{"id":286,"date":"2016-05-20T19:05:32","date_gmt":"2016-05-20T19:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontosociology-waymaker\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=286"},"modified":"2020-07-03T21:50:49","modified_gmt":"2020-07-03T21:50:49","slug":"world-religions","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtosociology\/chapter\/world-religions\/","title":{"raw":"World Religions","rendered":"World Religions"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning outcomes<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Explain the differences between various types of religious organizations and classifications<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Describe the basic tenets of Hinduism<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Describe the basic tenets of Buddhism<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Describe the basic tenets of Taoism<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Describe the basic tenets of Confucianism<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Describe the basic tenets of Judaism<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Describe the basic tenets of Islam<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Describe the basic tenets of Christianity<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nThe major religions of the world (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, Christianity, Taoism, and Judaism) differ in many respects, including how each religion is organized and the belief system, or common tenets, each upholds. Differences include the nature of belief in a higher power, the history of how the world and the religion began, and the use of sacred texts and objects.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_6010\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"503\"]<img class=\"wp-image-6010\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2034\/2016\/05\/27212904\/peter-hershey-112797-unsplash.jpg\" alt=\"A person is sitting in the foreground but only their clasped hands and forearms are in the photo. They are wearing orange robes.\" width=\"503\" height=\"335\" \/> <strong>Figure 1<\/strong>. A Buddhist monk sits with their hands clasped. The concept of the \u201cmiddle way\u201d is central to Buddhist thinking, which encourages people to live in the present and to practice acceptance of others (Smith, 1991). (Photo courtesy of Peter Hershey\/unsplash)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"225\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/120\/2016\/04\/15204541\/Figure_15_02_01.jpg\" alt=\"The symbols of 14 religions are depicted in a circle around the edge of an illustration of Earth.\" width=\"225\" height=\"350\" \/> <strong>Figure 2.\u00a0<\/strong>The symbols of fourteen religions are depicted here. In no particular order, they represent Judaism, Wicca, Taoism, Christianity, Confucianism, Baha\u2019i, Druidism, Islam, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Shinto, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism. Can you match the symbol to the religion? What might a symbolic interactionist make of these symbols? (Photo courtesy of ReligiousTolerance.org)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<section id=\"fs-id2318989\">\r\n<h3><\/h3>\r\n<h3>Types of Religious Organizations<\/h3>\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id1445411\">Religions organize themselves\u2014their institutions, practitioners, and structures\u2014in a various ways. For instance, when the Roman Catholic Church emerged, it borrowed many of its organizational principles from the ancient Roman military and turned senators into cardinals, for example. Ecclesia, denomination, and sect are terms used to\u00a0describe these classifications. Scholars are also aware that these definitions are not static. Most religions transition through different organizational phases. For example, Christianity began as a cult, transformed into a sect, and today exists as an ecclesia.<\/p>\r\n<strong>Cults<\/strong>, like sects, are new religious groups. In the United States today this term often carries pejorative connotations. However, almost all religions began as cults and gradually progressed to levels of greater size, stability, and organization. The term cult is sometimes used interchangeably with the term \"new religious movement\" (NRM). In its pejorative use, these groups are often disparaged as being secretive, highly controlling of members\u2019 lives, and dominated by a single, charismatic leader.\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id1390917\">Controversy exists over whether some religious groups are in fact cults, perhaps due in part to media sensationalism over groups like the polygamous Mormon FLDS or the Peoples Temple followers who died in a mass suicide at Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978. Some groups that are controversially labeled as cults today include the Church of Scientology and the Hare Krishna movement.<\/p>\r\nA <strong><span id=\"import-auto-id935201\">sect<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0is a small and relatively new group. Most of the well-known Christian denominations in the United States today began as sects. For example, the Methodists and Baptists protested against their parent Anglican Church in England, just as Henry VIII protested against the Catholic Church by forming the Anglican Church. From \u201cprotest\u201d comes the term Protestant.\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2693848\">Occasionally, a sect is a breakaway group that may be in tension with the larger society. They sometimes claim to be returning to \u201cthe fundamentals\u201d or to be contesting the truth of a particular doctrine. When membership in a sect increases over time, it may grow into a denomination. Often a sect begins as an offshoot of a denomination, when a group of members believes they should separate from the larger group.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"200\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/120\/2016\/04\/15204542\/Figure_15_02_02.jpg\" alt=\"A young Mennonite boy in a straw hat is shown eating a piece of pizza at a picnic table.\" width=\"200\" height=\"532\" \/> <strong>Figure 3. <\/strong>How might you classify the Mennonites? As a cult, a sect, or a denomination? (Photo courtesy of Frenkieb\/flickr).[\/caption]\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id1459488\">Some sects dissolve without growing into denominations. Sociologists call these <strong><span id=\"import-auto-id1358728\">established sects<\/span><\/strong>. Established sects, such as the Amish or Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses fall halfway between sect and denomination on the ecclesia\u2013cult continuum because they have a mixture of sect-like and denomination-like characteristics.<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2625879\">A <strong><span id=\"import-auto-id2287974\">denomination<\/span><\/strong> is a large, mainstream religious organization, but it does not claim to be official or state sponsored. It is one religion among many. For example, Baptist, African Methodist Episcopal, Catholic, and Seventh-day Adventist are all Christian denominations.