then spoke to him telling him to found the Mormon church. The mormons were then bashed for their beliefs and chased out of there homes and towns they then wandered around the states trying to find a home until the ultimatly landed and found there home in Utah. The book of mormon was writen much the same as the bible.They have a strong belief in the words of god. The folowers of the religon have srict rules in mariage and purity. The human soul just as all the other christian religions is held in high importance to keep pure to enter the gates of heaven. The only way to purify it is with gods forgivness and the aceptance of the holy spirit. The main diference I have noticed with them and the other christian churchs is these things:
1. The belief in paligamy
2. The ability to kick someone out of the religion.(excamunication)
3. The writing of the book of mormon(bulkly others have written there on books as well)
4. The fact that only males may raise up to titles in the church(also bulkly)
5. The belief and folowing of a person of human decent
6. The mormon recrutment teams on the street(also bulkly)

I hope this has enlightned everybody as to the mormon church. I woukd also like to say that I am in no way indorsing the mormon church or stating that anyone should cinvert. I have my own beliefs that I folow that are not mormon and believe that everyone should folow there own beliefs.
I would like to see someone post about Jehovas Witnesses.

I have studied alot of religions. I do not fully believe any of them so have not devoted myself to any of them. I will tell you about the religion that my fiances family folows Mormanism.

The mormon (L.D.S Later Day Saints) religion was founded by Joseph Smith because he wanted to find the true church. He then went to a grove and prayed to god. God then spoke to him telling him to found the Mormon church. The mormons were then bashed for their beliefs and chased out of there homes and towns they then wandered around the states trying to find a home until the ultimatly landed and found there home in Utah. The book of mormon was writen much the same as the bible.They have a strong belief in the words of god. The folowers of the religon have srict rules in mariage and purity. The human soul just as all the other christian religions is held in high importance to keep pure to enter the gates of heaven. The only way to purify it is with gods forgivness and the aceptance of the holy spirit. The main diference I have noticed with them and the other christian churchs is these things:
1. The belief in paligamy
2. The ability to kick someone out of the religion.(excamunication)
3. The writing of the book of mormon(bulkly others have written there on books as well)
4. The fact that only males may raise up to titles in the church(also bulkly)
5. The belief and folowing of a person of human decent
6. The mormon recrutment teams on the street(also bulkly)

I hope this has enlightned everybody as to the mormon church. I woukd also like to say that I am in no way indorsing the mormon church or stating that anyone should cinvert. I have my own beliefs that I folow that are not mormon and believe that everyone should folow there own beliefs.
I would like to see someone post about Jehovas Witnesses.

I've been to a mormon church, and all of those are horribly, horribly, wrong. At least they are today. They don't believe in poligamy anymore. They technically can't "excommunicate" anyone. Women can be titles in the church. And I've never seen a "mormon recruitment" team. Ever. Mormons are just regular people. They're really nice, too.

There are isolated Polygamous LSD communities.

I've been to a mormon church, and all of those are horribly, horribly, wrong. At least they are today. They don't believe in poligamy anymore. They technically can't "excommunicate" anyone. Women can be titles in the church. And I've never seen a "mormon recruitment" team. Ever. Mormons are just regular people. They're really nice, too.

I didn't think the Mormons had churches, they had temples. I also thought Mormons used these temples only for ceremonies (weddings, confirmations, funerals) where as what we would call 'a service' would be a bible meeting in someone's home. I could be wrong though.

As for 'Mormon recuritment teams' we have plenty of mormon missionaries here in Australia. They go door-to-door talking about the phrophit(Sp?) Joseph Smith and Jesus visiting South America and offer you a copy of 'the third testiment.' They dress in long black pants (because it is only ever men who knock on your door) and long sleeved white shirts. They ride bikes and use public transport (although they have cars) with name tags saying things like 'Elder Smith.'

There are isolated Polygamous LSD communities.

