| Papers [1-15] of 100 :: [Page 1 of 7] | | Go to page : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 —> | Search results on "WESTERN RELIGIONS": |
|
|
Women in Western Religions, 2002.
A review of how women are perceived in the three main western religions - Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
3,512 words (approx. 14.0 pages), 6 sources, MLA, $ 98.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This research paper studies three most significant and commonly known western religions called Judaism, Christianity and Islam in terms of their religious beliefs regarding the place and the role of women in society. The paper provides a clear picture and a better comprehension of other religious convictions and the reasons why women enjoy a far better economic, social as well as political status in the society today. Moreover, the writer argues that studying the place of women in the light of the spiritual teachings of the western religions, we can convince other women and people around in bringing about a positive change in the modern global village.
Introduction
Humankind, Women and Gender Issues
Women and The Islamic Teachings
Women as Mothers in Islam
Women as Wives in Islam and Issue of Divorce
Honorable Social Standing of Women in Islam
Share In Inheritance
Special Concessions for Women in Danger
Women having a ?Fine Psychological Distinction?
Permission to Attend the Mosques
Role and Rights of Women in Judaism
What Does Christianity Say About the Role of Women?
Conclusion
From the Paper
"Religion is the cardinal force that binds a race or a religious group together and equips it with a sense of identity by providing a code of life, governing all aspects of life and determining convictions of its followers. Today, there exist several groups as representatives of various religious beliefs and rituals, practicing and abiding the rules and regulations as set forth by the religious leaders following holy books and scriptures. Studying these distinct religions assists us in figuring out the familiarities and dissimilarities between them, observe them with the humanities perspective and comprehend the underlying varying philosophies thereby classifying or grouping those religions into same categories that have some resemblance. One such category is popularly referred to as ?western religions? thereby differentiating the religions constituting it from ?eastern religions? (Dowling, 2001). Islam, Judaism and Christianity are three popular religions that rest on the foundation of a single-creator belief and are therefore called western religions as these religions have the core conviction in common; the religious belief that this universe came into existence as well as controlled and governed by one God (Dowling, 2001). This common belief is the origin of the religion of Muslims practicing Islamic teachings, Jews following Judaism and Christians believing in Christianity."
| |
|
Eastern and Western Religions, 2002.
A comparative analysis of the main religions of the East and West and how the religions affect the cultures in which they are dominant.
3,675 words (approx. 14.7 pages), 22 sources, MLA, $ 101.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper examines the beliefs of some of the main religions of the world. It shows how the principal distinction between Eastern and Western religions is that the former are dominated by mystical and transcendent components meant to be experienced by individuals and the latter by rational, doctrinal sets of belief meant to be shared by individuals in a community of faith. It analyzes how the major Western religions dominate European and American culture whereas those of the East, which dominate Asia and Africa, are distinguished not only as modes of worship and belief but also as features of the societies in which they are practiced. It evaluates how Eastern and Western religions are not mutually exclusive, they just overlap or converge in multiple ways.
From the Paper
"A peaceful habit of mind prepares one to enjoy material reality with an appropriate attitude, in the event material fortune disappears. In the Lama's formulation of the Four Noble Truths of sorrow as four factors of happiness, the key is to train the mind, or Sem, away from preoccupation with wealth and toward contentment. That is consistent with the noble truth about stopping the craving, and it points in the direction of the noble truth about good moral conduct. The Lama's view of education of the human psyche in compassion and generosity toward others in the context of humanity's social tendencies can be seen as a link to spiritual experience. Connection to and compassion for others may not guarantee a life without suffering; to this, Tibetan Buddhism responds that a prepared mind has taken the trouble to reflect on suffering as a natural part of Samsara, or the unending cycles of life (Lama and Cutler 140) "
| |
|
Western Religion, 2002.
Discusses the evolution of Christianity, Judaism and Islam in the west.
6,833 words (approx. 27.3 pages), 8 sources, MLA, $ 154.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper examines how four experts on the subject (Gary E. Kessler, Lee Yearley, Rem Edwards, William Paden) identify the theological, philosophical and societal ramifications of the evolution of religion in the West. The paper focuses on Kessler's work, ?Western Ways of Being Religious? which presents the idea that imagination plays a big part understanding the ideas of another person's religion and emphasizes the emotional issues of religion. The paper discusses the historical development of traditions in each of the three major religions and before discussing theological issues and interpretations.