<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2826249\">The term <strong><span id=\"import-auto-id1824902\">ecclesia<\/span><\/strong>, originally referring to a political assembly of citizens in ancient Athens, Greece, now refers to a congregation. In sociology, the term is used to refer to a religious group that most all members of a society belong to. It is considered a nationally recognized, or official, religion that holds a religious monopoly and is closely allied with state and secular powers. The United States does not have an ecclesia by this standard; in fact, this is the type of religious organization that many of the first colonists came to America to escape.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure id=\"import-auto-id2011992\"><\/figure>\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id1824900\">One way to remember these religious organizational terms is to think of cults, sects, denominations, and ecclesia representing a continuum, with increasing influence on society, where cults are least influential and ecclesia are most influential.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/section><section id=\"fs-id2228551\">\r\n<h3>Types of Religions<\/h3>\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id1414894\">Scholars from a variety of disciplines strove to classify religions. One widely accepted categorization that helps people understand different belief systems considers what or who people worship (if anything). Using this method of classification, religions might fall into one of these basic categories, as shown in the table below.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<table id=\"import-auto-id2870462\" summary=\"Pictured is a table showing how scholars have categorized religions by classifying what or who the population holds to be divine. In polytheism, multiple gods are divine, and an example is the belief system of the ancient Greeks and Romans. In monotheism, one god is divine, and an example is Judaism or Islam. In Atheism there are no divine gods, and an example is atheism. In Animism nonhuman beings, like animals, plants, and the natural world, are considered divine, and an example is an indigenous nature worship like Shinto. In totemism there is a human and natural being connection that is considered divine, and an example is Ojibwa, a Native American religion.\"><caption style=\"text-align: bottom\">One way scholars have categorized religions is by classifying what or who they hold to be divine.<\/caption>\r\n<thead>\r\n<tr>\r\n<th>Religious Classification<\/th>\r\n<th>What\/Who Is Divine<\/th>\r\n<th>Example<\/th>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/thead>\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>Polytheism<\/td>\r\n<td>Multiple gods<\/td>\r\n<td>Belief systems of the ancient Greeks and Romans<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>Monotheism<\/td>\r\n<td>Single god<\/td>\r\n<td>Judaism, Islam<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>Atheism<\/td>\r\n<td>No deities<\/td>\r\n<td>Atheism<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>Animism<\/td>\r\n<td>Nonhuman beings (animals, plants, natural world)<\/td>\r\n<td>Indigenous nature worship (Shinto)<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>Totemism<\/td>\r\n<td>Human-natural being connection<\/td>\r\n<td>Ojibwa (Native American) beliefs<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2616362\">Note that some religions may be practiced\u2014or understood\u2014in various categories. For instance, the Christian notion of the Holy Trinity (God, Jesus, Holy Spirit) defies the definition of <strong>monotheism<\/strong>, which is a religion based on belief in a single deity, to some scholars. Similarly, many Westerners view the multiple manifestations of Hinduism\u2019s godhead as <strong>polytheistic<\/strong>, which is a religion based on belief in multiple deities, while Hindus might describe those manifestations are a monotheistic parallel to the Christian Trinity. Some Japanese practice Shinto, which follows <strong>animism<\/strong>, which is a religion that believes in the divinity of nonhuman beings, like animals, plants, and objects of the natural world, while people who practice <strong>totemism<\/strong> believe in a divine connection between humans and other natural beings.<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id1291652\">It is also important to note that every society also has nonbelievers, such as <strong>atheists<\/strong>, who do not believe in a divine being or entity, and <strong>agnostics<\/strong>, who hold that ultimate reality (such as God) is unknowable. While typically not an organized group, atheists and agnostics represent a significant portion of the population. It is important to recognize that being a nonbeliever in a divine entity does not mean the individual subscribes to no morality. Indeed, many Nobel Peace Prize winners and other great humanitarians over the centuries would have classified themselves as atheists or agnostics.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/section><section id=\"fs-id3025662\" class=\"short-answer\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Think It Over<\/h3>\r\n<div id=\"fs-id3623266\" class=\"exercise\">\r\n<div id=\"fs-id2081817\" class=\"problem\">\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li id=\"import-auto-id2010799\">Consider the different types of religious organizations in the United States. What role did ecclesia play in the history of the United States? How have sects tended to change over time? What role do cults have today?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>What is your understanding of monotheism versus polytheism? How might your ideology be an obstacle to understanding the theism of another religion you\u2019re unfamiliar with?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>In U.S. society, do you believe there is social stratification that correlates with religious beliefs? What about within the practitioners of a given religion? Provide examples to illustrate your point.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n<h3>Hinduism<\/h3>\r\n<figure id=\"import-auto-id1364200\">\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"250\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/120\/2016\/04\/15204544\/Figure_15_02_03.jpg\" alt=\"The photo shows a woman\u2019s hands being covered in intricate henna designs.\" width=\"250\" height=\"346\" \/> <strong>Figure 4.\u00a0<\/strong>Hindu women sometimes apply decorations of henna dye to their hands for special occasions such as weddings and religious festivals. (Photo courtesy of Akash Mazumdar)[\/caption]<\/figure>\r\nThe oldest religion in the world, Hinduism originated in the Indus River Valley about 4,500 years ago in what is now modern-day northwest India and Pakistan. It arose contemporaneously with ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian cultures. With roughly one billion followers, Hinduism is the third-largest of the world\u2019s religions;\u00a0its followers, known as\u00a0Hindus, constitute about\u00a01.15 billion, or 15\u201316% of the global population. Hinduism is the most widely professed faith in\u00a0India,\u00a0Nepal\u00a0and\u00a0Mauritius. It is also the predominant religion in\u00a0Bali,\u00a0Indonesia. Significant numbers of Hindu communities are also found in the\u00a0Caribbean,\u00a0Southeast Asia,\u00a0North America,\u00a0Europe,\u00a0Africa, and\u00a0other countries.\r\n\r\nMost forms of Hinduism are henotheistic, meaning they worship a main single deity, known as Brahman, but still recognize other gods and goddesses such\u00a0Vishnu, Shiva,\u00a0and Krishna, among others.\u00a0Hinduism includes a diversity of ideas on spirituality and traditions, but has no ecclesiastical order, no unquestionable religious authorities, no governing body, no prophet(s) nor any binding holy book (although there are sacred texts). Hindus can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, panentheistic, pandeistic, henotheistic, monotheistic, monistic, agnostic, atheistic or humanist. Because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, and \"a way of life.