Please, PLEASE tell me that wasn't intentional!?! :rolleyes:

There are two kinds of atheism and two kinds of agnosticism.
Strong atheism: I believe there is no god.
Weak atheism: I don't believe there is a god.
Strong agnosticism: The existence of god is unknowable.
Weak agnosticism: I don't know if god exists.

Some atheists and agnostics are also secular humanists.
From secularhumanism.org
Secular Humanism is a way of thinking and living that aims to bring out the best in people so that all people can have the best in life. Secular humanists reject supernatural and authoritarian beliefs. They affirm that we must take responsibility for our own lives and the communities and world in which we live. Secular humanism emphasizes reason and scientific inquiry, individual freedom and responsibility, human values and compassion, and the need for tolerance and cooperation.

You may hear some religious nuts talking about how secular humanism has become the official religion of the state. Now you know what they are rambling on about.

Catholicism:
The central part of catholicism is in the apostle's creed. "We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church." That means that the catholic church is the only true christian church, it is guided by god, it accepts all people into it, and it is evangelical, meaning its members are supposed to convert others. The major defining feature of the roman catholic church is the church hierarchy, topped by the infallible pope (who, btw, is only infallible when he speaks ex cathedra on matters of faith and morals.) Catholicism has a very clear dogma laid out in the catechism and the encyclicals (letters from the pope). While some catholics are pro-choice, or for gay marriage or gay priests, they are not following the teachings of their church. Other defining characteristics of Catholicism as compared to Christianity in general are the reverence of mary (not worship, reverence) and the belief in transubstantiation - that the bread and wine in communion actually become the body and blood of christ.

Oh... and funny thing about mormons. Somehow they always seem to end up as sluts or really nice people. Hooray for generalizations!

It is sad to see the ignorance on religion appear in the thread attempting to clear it up.

Now, I cannot speak for any of the known religions, because I do not follow or understand them. I will also not sit here and preach on it.

However, there is a religion that I can speak of. Albiet it is a joke religion, however it is my official religion and I follow it.

The Dewish Church
The Dewish Church or The Church of Dew, was formed by myself in early 1999 as an attempt to have some faith in my life. It revolves around Mountain Dew. There are three chief gods in the religion, The Almighty Bob, the Great Uga-Uga, and the Omnipotent Chimichanga. Each governs the various attributes of the Holy Beverage. The Holy Beverage, obviously, is Mountain Dew. And the first Commandment of Dewism is: Thou shalt drink of the holy beverage profusely. We currently have 10 members in the church, united by our love of the Holy Beverage. Any comments or questions can be directed to me through IM or E-Mail.

Man... soda is bad for you.

and?

Islam

Islam is submission to Allah, the god of Abraham, and has five pillars:

1] Iman. Faith. It is the bearing of witness that there is only one god and one only. The Muslim shahadah is similar to the Jewish shema "Hear, Oh Israel, thy god is one".

2] Salah. Prayer. The five daily prayers Muslims perform in rememberance of Allah.

3] Zakah. Charity. An important principle of Islam is that everything belongs to God, and that wealth is therefore held by human beings in trust.

4] Sawm. Fasting. Every year in the month of Ramadan, all Muslims fast from dawn until sundown - abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations with their spouses.

5] Hajj. Pilgrimage to Mecca. The annual hajj begins in the twelfth month of the Islamic year. All able bodied Muslims are required to make Hajj once in their lifetimes.

The holy text is Qur'an, which is the message of Allah as given through the angel Gabriel to Muhammed. It confirms much of Torah and reminds us to not forget the good and essential things in Torah as well as the words of Isa (Jesus) in the Gospel.

Muslims hold special dietary concerns similar to Jewish kashrut and many of us simply keep kosher.

That's basically it. Oh, sure, there's certain specifics when it comes to the prayers and whatnot, but believe me, Allah's not gonna care if you don't get the positions just right or mess up the words. The fact that Allah's message is on your lips morning, noon, and night; that you remember the poor and downtrodden;and that you do your best to live a good life is what is essential.