From the Paper
"Comparatively, if Rem Edward?s clustering analysis were to be applied to the three religions in terms of belief in a super-being, a moral code, edicts of life and death, prayer, rituals, celebrations, internalization and philosophies (Table) there are no differences between Islam, Christianity and Judaism. They are at one end of a spectrum. The other end of this spectrum denotes mundane occupations and hobbies. We would also be hard pressed to identify true divergences between the religions in terms of sheer definitions. For instance, the picture of a Muslim as an Arab Bedouin is a misconception. Islam thrives in different countries. After 1500, unique cultural constructs arose in different parts of the world that espoused the same religion. Islam is taking root in North America and is the fastest growing religion in Africa. Religions can take forms of the culture in which they thrive. But that is a testament to the culture and not the religion. Christianity is generally seen as a Western Religion, though it really spread from the Middle East. Yet there are people all over the world that follow Christianity. In fact, the Eastern Orthodoxies of the Baltic and Balkan states have managed to hold on to tenets and ideals that transcend western cultural influences.
| |
|
Non-Western Religions, 2001.
Emphasis on prehistoric & tribal religions; myth, ritual, Buddhist animism, shamanism, Hindu cosmology.
1,575 words (approx. 6.3 pages), 11 sources, $ 55.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
From the Paper
"This research examines non-Western religions. The research will set forth the general nature of the human religious experience, with particular emphasis on prehistoric and tribal religions and then discuss this experience at the basic levels of myth, ritual, symbolism, animism, shamanism, rites of initiation, with a view toward identifying both how primitive religious consciousness may prefigure later Western religious structures and how the non-Western aspects of those structures might persist irrespective of Western divergences therefrom.
"According to the sociologist Max Weber, the difference between primitive and historic-era religious traditions is the difference between magical and rational explanations of human experience of the universe (Gerth and Mills 51). But even in the modern period, attachments to nonrational explanations for or sense...."
| |
|
The Role of Eastern Religions in Modern Western Religious Traditions, 2002.
An analysis of the similarities between Zen Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity.
1,900 words (approx. 7.6 pages), 5 sources, $ 71.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper investigates how religions that are so diverse as those of Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity are believed to share elements to a degree where Christians now believe that their traditions are supported by the philosophies found these alternative practices. Through investigating the commonalities found within all three practices, this paper provides reasons as to why the Western traditions of Zen Buddhism and Hinduism have become popularized in the West, and within the Western religion of Christianity over the past fifty years.
| |
|
Major Religions in Western Europe, 2001.
A discussion on how Western Europe was influenced by the Greek and Roman religions.
1,790 words (approx. 7.2 pages), 4 sources, $ 57.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper examines how religion has influenced Western Europe society: culturally, politically and economically. The author focuses on the Greek and Roman religions and their impact on other religions such as Christianity.
From the Paper
"One may begin a description of the ways in which religion has influenced the West by looking at the role of religion in Greece and Rome, since these two great empires were undoubtedly highly influential in terms of molding at some level every important aspect of Western European society. Of course, Roman and Greek religions did not arise from the thin air; they are based on older traditions and remained (especially in the case of Rome) syncretistic religions throughout the course of their respective empires. Greek and Roman settlements allowed for the incorporation of local beliefs into the state religion in a way that helped to ensure that those peoples who had been subjugated by the colonial powers would be less inclined to object to their loss of political autonomy. The fact that Greek or Roman rulers would allow local gods and semi-divine figures to be incorporated into the pantheon of the major gods did not negate the fact that various peoples were being subjugated but it must have made their continuing (if forced) inclusion in the empire easier to bring about (Sissa 119)."
| |
|
Religion in the Western Civilization, 2008.
This paper looks at the role of religion in shaping the concept of western civilization.
2,776 words (approx. 11.1 pages), 7 sources, MLA, $ 82.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
In this article, the writer notes that historically, as well as today, religion has been an incredibly powerful aspect in society and has certainly played a major role in the development of the West. Not only does religion reflect the moral codes, and societal structures of a civilization, allowing a more in-depth study of these civilizations, but religion also shapes cultures, and impacts the development of civilizations and society as a whole. The writer discusses that religion also plays a major role when two different cultures contact each other, and by examining the resulting adaptations of the interacting cultures' beliefs and philosophies, the development, assimilation and evolution of civilizations become evident. The writer maintains that an examination of religion, as well as its development, is necessary to gain an understanding of the concept of the Western World and comprehend how is was created and what it really is. The writer concludes that religion is one of the most important historical forces, playing a role of immense significance in the development of the West.
From the Paper
"The Hebrew people have a rich and vibrant history and unlike many ancient civilizations, the Hebrew culture and civilization, for the most part, has endured the fierce challenges it has faced throughout history. Though the ancient Hebrews lived in a time where might made right, and often only the strongest, in terms of military and technological capabilities, of nations survived; their culture survived despite their lack of a powerful military or advancements in technology at the time. The reason they have survived, unlike so many other cultures and civilizations from the ancient world, is the strength of their culture and art, and especially the strength of their sacred text, The Bible."
| |
|
Religion in the West, 2001.