\" From a Western lexical standpoint, Hinduism, like other faiths, is appropriately referred to as a religion but in India, the term <em>dharma<\/em> is preferred, which is broader than the Western term religion.\r\n\r\nOne of the key thoughts of Hinduism is the belief in the soul, or atman. This philosophy holds that all living creatures have a soul, and all will be reincarnated, which is one reason why many Hindus are vegetarians. The ultimate goal of Hinduism is to achieve moksha, or salvation, which ends the cycle of sorrow, suffering and rebirths (sa\u1e43s\u0101ra) to become part of the absolute soul, or in complete oneness with God and existence.\u00a0Hindus also generally believe in a set of principles called dharma, which refers to one\u2019s duty in the world that corresponds with righteous choices and ethical actions. Hindus also bel<span style=\"color: #0000ff\"><span style=\"color: #333333\">ieve in karma, or the notion that spiritual ramifications of one\u2019s actions are balanced cyclically in this life or a future life.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nThe caste system, described in the module on social stratification, is based on the Hindu principles of karma and dharma. This ancient system, estimated by some scholars to be 3,000 years old, divides society into the following four castes: 1) brahmin (the intellectual and spiritual leaders), 2) kshatriyas (the protectors and public servants of society), 3) vaisyas (the skillful producers), and 4) shudras (the unskilled laborers) [footnote]\"Hinduism,\" 2018. History.com, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/religion\/hinduism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/religion\/hinduism<\/a>. [\/footnote]\u00a0Although discrimination based on caste was banned with India's independence from Great Britain in 1947, some traditions such as marrying within one's caste are still embraced.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_6775\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"417\"]<img class=\"wp-image-6775\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2034\/2016\/05\/14180149\/Diwali_Festival.jpg\" alt=\"Two girls light lamps on the ground during the Diwali festival.\" width=\"417\" height=\"277\" \/> <strong>Figure 5<\/strong>. These girls light lamps during Diwali.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nMultiple sacred texts, collectively called the Vedas,\u00a0were composed around 1500 B.C. and\u00a0contain hymns and rituals from ancient India. They are mostly written in Sanskrit. Like many other religions, Hinduism was suppressed at various points in India's history\u2014by Muslim Arabs from 1200 to 1757 and between 1757 and 1848 when the British controlled India [footnote]\"Hinduism,\" 2018. History.com, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/religion\/hinduism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/religion\/hinduism<\/a>. [\/footnote].\r\n\r\nThere are several Hindu festivals that are observed, but Diwali, or the festival of lights, is probably the most well known. The five days of Diwali include different rituals such as spring cleaning, shopping, decorating, praying, fasting, gift-giving, and eating, but the focal point of the celebration includes lighting lamps to represent a victory of good over evil and the light that comes from within. Another popular festival is the celebration of the arrival of spring, known as Holi, or the festival of colors, named for the bright colors of powders and water that many throw at others during the celebration.\r\n\r\nThe most famous Hindu, Mohandas 'Mahatma' Gandhi, helped India to gain independence from the British in 1947 before he was assassinated by an extremist Indian nationalist in 1948. After the dissolution of the British Raj in 1947, two new sovereign nations were formed\u2014the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The subsequent partition of the former British India displaced up to 12.5 million people and resulted in conflict and war between the main religions groups, Muslims and Hindus, with estimates of loss of life varying from several hundred thousand to 1 million. India emerged as a secular nation with a Hindu majority population and a large Muslim minority, while Pakistan emerged also as a secular nation with a Muslim majority population and a large Hindu minority.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Learn about the basic beliefs and practices of Hinduism in this short video.<\/strong>\r\n[embed]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9EICcU9oN-s[\/embed]<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Think it Over<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>How do Hindus view the individual's relationship with the Divine?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>What does the traditional Hindu greeting\u00a0<em>namaste\u00a0<\/em>tell us about Hindu beliefs?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3>Jainism<\/h3>\r\nJainism is another predominantly Indian religion that shares some commonalities with Hinduism, although there are still major distinctions. Followers of Jainism are called \"Jains,\" a word derived from the Sanskrit word jina (victor) and connoting the path of victory in crossing over life's stream of rebirths through an ethical and spiritual life. Jains consider their religion to be eternal (sanatan), and trace their history through a succession of 24 victorious saviors and teachers known as tirthankaras. Jains believe that Jainism is an eternal dharma with the tirthankaras guiding every cycle of the Jain cosmology.\r\n\r\nThe main religious premises of Jainism are ahi\u1e43s\u0101 (non-violence), anek\u0101ntav\u0101da (many-sidedness), aparigraha (non-attachment) and asceticism. Devout Jains take five main vows: ahi\u1e43s\u0101 (non-violence), satya (truth), asteya (not stealing), brahmacharya (celibacy or chastity), and aparigraha (non-attachment). These principles have impacted Jain culture in many ways, such as leading to a predominantly vegetarian lifestyle that avoids harm to animals and their life cycles. \"Parasparopagraho J\u012bv\u0101n\u0101m\" (the function of souls is to help one another) is the motto of Jainism.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Watch this video to learn about Jainism:<\/strong>\r\n[embed]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=h_VA7mWWn58[\/embed]<\/p>\r\n<h3>\u00a0Buddhism<\/h3>\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"200\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/120\/2016\/04\/15204545\/Figure_15_02_04.jpg\" alt=\"The photo shows, left, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, holding hands with, right, Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, dressed in maroon and yellow robes.\" width=\"200\" height=\"450\" \/> <strong>Figure 6.\u00a0<\/strong>Buddhism promotes peace and tolerance. The 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso) is one of the most revered and influential Tibetan Buddhist leaders. (Photo courtesy of Nancy Pelosi\/flickr)[\/caption]\r\n\r\nBuddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama around 500 B.C.E. Siddhartha was\u00a0born as a prince in present-day Nepal and was so moved by the suffering in the world, he is\u00a0said to have given up a comfortable, upper-class life to follow one of poverty and spiritual devotion. At the age of thirty-five, he famously meditated\u00a0under a sacred fig\u00a0tree and vowed not to rise before he achieved enlightenment (<em>bodhi<\/em>). After this experience, he became known as Buddha, or \u201cenlightened one.