Who wants to answer my Question?

Question

Hi!
My name is Noori and I am wondering about all other religions out there.
The only religions I really know about are Islam and Christianity.
Can anyone else explain some other religions to me such as Buddhism, Catholicism, Paganism, Hinduism, Judism, or any religion that you think I should know about.
Also, can you include the religion's main beleifs.
Thanks in advance.
Peace to all!

who says im christian??? and why cant i know about the other religions just for my knowledge???

why is evryone so negative???

Answer 1

I would type it all about, but the main beliefs are really long answers in themselves. Take a few minutes and browse each of these links. Don't listen to these religious nutcases!! Spirtuality is for you only and you are on your own journey in your life. Its good to discover. I enjoy it. Peace be with you! (if these jackasses would shut up)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism

Another good religion that you might not heard about is called " Baha'i "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27%C3%AD_Faith

Answer 2

Honestly there are so many! My advice to you is to avoid Hindu b/c if you try to figure that out you will be so confused you won't continue your quest.

Check out the "For Dummies" series. Start with Buddhism/Zen. You will probably find you relate to most of it's teachings. Buddhism is more of a philosophy than a religion and many people consider themselves to be both Buddhist and Christian. Buddhism is roughly a way of living life in a calm, serene manner.

Then check out Wiccan. It is fabulous and very easy reading. Basic beliefs are a belief in the feminine power--Deity is Goddess. First do no harm. Wiccans are into nature and the power of the human mind, through energy, auras, and magik. Some people try to jump into one of the books of spells and that won't help you learn the philosophy of the religion at all. Wiccans are actually very spiritual, in tune with the balance of the world around them.

As far as pagans go, the majority of that can be found in any basic Mythology book. Complete Idiots Guide to Mythology is rather good. You can learn about Greek, Norse, Eqyptian, and Roman myths. They are entertaining tales and very simplistic. You can obviously see what they were trying to figure out and why the characters are the way they are. Though you can get more details by finding books specifically just on Greek myths, which will give you more of the smaller nymphs and the mortal men, like Hercules. However there are hundreds of myths b/c each time they had a new question it involved a new myth. Native American myths are the same but there isn't much information about it in simple, easy to understand guides. So the simplistic Guide to Mythology does a good summary of the major figures.

Judaism is very similar to Christianity since they believe in the Old Testament, just not the New. The biggest difference b/t Jews and Xtians is that they see the Old Testament as a lot more serious, instead of more loose interpretation. So they follow many of the rules about food preparation, especially regarding pork and dairy. Also, due to many passages in the bible, the Jews believe Jesus will come and will be a warrior who will conquer the world. Judaism is difficult b/c of so much emphasis on their history. They have one of the oldest religions and have thousands of years of recorded history. Judaism for dummies is a great start.

Catholics are Christians so you basically know their beliefs already. But if you are curious, look up Martin Luther and you can learn a bit about the beginings of the rift b/t Catholic and Protestant. However this is harder reading and involves a lot of the negative past of the Catholic church with cruel tortures. Plus explaining the original rift does nothing to explain the current rift in Ireland. Christianity is really divided into "Before 1500" and "after 1500" and up until about that time, there was just Christian, without all the denominations.

To many there are many religions to learn about--Idiots Guide or For Dummies has an "Other World Religions" that gets in to several smaller religions, but remember there are hundreds of currently practiced religions in the world. You could spend a lifetime learning about them and never fully understand them. I feel you have to feel especially brave when you start on Hindu as it is just so confusing. I have been reading about Hindu for years and still feel I have no understanding of it.

I am particularly fond of the "For Dummies" as I think they do a great job of explaining in a simplistic way. There are tons of simple guides to Buddhism on Amazon. Religion is a difficult study but very rewarding. It is a long quest but at the end you will find a tolerance that seems to frequently be lacking in those who have not studied intensely. Enjoy!

Answer 3

Buddism
I saw this in a interview between Barbera Walters and the Dai Lama. He mentioned that if you are a bad person in one life then get reincartnated as a dog for instance but u are a good dog then it's a sure way to whatever version of Heaven Buddists believe in. Also they don't worship a god named Budda. He was just a guy they admire that had taught them a few things hundreds of years ago.
Wicca
Has nothing to do with Satan. It's more of a worship of nature and the energys around us. They also believe God has a more female aspect possibly calling him a Goddess instead. Wiccan's are ordenary people not really strange or weird.
Catholics
Catholcism is another Christain dominution just so you know. I just know they are agaisn't abortion(Some agaisn't the Pope's wishes go to far agaisn't abortion)I know they think being gay/lesbian is a sin.
Hope some of this helps.

Answer 4

Well, paganism isn’t a religion. It’s just a word that embodies a lot of different religions. For example, Wicca is a pagan religion.
I’m an atheist and proud of it. Atheists tend to be independent minded and you can’t lump them all in one group because there are so many different kind of thinkers out there, but basically it just means a lack of belief in gods or the supernatural. It’s a latin word, “A” meaning the negative (not or non). So literally ‘not a theist’ (theist as in belief in the existence of a god or gods….). Most atheists take pride in their logic and hold it in high regard.