This paper examines the influence of Western religions on society.
1,825 words (approx. 7.3 pages), 0 sources, MLA, $ 58.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper is an in-depth examination of the influence of the west's major religions on both classical and modern societies. Greek and Roman society are examined to illustrate how religion was first used as a political tool during these times. The conversion of Roman emperors to Christianity had a huge influence on the spread of Christianity throughout Europe. It looks at the rise of Christianity, and how minorities were affected, including the Muslims and Jews, and how during these times religion was used as a political tool to control these other populations. The author touches upon the Crusades, the Middle Ages and Protestantism in order to demonstrate Christianity' influence on policy and society during these different periods of history.
From the Paper
"During the centuries immediately following the fall of Rome, Christianity became more and more powerful as this monotheistic faith began to conquer the older pagan beliefs. The process by which Western Europe lost both the classical religions brought to it by Greece and Rome along with its own indigenous religions and became Christian was a complex one and certainly not unified across the continent. Early European Christianity was no more perfectly uniform than classical Greek religion had been ? or arguably than modern European Christianity (Smith 78). Also, it should be noted that Christianity did not spread across Europe without opposition from the various native religions already being practiced, and now usually called collectively pagan. But the old gods would in general not prove to be very effective in their attempts to hold their own against the three kinds of Christianity that would spread across Europe: Roman Catholicism in the west and southwest, Protestantism in the north, and Eastern Orthodoxy in the east and southeast."
| |
|
Religion and Patriarchy, 1992.
The evolution of the subjugation of women as an element of Western religion including myth, literature, cultural values and ethical norms.
4,275 words (approx. 17.1 pages), 11 sources, $ 135.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
From the Paper
"The purpose of this research is to examine the concept of patriarchal subjugation of women in the light of the evolution of the idea of religion, and to evaluate, with reference to evidence of such concept, the manifestation of the concept in the modern period. The plan of the research will be to set forth nascent or primitive religious concepts that illustrate a prepatriarchal and presubjugation religious ethos, and then to discuss the content and impact of myths that appear to have evolved in a way that either prefigured or declared a patriarchal religious idea that was a significant and decisive departure from primitive religious forms, as well as the manifestation of the post-mythical residue of the shift in religious consciousness in the contemporary world. Finally, as appropriate, reference will be made to the possibility of the emergence and development of..."
| |
|
Imposing Western Human Rights on Non-Western Cultures, 2002.
Addresses the question which asks if the imposition of Western human rights values on non-Western traditions constitute a form of imperialism?
4,650 words (approx. 18.6 pages), 14 sources, $ 169.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
The objective of this paper is to further explore the concept of human rights. A particular focus will be placed on the question of whether or not the imposition of western human rights values on non-western traditions constitutes a form of imperialism. At the root of the issue, it seems is the issue of what should weigh more, human rights or state sovereignty. In the end, of course, there is no definitive answer to this question. What it can, and will, do, however, is look at the dynamics of human rights in the international arena and comment on whether western rhetoric on human rights is in the sphere of imperialism, or neo-imperialism.
| |
|
Homosexuality and Two Eastern Faiths, 2002.
This paper addresses the concept of homosexuality in respect to the religions of Taoism and Buddhism. These two Eastern religions have significantly different perceptions regarding homosexuality than the traditional assumptions in Western religions.
2,400 words (approx. 9.6 pages), 8 sources, $ 89.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper addresses the concept of homosexuality in respect to the religions of Taoism and Buddhism. These two Eastern religions have significantly different perceptions regarding homosexuality than the traditional assumptions in Western religions. Buddhism openly embraces homosexuality as part of its tradition, and Taoism does not openly object to homosexuality.
| |
|
Westernization and Colonialism in the Global Society, 2004.
A look at how the colonization of India and Africa affected their nations' religious beliefs, education, politics, and the rest of the world.
3,053 words (approx. 12.2 pages), 12 sources, MLA, $ 89.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper examines how two facets of society greatly affected by Westernization were religion and education and how, through colonization, many cultures began experiencing new teachings and beliefs that challenged their traditional religions. It looks at how colonialism had the greatest effects on religious practices, education, politics, and language, and how the influence of the Western culture on the colonies forced the native people to adapt to the European culture. It discusses how, although it mainly caused natives to lose their identification with their nations' history and customs, in the long run, colonialism helped to pave the way for economic and political globalization. It shows how, as the individual nations gained their independence, they were able to re-evaluate the direction in which their nations were heading and decide how to incorporate their history and tradition with their new found freedom.