\u201d Followers were drawn to Buddha\u2019s teachings, known as \"dharma,\"\u00a0and the practice of meditation, and he later established a monastic order.\r\n<figure id=\"import-auto-id1348647\"><\/figure>\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2754766\">Buddha\u2019s teachings encourage Buddhists to lead a moral life by accepting the four Noble Truths: 1) life is suffering, 2) suffering arises from attachment to desires, 3) suffering ceases when attachment to desires ceases, and 4) freedom from suffering is possible by following the \u201cmiddle way.\u201d The concept of the \u201cmiddle way\u201d is central to Buddhist thinking, which encourages people to live in the present and to practice acceptance of others (Smith 1991).\u00a0Buddha taught that wisdom, kindness, patience, generosity and compassion were important virtues.\u00a0Buddhism also tends to de-emphasize the role of a godhead, instead stressing the importance of personal responsibility (Craig, 2002). This is illustrated by five moral principles, which prohibit:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Killing living things<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Taking what is not given<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Sexual misconduct<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Lying<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Using drugs or alcohol<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"200\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/120\/2016\/04\/15204547\/Figure_15_02_05.jpg\" alt=\"A man dressed in an orange robe is shown with his legs crossed, sitting within outdoor brick walls.\" width=\"200\" height=\"475\" \/> <strong>Figure 7.\u00a0<\/strong>Meditation is an important practice in Buddhism. A Tibetan monk is shown here engaged in solitary meditation. (Photo courtesy of Prince Roy\/flickr)[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe Four Truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism: people crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, \"incapable of satisfying\" and painful. This keeps people caught in sa\u1e43s\u0101ra, the endless cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha, and dying again. According to Buddhism, there is a way to liberation from this endless cycle to the state of nirvana, namely following the Noble Eightfold Path.\u00a0The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices: right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right samadhi (\"meditative absorption or union\").\r\n\r\nBuddhism is the world's fourth-largest religion, with over 520 million followers, or over 7 percent of the global population. While some of the main tenets were explained above, Buddhism encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs, and spiritual practices, and can be further divided into other traditions, which have some variations in their beliefs. The two major extant branches of Buddhism are Theravada (Pali: \"The School of the Elders\") and Mahayana (Sanskrit: \"The Great Vehicle\"). Theravada Buddhism has a widespread following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia such as Myanmar and Thailand. Mahayana, which includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon and Tiantai (Tendai), is found throughout East Asia.\r\n\r\nVajrayana, a body of teachings attributed to Indian adepts, may be viewed as a separate branch or as an aspect of Mahayana Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth-century India, is practiced in the countries of the Himalayan region, Mongolia, and Kalmykia. The Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959 has led Tibetan Buddhists to live in exile in India since 1959, including His Holiness The Dalai Lama.\r\n\r\nBuddhists celebrate several festivals throughout the year, including a Buddhist New Year, Vesak, a festival to celebrate Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and death, and Uposatha, an observance that encourages Buddhists to recommit to the teachings.[footnote]\"Buddhism,\" 2018. History.com. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/religion\/buddhism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/religion\/buddhism<\/a>.[\/footnote]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Watch this video to learn about the basic beliefs and practices of Buddhism.<\/strong>\r\n[embed]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Lxq-RiLb-6M[\/embed]<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Think It Over<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Think of some ways in which the principles of Hinduism and Buddhism are visible in mainstream culture in the United States.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Try to meditate for four minutes. Is it challenging? Try listening to this\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.nytimes.com\/podcasts\/2016\/07\/01\/well\/well-meditation-4-minutes\/4-minute-final.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">guided four-minute meditation<\/a>\u00a0if you want help.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2>Taoism and Confucianism<\/h2>\r\n<h3>Chinese Religions<\/h3>\r\nThe government of the People's Republic of China officially espouses atheism, though Chinese civilization has historically long been a cradle and host to a variety of the most enduring religio-philosophical traditions of the world. Confucianism and Taoism, later joined by Buddhism, constitute the \"three teachings\" that have shaped Chinese culture. There are no clear boundaries between these intertwined religious systems, which do not claim to be exclusive, and elements of each enrich popular or folk religion. Following a period of enforced atheism after the Cultural Revolution\u00a0(1966-1976) in China, religion has recently become more popular once again. The government today formally recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Islam (though the Chinese Catholic Church is independent of the Catholic Church in Rome). In the early twenty-first century there has also been increasing official recognition of Confucianism and Chinese folk religion as part of China's cultural inheritance. Let's take a closer look at two of these Chinese religious traditions: Taoism and Confucianism.\r\n<h3>Taoism<\/h3>\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2855702\">In Taoism (also commonly\u00a0written as Daoism), the purpose of life is inner peace and harmony. Tao is usually translated as \u201cway\u201d or \u201cpath.\u201d Lao Tzu, sometimes written Laozi, was an ancient Chinese philosopher and writer who lived during the 6th or 4th century B.C.E., and who authored the Tao Te Ching, which remains the fundamental text on philosophical Taoism. In the Tao Te Ching, Laozi often explains his ideas by way of paradox, analogy, repetition, symmetry, rhyme, and rhythm.<\/p>\r\nTaoism as an organized religion began in the year 142 C.E. with the revelation of the Tao to Zhang Daoling (Chang Tao-ling) by the personified god of the Tao, Taishang laojun,\u00a0the Highest Venerable Lord (one of the three main deities). Taoism became a semi-official Chinese religion during the Tang dynasty (7th-10th centuries) and continued during the Song dynasty (960-1279). As Confucianism gained popularity, Taoism gradually fell from favor, and changed from an official religion to a popular religious tradition. [footnote]\"The Origins of Taoism.