HU105 - Religious Practices and Their Impact on Communities

This essay, contributed by a student and available on Desklib, explores the multifaceted impact of religious practices on diverse communities worldwide. It examines the role of religion in shaping beliefs, cultural practices, and social structures, with a focus on Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. The essay discusses the concept of transcendence, the practice of human sacrifice, and the influence of religion on gender roles and cultural conflicts, particularly in African communities. It also analyzes the positive and negative consequences of religious influence, including the erosion of cultural practices and the rise of religious conflicts. The essay highlights the historical development of major religions, their core values, and their effects on social and economic aspects of communities, referencing various academic sources.

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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).

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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

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“Nymph.” Nymphs served as priestess within the community in ancient temples. In Christian
religion and Islam, women come second after men, for several reasons. With relation to African
culture, since most women are subject to men, the introduction of the Christian religion in Africa
has led to change of particular notion since it is women who play spiritual roles in the family.
While in the Islamic mosque, women sit in the back of the mosque due to their inferior group
they are grouped by the Islam culture.
In the Christian religion, people rely on social growth and economic development as a
sign that their God is favoring them (Tawney, 908). In times of difficulty or calamities, most of
the Christian communities tend to offer sacrifices to God to gain favor from Him. Spiritual
leaders always have the task of communicating to God on behalf of the community since they are
the purified members of the community (Nadel, 353). Samuel whom was chief priest among the
Israelites was being consulted by the Jewish leaders in times they were in the war or were almost
to go to war to get ask for the favor from God while they will be at the battlefield. Most Christian
communities both present and ancient believes that calamities and suffering are caused when
God is angered by their wrong doings hence they always go to the high priest with their offering
so that the priest can ask forgiveness from God on their behalf. Natural calamities like drought
and sickness are termed as a bad omen by most Christians who are resulted by communities’
sinful acts against God.
The Christian religion has impacted the lives of most African communities who believe in
Christianity both positively and negatively. Christianity has led to the abandonment of some of
the African cultures which were earlier practiced before that accepts the religion (Walker, 732).
Such cultural practices united members of the community since they were a sign of unity and
love within the community hence every member of those communities were expected to uphold

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and maintain such cultures. According to Koenig (25), hatred among the communities with
different religion has been growing the world up to date. For instance, the Islamic religion
encourages the killing of non-Muslims as they view them as their enemies. These act has led to
fear and there among the communities. The issue of religion has resulted in war and
misunderstanding in the world since Muslim communities and the Christian community do not
freely interact with each other since they view each other as enemies. This has resulted in
economic problems as trade activities between the Muslim and Christian countries have been
paralyzed due to fear and insecurity. Love and unity which existed before the religion was
introduced never existed today as every religion preaches against one another thus planting
hatred among the people (Beckford, 189).
Works cited
Beckford, James A. Religion and advanced industrial society. Routledge, 2019.
Caputo, John. On religion. Routledge, 2018.
Koenig, Harold G. "Religion, spirituality, and health: a review and update." Advances in mind-
body medicine 29.3 (2015): 19-26.
Nadel, Siegfried Frederick. Nupe religion. Routledge, 2018.
Tawney, Richard Henry. Religion and the Rise of Capitalism. Routledge, 2017.
Turner, Bryan S., ed. The new Blackwell companion to the sociology of religion. John Wiley &
Sons, 2016.
Wach, Joachim. Sociology of religion. Routledge, 2019.
Walker, Barbara G. The Women’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, Boston MA, Cheryl

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Book, 1986.
Young, Simon, and Helen Killick. Religion and the Decline of Magic. Macat Library, 2017.
Zinnbauer, Brian J., et al. "Religion and spirituality: Unfuzzying the fuzzy." Sociology of
religion. Routledge, 2015. 29-34.