HU105-014: What are the Various Religious Practices? Term Paper 2022

Jiang 1
Siyuan jiang
HU105-014
11/10/19
Prof Harper
Summary of Learning
The thesis of the term paper presented entails various religious practices which has either
positively or negatively impacted the lives and beliefs of different communities. Religion is
believed to play a very important role in various communities since it dictates the way of life,
cultural practices and beliefs which differs in every community. There are 7.5 billion people in
the world, of which two-thirds believe in a religion, and one-third believes in atheism. The act of
having common characteristics, symbols, and philosophies within the society which is following
their cultural believes and practices make people welcome the act of religion (Caputo, 235). To
explore world religions without personal bias, one must consider religious perspectives and
differences of others, while on the other hand, noticing many invariable similarities among all
religions.
Significantly, all religions came from cults where people worship according to rites and
ceremonies. The major religions of the world have places for people to practice their ceremonies
and prove the higher powers they believe in. Today the main religions of the world are
Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism all believe in the idea of “transcendence!”
All of these religions were small at first; however, over time as population sizes grew and with
migration being inevitable, the idea of transcendence grew and people began finding security in
these religious groups (Zinnbauer, et al, 578).

Jiang 2
As humans, it is normal for people to want to know what will happen to them and their loved
ones after they die, so the belief in ethics and morality to lead one to sanctity is seen as an
obvious desire (Young and Helen, 752).
The act of human sacrifice is practiced by different religions that are both Christianity and
Islam. According to the Christian version, Abraham went to sacrifice his son as a sign of faith in
God. Abrahams’ faith was tested by God if he could sacrifice his only son in which according to
the bible, Abraham was about to sacrifice his son that is when God called him and showed him a
ram to sacrifice instead of his son. On the other hand, Lot sacrificed his two daughters for the
people of Sodom to rape instead of raping the angels who visited him.
Islam religion also practices animal sacrifice to ‘Eid in commemoration of Abraham’s act
of faith in which he sacrificed a lamb as instructed by Allah instead of his son. Islam religion
accepts animal sacrifices occasionally as an act of obedience to ‘Eid (Wach, 788).
According to Buddhism religion, they make sacrifices to serve others because it is human
nature. For instance, mothers are ready to sacrifice everything including their lives to save their
kids. In Buddhism religion, the act of blood sacrifice is not practiced unlike Islam and the
Christian religion. They believe in serving other human beings who are disadvantaged with all
the resources and wealth they own including their lives. They prohibit any form of killing be it to
animals or human beings since they believe in upholding lives and not taking lives (Turner, 322).
According to African communities, some of their cultural beliefs conflict with other thus
follows the introduction of Christianity and Islam religion in the region. For instance, the issue of
gender superiority has been passed down from various religions. This is because most men see
women solely as mothers and homemakers and their religions reduce women to breeders with no
human or civil rights. If a lady is not fit to be a mother or homemaker then she must be a