\" BBC. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/religion\/religions\/taoism\/history\/history.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/religion\/religions\/taoism\/history\/history.shtml<\/a>.[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nThe central concept of <em>tao<\/em>\u00a0describes a spiritual reality, the order of the universe, as being in harmony with the virtues of compassion and moderation. The ying-yang symbol and the concept of polar forces are central Taoist ideas (Smith, 1991). Some scholars have compared this Chinese tradition to its Confucian counterpart by saying that \u201cwhereas Confucianism is concerned with day-to-day rules of conduct, Taoism is concerned with a more spiritual level of being\u201d (Feng and English, 1972).\r\n\r\nAfter the communist takeover of China in 1949, Taoism was banned and its followers re-educated, with the result that the number of practicing Taoists fell by 99 percent in 10 years.\u00a0At this time Taoism began to flourish in the greater freedom on offer in Taiwan (a separatist island territory which had not been absorbed into the new communist China).\u00a0After the end of the Cultural Revolution the Chinese government began to allow a small measure of religious freedom. Taoism began to revive in China, and Taoist temples and practitioners can now be found throughout the country. [footnote]\"The Origins of Taoism.\" BBC. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/religion\/religions\/taoism\/history\/history.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/religion\/religions\/taoism\/history\/history.shtml<\/a>.[\/footnote] Today, the Taoist tradition is one of the five religious doctrines officially recognized in the People's Republic of China (PRC) as well as the Republic of China (ROC), and although it does not travel readily from its East Asian roots, it claims adherents in a number of societies, in particular in Hong Kong, Macau, and in Southeast Asia.\r\n\r\nTaoism has had a profound influence on Chinese culture in the course of the centuries, and Taoists (Chinese: \u9053\u58eb; pinyin: d\u00e0oshi, \"masters of the Tao\"), a title traditionally attributed only to the clergy and not to their lay followers, usually take care to note the distinction between their ritual tradition and the practices of Chinese folk religion and non-Taoist vernacular ritual orders, which are often mistakenly identified as pertaining to Taoism. Chinese alchemy (especially neidan), Chinese astrology, Chan (Zen) Buddhism, several martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine, feng shui, and many styles of qigong have been intertwined with Taoism throughout history.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Watch this video to learn about Laozi (also written Lao Tzu or Lao-Tze), the founder of Daoism, and the teachings in the Tao Te Ching.<\/strong>\r\n[embed]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dFb7Hxva5rg[\/embed]<\/p>\r\n<h3>Confucianism<\/h3>\r\nThe founder of Confucianism (also known as Ruism), or Master Kong, better known as Confucius (551-479 B.C.E.), was a philosopher and politician. He did not intend to create a new religion, but sought to provide structure and reform to some of the religious ambiguities of the Zhou dynasty.\u00a0According to Judith Berling, Professor Emerita of Chinese and Comparative Religions at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, \"The burning issue of the day was: If it is not the ancestral and nature spirits, what then is the basis of a stable, unified, and enduring social order?\" [footnote]Berling, Judith. \"Confucianism.\" 1996. Center for Global Education, Society for Asian Studies. <a href=\"https:\/\/asiasociety.org\/education\/confucianism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/asiasociety.org\/education\/confucianism<\/a>.[\/footnote]\u00a0This sounds very familiar to founding sociologist August Comte's question after the French Revolution\u2014what holds society together? Confucius' answer was in the Zhou religion and its rituals (li), which embodied the ethical core of Chinese society.\r\n\r\nThe worldly concern of Confucianism rests upon the belief that human beings are fundamentally good, teachable, and perfectible through personal and communal endeavor, especially self-cultivation and self-creation. Confucian thought focuses on the development of virtue in a morally organized world. Some of the basic Confucian ethical concepts and practices include r\u00e9n, y\u00ec, and l\u01d0, and zh\u00ec. R\u00e9n (\u4ec1, 'benevolence' or 'humaneness') is the essence of the human being which manifests as compassion, and is sometimes translated as love or kindness. It is the virtue-form of Heaven, and the source of all other virtues. Y\u00ec (\u7fa9\/\u4e49) is the upholding of righteousness and the moral disposition to do good. L\u01d0 (\u79ae\/\u793c) is a system of ritual norms and propriety that determines how a person should properly act in everyday life so as to be in harmony with the law of Heaven. Zh\u00ec (\u667a) is the ability to see what is right and fair, or the converse, in the behaviors exhibited by others. Confucianism holds one in contempt, either passively or actively, for failure to uphold the cardinal moral values of r\u00e9n and y\u00ec. Confucianism also places am emphasis on filial piety (Chinese: \u5b5d, xi\u00e0o), which is a virtue of respect for one's parents and ancestors.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333333\">Confucianism entrenched itself in Chinese history and culture, becoming\u00a0what sociologist Robert Bellah called a <strong>civil religion <\/strong>whereby \"the sense of religious identity and common moral understanding is at the foundation of a society's central institutions.\" [footnote]Bellah, Robert Neeley. 1975. The Broken Covenant: American Civil Religion in a Time of Trial, New York: Seabury Press. [\/footnote] Like Hinduism, Confucianism was part of the social fabric and way of life; to Confucians, everyday life was the arena of religion.\u00a0Some religious scholars consider Confucianism more of a social system than a religion because it focuses on sharing wisdom about moral practices but doesn\u2019t involve any type of specific worship; nor does it have formal holy objects.<\/span>\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2783332\"><span style=\"color: #333333\">Confucianism\u00a0was the official religion of China from 200 B.C.E. until it was officially abolished when communist leaders discouraged religious practice in 1949. Like Taoism, Confucianism spread to other countries and was somewhat dormant in China for a time, but is on the rise once again.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<section id=\"fs-id2019435\"><section id=\"fs-id2183949\">\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Watch this video to learn more about Confucius and the basic tenets of the religion.<\/strong>\r\n[embed]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tUhGRh4vdb8[\/embed]<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/section><section id=\"fs-id2326918\"><\/section><\/section><section id=\"fs-id2440276\" class=\"section-summary\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\r\n<h3>Link to Learning<\/h3>\r\nFor more insight on Confucianism, read the <a href=\"http:\/\/classics.mit.edu\/Confucius\/analects.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Analects by Confucius<\/a>.