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Don't worry about people being negative. You'll run into to that now and then on this forum, but you got to just shrug it off.

Answer 5

Hi
This comes from a biest point of view, my own, but I find that there is alot in common with most religions, and or spiritual beleifes, such as paganisem and christanity. When christyanty came into play, most people were pagan, they so they incorrporated there spirituality with the christanis such as the "Horned Hunter" or "God" the "Triple Goddess" or "Virgin Mary" most all the holidays are the same as well, "Samhain" or "Holloween" ex... This is because back then people were forced to follow christanity or die a witch, and since most people were indeed pagans and they were the construtors of the many temples we have now they added they thouch of spirit. Iam a pagan practionar, what most pagans typicaly follow and have belief in is the Goddsess and God as creators of life and brings of death, the cycle of life in the Goddess lies the God he is born of her and dies because of her as she does him, we also take and give of the earth, she is our mother for she has given us life. It is pretty much an understaning of you being a part of everything. Everything has life and magick in it, you can use this to help you better your life and those around you, but also give in return. "Do what thou wilt, if ye harms none" wiccan rede. I really dont try to much to follow a religion, there to controling, I would much rather be spiritual, that way none one can dictate were i go when I die or what "God" I should be following, if any. Spiriuality is something all my own, religion is something for the mass. But to answer you question there is really nothing to diffrent about any religion, it is something so people find security in there lifes, something to make them feel better about themselves, there is nothing wrong with this either. most all religions you come across are indeed connected in one way or another, they all have pretty much the same thoughts on life and death, they whorship the same god/ddess just with diffrent names.

Answer 6

Okay I will esplain one for you. It would take too long to do them all.

Paganism-

Paganism is the broad term used to describe any religion or belief that is not Christian, Jewish or Muslim. Paganism can be traced back to Neolithic times and survived up until the middle ages when Christianity became powerful enough to erase it from existence. Paganism is an earth based religion which lays emphasis on the worship of all aspects of nature. Paganism appeared very early on in the history of the world. Examples of early paganism, can be seen in ancient Greek and Roman religions, as well as in ancient Goddess worship and Druidic religions.

Ancient people believed that everything had a spirit and were polytheistic and they placed great importance on the worship of many Gods, Goddesses and Deities. Gods were a part of everyday life and great emphasis was placed on placating them through worship and ritual. Pagans believed that the Gods were immanent and entered every aspect of their society, influencing everything from laws and customs to the general workings of their community

As Pagans were polytheistic they had gods and goddesses of the forests, the sea and of all aspects of nature. Pagans began to personify the energies of the land, sky and other elements by giving specific responsibilities to individual Gods. As ancient civilizations began to develop and change, the Gods grew and changed with the people. New Gods appeared, one's which were relevant to village life, for example, gods of milling and smithcraft. The old gods remained, but aspects of them changed to conform to the changing people. For example, as war became more prominent, so too did the gods of war, such as Ares and Mars.

Pagans held no belief in heaven and hell as Christians do, rather they believed in reincarnation. They believed that when the body could be re-incarnated in another form. There are many varying beliefs relating to re-incarnation, however the theme remains the same in most forms of Paganism.

Some of the more prominent forms of Paganism include; Ancient Roman Religion and Ancient Greek Religion. In recent years there has been an upsurgence in the practice of paganism. The name given to this new movement is Neo Paganism. There are several forms of neo-pagan traditions which have taken their roots from ancient pagan practices, these include Neo- Drudism and Wicca.

Answer 7

I know of Islam it is made up of older forms of Judaism and old forms of Christianity no longer practiced in modern day and then their are the many different branches of Islam with very different behaviors the only similarity is the prayers

Bahaism was born from a Muslim man similar like how Latter day saints where from Christianity

Answer 8

Catholicism is an off-shoot of Christianity
Buddhism follows the teaching of Buddha....google it
Pagans are polytheists with a firm foundation in nature
Judaism follows the old testament of the bible...everything before Jesus
Hinduism is....complicated
Atheists don't believe in any gods

Answer 9

Hi Noori
I am new to this page but not to spiritualism itself. Here is a link that will help you with some of your questions. I found it helpful, http://www.beliefnet.com/story/80/story_8058_1.html.
A wiseman once told me to always follow the path from the heart, meaning that we may feel comfortable with one or more types of spiritualism. The bottom line is what feels right to you. I can understand why some people feel anger towards other "religions" but their reasons are their own. Bid them the same as you woulld wish for yourself and trust your heart.
Peace and light
Blue

Answer 10

I would love to answer this question for you but Yahoo limits the space that can be used here.
You can contact me at [e-mail] and I will give you some information about a few of the religions that you are curious about. I will include a bibliography.

Answer 11

Maybe we should start a new drinking game. Every time someone asks the difference between Catholic and Christian we drink a little sip of wine mixed with water.

Contrary to what you may have read above Catholics are the oldest and largest group (by number of members) of Christians.