From the Paper
"In 1935, the Hindus and Muslims began to have a rivalry against the British. Two political parties began to emerge: the Muslim League and the Indian National Conference. The Muslim League was guided by their leader Muhammed Jinnah. Jinnah was familiar with the English language and customs. One of the major beliefs held by Jinnah and the Muslim League was that they were supporting that Indians not necessarily have their own nation, but at least have their own place inside the current structure. A primarily Hindu political party, the Indian National Congress, was formed in 1885 to help pursue independence from Great Britain (Britannica). The congress was more dominant than the Muslim League and helped to set up most of India?s governments after independence was gained."
| |
|
Sexuality and Religion, 2002.
A comparison of attitudes towards sex and sexuality in different religious traditions, specifically Christianity and Hunduism.
1,320 words (approx. 5.3 pages), 5 sources, APA, $ 44.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper explores how different religions approach matters of sexuality in what are often radically different directions. The paper begins by comparing eastern and western, Christian and other religions. Early in its history, Christian doctrine adopted a position where sex was intrinsically linked with sin. However, in India, traditions of religious tolerance ensured the links between sexuality and religion were kept alive. The end result of Eastern and Western traditional attitudes towards sexuality and spiritualism are expressed in the attitudes and tolerances of the people living in those societies. While the Hindu tradition ensures a dynamic religious experience, accepting, indeed demanding input and change, the Christian Church continues to cling onto ancient ideals put in place at a time when social control was sought and social cohesion required.
From the Paper
"Attitudes towards sexuality vary widely across different religious traditions, these variations in attitude being particularly evident when comparing Western Christianity with Eastern religious traditions embodied in Hinduism. There is a fundamental connection between religion and sexuality, however this connection is often hidden under layers of doctrine and is therefore not always clear. Different religions approach matters of sexuality in what are often radically different directions. In this essay, I will outline the similarities and differences in attitudes towards sexuality in these two religious traditions, Christianity and Hinduism, the history behind and reasons for these attitudes, and lastly, I will look at the effects these attitudes have on people who live under and adhere to those religious traditions."
| |
|
East Asia Religions, 2002.
Discusses East Asian religions as human-centered rather than metaphysical mysteries.
2,025 words (approx. 8.1 pages), 4 sources, $ 71.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
Discusses East Asian religions as human-centered rather than metaphysical mysteries. Overview of the principal characteristics of the major East Asian Religions: Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism. Development in China, Korea and Japan. Adaptation of Confucian ideals & its impact on society. Conflict between Buddhism , imported from India, with indigenous religions of Confucianism and Taoism. Comparison of Confusianist & Taoist orientations to Western religion.
From the Paper
"The religions of China, Korea, and Japan have in common an emphasis on the essential unity of all things and the necessity of the individual's integration with nature, family, and society. In addition they have a strong basis in ancestrism and, for the most part, favor a level of syncretism that, especially for those in the Western monotheist traditions, seems remarkable. The overriding common characteristic of East Asian religion, however, is that it is human-centered and seen not, primarily, as the source of solemn metaphysical mysteries but as "part of a ring of relativistic commitments whose real center is inflexible norms or propriety for human and divine relations" (Ellwood & McGraw 180). A brief overview of the principal characteristic of the main East Asian religions will demonstrate how this region of the world has been a distinct entity in terms of the nations' reliance on ..."
| |
|
Popular Religion in the Middle Ages, 2004.
This paper discusses Rosalind and Christopher Brooke?s ?Popular Religion in the Middle Ages: Western Europe 1000-1300?.
810 words (approx. 3.2 pages), 1 source, MLA, $ 28.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper explains that, although many people view the religion of the Middle Ages as a monolithic institution centering on the Catholic Church and its doctrines, authors Rosalind and Christopher Brooke in ?Popular Religion in the Middle Ages: Western Europe 1000-1300? show that this picture is too simplistic. The author points out that these writers approached the topic not in terms of the church and its clergy, but from the point of view of the laity, believers, and non-believers, including beliefs in superstition and magic.The paper concludes that the issues examined by the writers serve to define religious belief in any era, although in the period they discuss, the choices of the people were clearly fewer than would be true today.
From the Paper
"To explain this, they discuss the social structure of the period from the royalty at the top to the peasants toiling at the bottom of the social scale. The authors also note that there was a religious revival in the 9th and 10th centuries and that the ?monastic cloister was the center of a deeply influential, deeply admired way of life B a ritual life with elaborate liturgy at its center - a life for relatively few dedicated monks, not in itself an expression of popular religion? (48). This way of life is still seen as central to the life and belief systems of the time, for the religious orders influenced the people and colored how they viewed religion and religious expression."
|
|
|