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n<h3>Judaism<\/h3>\r\nJudaism is the ethnic religion of the Jewish people. It is an ancient, monotheistic, Abrahamic religion that encompasses the religion, philosophy, and culture of the Jewish people. It began over 3,000 years ago and is well known through the book of both the Torah and the Old Testament called Exodus, which describes the emancipation of the Hebrews from Egyptian captivity in the thirteenth century B.C.E. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenant that G-d established with the Children of Israel. It encompasses a wide body of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. The Torah is part of the larger text known as the Tanakh, or the Hebrew Bible, and is supplemented by oral tradition represented in later texts such as the Midrash and the Talmud. The Torah consists of the five books of Moses, which are also contained in the Christian Bible. With between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide, Judaism is the tenth largest religion in the world. It is part of the Jewish faith that one never speaks or writes out the word or name of G-d, out of reverence. G-d is referred to as \"Adonai\" in religious texts and prayers.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_6505\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"300\"]<img class=\"wp-image-6505 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2034\/2016\/05\/01200825\/683px-Hasidic_Family_in_Street_-_Borough_Park_-_Hasidic_District_-_Brooklyn-300x264.jpg\" alt=\"Family in traditional Hasidic Jewish dress walking down the street.\" width=\"300\" height=\"264\" \/> <strong>Figure 8<\/strong>. A Hasidic Jewish family in New York City.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe most important teaching of Judaism is that there is one G-d, who wants people to do what is just and compassionate. Judaism teaches that a person serves G-d by learning the holy books and doing what they teach. These teachings include both ritual actions and ethical interpretative frameworks.\u00a0Jews place an emphasis on moral behavior and action in this world as opposed to personal salvation in the next world. Like Hindus and Buddhists, the Jewish sages believed in non-violence and\u00a0taught: \u00a0\u201cAnyone who takes a single life, it is as though he has destroyed the entire world. And anyone who saves a single life, it is as though he has saved the entire world\"\u00a0[footnote]Freeman, Tzvi. 2018. \"What are Jewish Values?\" Chabad.org. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chabad.org\/library\/article_cdo\/aid\/3852164\/jewish\/What-Are-Jewish-Values.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.chabad.org\/library\/article_cdo\/aid\/3852164\/jewish\/What-Are-Jewish-Values.htm<\/a>.[\/footnote]. Jews also believe in improving the world around them, as another core value is that of\u00a0<em><i><span class=\"glossary_item\">Tikkun olam<\/span><\/i>, <\/em>which translates to mean \"repair\" and \"of all time [later translated to mean the world]\"\u2014meaning they feel an obligation to fix up the world.[footnote]\"Tikun Olam: Repairing the World,\" My Jewish Learning. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myjewishlearning.com\/article\/tikkun-olam-repairing-the-world\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.myjewishlearning.com\/article\/tikkun-olam-repairing-the-world\/<\/a>.[\/footnote]\u00a0Another\u00a0related value is that of<em>\u00a0tzedakah<\/em>, which translates to mean \"righteousness or justice or fairness,\" but which is often mistaken for charity. The Talmud categorizes <em>tzedakah <\/em>into eight levels with the lowest level of giving as \"begrudging\" and the highest as \"enabling the recipient to become self-reliant\" [footnote]\"Tzedekah 101,\" My Jewish Learning. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myjewishlearning.com\/article\/tzedakah-101\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.myjewishlearning.com\/article\/tzedakah-101\/<\/a>.[\/footnote]\u00a0It is a\u00a0<em>mitzvah<\/em>, or commandment, and is one of 613 laws.\r\n\r\nToday, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism (Haredi Judaism and Modern Orthodox Judaism), Conservative Judaism, and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between these groups include their approaches to Jewish law, the authority of the Rabbinic tradition, and the significance of the State of Israel.\u00a0There is a wide spectrum of devotion, practice, and even appearance within Judaism, but the most visible are Orthodox Jews because they are recognized by their outward appearance. For example, one ultra-orthodox group that emphasizes conservatism and tradition are Hasidic Jews, who have a large population in\u00a0parts of Brooklyn, New York. They are recognizable by their\u00a0dress code\u2014women cover most of their bodies (shirts with sleeves below the elbows, legs covered with pantyhose, hair covered with a wig or a headscarf, and often a hat, etc.) and men wear black coats, black hats, <em>payos\u00a0<\/em>or long curly sideburns, and full uncut beards\u00a0(sometimes brown fur hats depending on the sect and time of year and\/or holiday), and sometimes white stockings (depending on the type of Orthodox Jewish sect). At the other end of the spectrum is Reformed Judaism, which permits women to be rabbis and does not require strict observance to the laws found in the Torah.\r\n\r\nAlthough Jews make up a very small percentage of the global population (0.2 percent), most people around the world are familiar with Jewish culture and practices, and some historical facts.\u00a0Children all over the world are taught about the genocide that occurred during World War II when six million European Jews were killed in the Holocaust. In New York City, public schools observe many of the major Jewish holidays including Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, and Passover. Foods associated with traditional Jewish culture like bagels and lox, knish, latkes, and babka are enjoyed widely.\r\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\r\n<h3>Link to Learning: Understanding the ISraeli-Palestinian Conflict<\/h3>\r\nJews and Muslims both claim a religious tie to the land in Israel and Palestine, not only because both religions had major events take place there and are deeply rooted in the area, but because both claim that they were promised the land by God, through Abraham. Abraham had more than one son, however, and descendants from Isaac were predominantly Jewish and descendants from Ishmael became predominantly Muslim. This contention is important today, as there is frequent geo-political news surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel as a nation did not come into existence until and after World War II, and the area is continually plagued by conflict. You can learn more about it through this\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1wo2TLlMhiw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Crash Course video \u201cConflict in Israel and Palestine.\u201d<\/a>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Learn more about the basic beliefs and practices of Judaism in this short video:<\/strong>\r\n[embed]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xJbg_cXYFyM[\/embed]<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\r\n<h3>Link to Learning: Judaism in America<\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"color: #333333\">To learn more about the Orthodox Jewish communities in New York City, please click on this link to PBS's <a style=\"color: #333333\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/alifeapart\/intro_2.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A Life Apart: Hasidism in America.