Issues and Traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Essay

Religion takes on umteen different forms and at that place argon several definitions in as many languages used to describe the practices. For the purposes of this paper, the chase basic definition will be used. Religion is the belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as author and governor of the universe. Also, a personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship (Company, 2000). This paper will examine trine major religions of today Judaism, messiahianity, and Islam.An attempt will be made to name the top dickens current issues each religion faces as headspring as look at two consecrated traditions and consume the consequence and major characteristics of each. Judaism Judaism is monotheistic in personality and has been described as a religion, a race, a last, and a nation. All of these descriptions befool some hardness to them merely Judaism is best described by some as an drawn-out family (Rich, 2006). This extende d family consists of four movements Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, and Reconstructionist.All of which, silent find themselves victims of divergence cognise as anti-Semitism which is based on stereotypes and myths and often invokes the belief that Jews have extraordinary influence with which they conspire to harm or control society. For those Jews animate in the Middle East at that place is also the very rattling danger and threats from a powerful country possibly in ownership of nuclear weapons. The president of Iran threatened them publicly with annihilation. Discrimination and threats of violence Jews atomic number 18 a very real part of Jewish life but there be just as many positive commonplace while honored traditions that exists still today.One of which is the wedding tradition. The tradition begins with the keep up signing a Ketabuh, the grooms marital contractual province to the bride. The groom is t chick led to the Chuppah, a tarp this symbolizes their future al-Qaida together. The bride is led in with singing and dances and then she spreads the groom seven and comes to prevail to the right of him. After several additional steps the marriage is demonic and ends in a wedding feast. Another Jewish tradition performed former to Yom Kippur is c completelyed the ceremony of kapparot. The practice was first discussed at the beginning of the ninth century.It was imagined that the sins of an private could be transferred to a birdie, a peter for men and a hen for women. The fowl was to be held over the head and swung in a circle three times while the following was spoken This is my exchange, my substitute, my at integrityment this rooster (or hen) shall go to its death, but I shall go to a good, long life, and to peace. (Schwartz, 2009) The fowl was then donated to the poor and hoped to take on any misfortune that mightiness have occurred to the one who took part in the ritual. The primary sacred schoolbook used by the Jews is the Tora h.Christianity is currently noted to be the largest religion in the world today, with around two billion followers. Christian beliefs center on the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the son of God. Jesus teachings focused on the kingdom of God, love of God, and love of one another. Today there ar many different views his teachings and the meaning of some forms of love. One of the most polemical topics in the combine today is that of practicing homosexuality. The Christian bible stems from the Jewish sacred text which banned homosexuality of any kind.The bible even duologue of God destroying two cities over homosexual behavior (Clark, 2009). Today many leaders condone the behavior and some argon even practicing it themselves. speckle homosexuality may serve as a religious division here in the U. S. , persecution is served cold as a divisionary disabling maneuver abroad. It is the number one issue lining many Christians today, outright discrimination as in the case with Jews as mentioned earlier. In countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, China, Saudi Arabia, and others Christians are being martyred because of their refusal to denounce Christianity.Everyday there are approximately 465 people killed because they will not give up their faith in Jesus (Dearmore, 2009). Most Christians in the U. S. attend a church building service of some kind one to three times a week. This is a time honored tradition, just as the wedding tradition is in Judaism. The reason behind this is to participate in a time of fellowship with one another. Normally, the tradition includes worship service, private and corporate invocation, the study and reading of scriptures, and collection of tithes and offerings. There is also the coming together for jubilancy of special holidays.The most important Christian holiday is easter, the celebration of the resurrection of Christ and Christmas the celebration of his birth. Christian practices differ by denomination. Eas ter is a underlying theme for most if not all denominations. The origin of the word Easter is not certain but it was probably derived from Estre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring (Dreamweaver, 2009). It is a celebration of the central event of the Christian faith, the belief that Jesus ruddiness from the dead on the third day following his death and burial.It is the oldest Christian holiday and the most important day of the church year. There is record that the resurrection used to be celebrated every Sunday until some heyday in the first two centuries when it was agreed to move it to once a year. The sacred text of Christianity is the Bible. Islam The Moslem religion is monotheistic in nature they follow one God named Allah. The primary meaning of Islam is peace and the primitive message is the Unity of God. Islam identifies Jesus and John the Baptist as prophets. They also take that there will be no other prophet after(prenominal) the prophet Muhammad.One of the primary co ncerns facing the Muslim community still today is retribution after the terrorists attacks of 11 Sept 2001. Many Islamic followers faced discrimination on all fronts because of the fear of their culture and religious stereotyping (Clark, 2009). The attacks on American soil left a scarey imprint of terror in the minds and hearts of many. The media portrayal added fuel to the come alive and did nothing to ease the tensions caused by the scary pictures of death left behind. Unfortunately, there is also the fight with fundamentalist ideology and division among their own religious sects.Some groups are teaching others to hate Jews, Christians, and Americans as well as others. In the midst of this hate is a tradition of peace and blessing towards others. One of the most important traditions is the observance of the Five Pillars of Islam. This involves witnessing to the fact that there is none worthy of worship except Allah. The second pillar is Salat, facing toward Mecca, the Holy Land of Muhammad, five times a day and rest in petition. The third pillar is Alms giving, which encompasses giving charitably to other Muslims. The quaternary is the performance of a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime.Last is to observe fasting during Ramadan. Muslims normally worship in Mosque they kneeling prostrate on small charm carpetings. The rugs may look to be small oriental carpets. Muslims kneel as a sign of humbleness before God. There is only one requirement that the place of prayer be clean. The rug is approximately one meter in length just long enough for an adult to fit on comfortably. When prayer time comes the rug is placed on the ground with the top pointed in the direction of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. After prayer the rug is immediately folded and send away until next time.The Arabic word for a prayer rug is sajada, which comes from the same root word (SJD) as masjed (mosque) and sujud (prostration) (Huda, What are prayer rugs, and how are they use d by Muslims? ). This paper discussed three major religions of today and two current issues that they face. It also examined the characteristics of some of their valued traditions. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have one central theme in common besides the discrimination they all endure they are all monotheistic in nature. They all believe in their own sacred text, their own version of truth.Referenceshttp//islam.about.com/od/prayer/f/prayer_rugs.htmhttp//www.jewfaq.org/judaism.htmhttp//www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/kapparot.html