\u00a0<\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #333333\">You could also search for a 2017 Netflix documentary titled\u00a0<em>One of Us, <\/em>which looked at the lives of three Hasidic Jews who left their religious communities.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3>Islam<\/h3>\r\n<figure id=\"import-auto-id2726402\">\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"270\"]<img class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/120\/2016\/04\/15204548\/Figure_15_02_06.jpg\" alt=\"A mosque is shown, a large building with one large dome and two smaller domes and two towers, called minarets.\" width=\"270\" height=\"360\" \/> <strong>Figure 9.<\/strong>The Islamic house of worship is called a mosque. (Photo courtesy of David Stanley\/flickr)[\/caption]<\/figure>\r\n<section id=\"fs-id1175410\">\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2318477\">Islam is monotheistic, Abrahamic religion that follows the teachings of the prophet Muhammad, born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in 570 C.E. Muhammad is seen as an earthly prophet, not as a divine being, and he is believed to be the messenger of Allah (God), who is divine. The followers of Islam, whose U.S. population is projected to double in the next twenty years (Pew Research Forum, 2011), are called Muslims.\u00a0It has over 1.8 billion followers worldwide (24 percent of the population), making it the world's second-largest religion. Is is one of the fastest-growing religions in the world, with Muslims expected to account for 30% of the global population by 2050.[footnote]The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050 Why Muslims Are Rising Fastest and the Unaffiliated Are Shrinking as a Share of the World\u2019s Population (2015). Retrieved from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewforum.org\/2015\/04\/02\/religious-projections-2010-2050\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.pewforum.org\/2015\/04\/02\/religious-projections-2010-2050\/<\/a>.[\/footnote] Births to Muslims between 2010 and 2015 outnumbered deaths by 152 million (213 million births vs. 61 million deaths), meaning Muslims have the highest fertility rate of any religious group at 2.9 children per woman (Christians are 2.6 children per woman and Hindu and Jewish fertility rates are 2.3)\u00a0[footnote]Hackett, Conrad and David McClenden. 2018. \"Christians Remain World's Largest Religious Group.\" <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/fact-tank\/2017\/04\/05\/christians-remain-worlds-largest-religious-group-but-they-are-declining-in-europe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/fact-tank\/2017\/04\/05\/christians-remain-worlds-largest-religious-group-but-they-are-declining-in-europe\/<\/a>.[\/footnote]<\/p>\r\nAbout 13 percent of Muslims live in Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority country; 31 percent of Muslims live in South Asia, the largest population of Muslims in the world; 20 percent in the Middle East\u2013North Africa region, where it is the dominant religion; and 15 percent reside in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sizeable Muslim communities are also found in the Americas, the Caucasus, Central Asia, China, Europe, Mainland Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and Russia.\r\n\r\nMost Muslims belong to one of two denominations: Sunni (87\u201390 percent) or Shia (10-13 percent) (Pew Research). Following Muhammed's death in 632 C.E., disagreements arose over would be the next caliph, or leader. Those who believed that Muhammed's father-in-law, Abu Bakr, was the first caliph became known as Sunnis, and those who followed Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib became known as Shias. Today, Shia Muslims are the majority in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Lebanon, and Azerbaijan, as well as being a politically significant minority in Pakistan, Syria, Yemen and Kuwait.\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2797973\">Islam means \u201cpeace\u201d and \u201csubmission.\u201d The sacred text for Muslims is the Qur\u2019an (or Koran). As with Christianity\u2019s Old Testament, many of the Qur\u2019an stories are shared with the Jewish faith. While divisions exist within Islam, all Muslims are guided by five core beliefs or practices, often called \u201cthe five pillars\u201d:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li><span id=\"First_Pillar:_Shahadah_(Profession_of_Faith)\" class=\"mw-headline\">Shahadah: the profession of faith in God. This is commonly recited, and translates to \"There is no god but Allah<\/span>, and Muhammad is his prophet.\"<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span id=\"Second_Pillar:_Salat_(Prayer)\" class=\"mw-headline\">Salat:\u00a0<\/span>daily prayer. These prayers are performed five times a day, at set times, with the individual kneeling and prostrating in a particular pattern while facing in the direction of Mecca (the birthplace of Muhammed, and therefore of Islam itself). The five prayer times correspond to dawn, noon, afternoon, evening, and night.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"250\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/120\/2016\/04\/15204550\/Figure_15_02_07.jpg\" alt=\"A man dressed in white is shown from behind looking down over the Kaaba, Islam\u2019s most sacred site. Hundreds of other people, dressed in all black or all white, can be seen circling a large black cube-like structure on the floor of a stadium-like structure.\" width=\"250\" height=\"338\" \/> <strong>Figure 10.\u00a0<\/strong>One of the cornerstones of Muslim practice is journeying to the religion\u2019s most sacred place, Mecca. (Photo courtesy of Raeky\/flickr)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<span id=\"Third_Pillar:_Zakat_(Almsgiving)\" class=\"mw-headline\">Zakat: almsgiving.\u00a0<\/span>This is given as a tithe (often around 2.5 percent of a person's income) and is used to support holy places and mosques around the world, as well as those within the same community as the payer.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span id=\"Fourth_Pillar:_Sawm_(Fasting)\" class=\"mw-headline\">Sawm:\u00a0<\/span>fasting as a spiritual practice, as is done during the month of Ramadan. During Ramadan, Muslims do not eat or drink from sunup to sundown for\u00a0an entire month. Ramadan includes special daily prayers called <em>taraweeh<\/em>, which take place at mosques and last for 1-2 hours, and a period of seclusion, or\u00a0<em>l'tikaf,<\/em> during the last ten nights of the month. The fast is meant to allow Muslims to seek nearness and to look for forgiveness from God, to express their gratitude to and dependence on him, to atone for their past sins, and to remind them of the needy.[32] During Ramadan, Muslims are also expected to recommit to the teachings of Islam by refraining from violence, anger, envy, greed, lust, profane language, gossip and to try to get along with fellow Muslims better. In addition, all obscene and irreligious sights and sounds are to be avoided<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span id=\"Fifth_Pillar:_Hajj_(Pilgrimage)\" class=\"mw-headline\">Hajj:\u00a0<\/span>pilgrimage to the holy center of Mecca.\u00a0The reason for this journey is to follow in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad, hoping to gain enlightenment as Muhammad did when he was in the presence of Allah.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nWhile Muslims celebrate many special occasions and events, there are two specific days set aside as holy days: <em>Eid ul Fitr<\/em> and <em>Eid ul Adha<\/em> (<em>Eid<\/em> or <em>Id<\/em> is a word meaning festival). The holiday, E<em>id ul Fitr<\/em>, marks the end of Ramadan and is a time of feasting, fine clothes, decorating one's home, praying, and making amends. <em>E<\/em><i>id ul Adha\u00a0<\/i>is a festival to remember the prophet Ibrahim's (known as Abraham in Judaism and Christianity) willingness to sacrifice his son when God ordered him to do so. [footnote]\"Muslim Holy Days,\" BBC. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/religion\/religions\/islam\/holydays\/holydays.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/religion\/religions\/islam\/holydays\/holydays.shtml<\/a>.[\/footnote]\r\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\r\n<h3>Jihad and Post-9\/11<\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"color: #333333\">Following the 9\/11 attacks in 2001 by the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, the word \"jihad\" has become a contentious term associated with extremists who justify their violent actions as part of a a political project, or a religious war against nonbelievers. Jihad is an Arabic word which means \"to strive\" or \"to struggle,\" especially toward a praiseworthy goal. In a broader Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform to God's will, such as to struggle against one's evil inclinations, or to undertake religious proselytizing (i.e., the spreading of the faith), or to work toward the moral betterment of the \"ummah,\" which refers to the entirety of the Muslim community. Despite the multiple and many benevolent applications of this idea, today it is often narrowly associated with a form of holy war, or with sacrificing one's life for the sake of God.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333333\">Al-Qaeda (the \"base\" or \"foundation\") is a terrorist network of Islamic extremists and Salafist jihadists (a splinter group from Sunni Islam).\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #333333\">Islamic extremism is not the same thing as Islam\u2014remember that Islam, by definition, is peaceful.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #333333\">Al-Qaeda formed during the Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989) and has had a strong presence at various times in different regions throughout the Middle East. It is connected with ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), or the Islamic State (IS)), which recently controlled large areas in Iraq and Syria, but lost nearly all of its significant territory by March 2019. ISIS claimed responsibility for the Easter suicide bombings in Sri Lanka, which killed over 250 people at churches and hotels, and has also been connected with terrorist activities in Congo, the Philippines, Nigeria, Libya, and parts of Egypt. It's important to note that Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups or splinter sects are not representative of Islam overall, just as extremist Christian terrorists such as the Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh are not representative of mainstream Christian beliefs.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Watch this short video to learn more about the beliefs and practices of Islam.<\/strong>\r\n[embed]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wgP_OSOS3IA[\/embed]<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/section>\r\n<h3>Christianity<\/h3>\r\n<section id=\"fs-id2326918\">\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id1360790\">The largest religion in the world is Christianity, with 2.3 billion people, or 31.4 percent of the world's population identifying as Christian.\u00a0Today, the four largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church (1.3 billion), Protestantism (920 million), the Eastern Orthodox Church (260 million) and Oriental Orthodoxy (86 million).<\/p>\r\nChristianity\u00a0began 2,000 years ago in Palestine, with Jesus of Nazareth, who believers consider to be the Son of God and savior of the world. Christianity understands its namesake to be a charismatic leader who taught his followers about <em>caritas<\/em> (charity), or the principle that one should treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.\u00a0Jesus, a Jew, rebelled against many of the Jewish laws and did things like heal the sick on the Sabbath\u2014a day in which no work was to take place. Christians believe that Jesus died and was resurrected, and that Jesus' death was necessary so that humankind can obtain salvation.\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2106117\">The sacred text for Christians is the Bible. While Jews, Christians, and Muslims share many of same historical religious stories, their versions of these narratives and subsequent beliefs often diverge. In their shared sacred stories, it is suggested that the son of God\u2014a messiah\u2014will return to save God\u2019s followers. While Christians believe that he has already appeared in the person of Jesus Christ, Jews and Muslims disagree. While they recognize Christ as an important historical figure, their traditions don\u2019t believe that he is the son of God, and these faiths see the prophecy of the messiah\u2019s arrival as not yet fulfilled.<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2755898\">Within Christianity, different groups do not necessarily adhere to the same religious texts, though there are often important similarities among them. For instance, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, an established Christian sect, use the Book of Mormon, which they believe details other parts of Christian doctrine and Jesus\u2019 life that are not included in the Bible. Similarly, the Catholic Bible includes the Apocrypha, a collection of texts that, while part of the 1611 King James translation, is no longer included in Protestant versions of the Bible.<\/p>\r\nThe 16th-century Reformation led to Protestants, or <em>protest<\/em>-ants, breaking off from the Catholic Church. Today 40 percent of Christians are Protestants, which include Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, and others.\r\n\r\nAlthough monotheistic, Christians often describe their god through three manifestations that they call the Holy Trinity: the father (God), the son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a term Christians often use to describe religious experience, or how they feel the presence of the sacred in their lives. One foundation of Christian doctrine is the Ten Commandments, which decry acts considered sinful, including theft, murder, and adultery.\r\n\r\nChristian holidays such as Christmas and Easter are widely celebrated in the United States and around the world. They are marked by gift-giving, singing, praying, decorating one's home, and preparing specific foods associated with the holidays. Many Christians and Jews strive to go to the holy sites of Israel, as a form of pilgrimage, which is similar to a Muslim's journey to Mecca to participate in the Hajj. Although Christians do not typically fast, Lent (or the forty days leading up to Easter) is a time of reflection and contemplation for Christians, and many choose to give up something as part of their preparation for the sacred holiday.\r\n\r\nLike participants in other world religions, Christians have been persecuted for their beliefs, but have also historically been involved with persecuting non-Christians, such as during the Spanish Inquisition or the Crusades. Today politically volatile forms of Christian extremism, often combined with strains of nationalism and\/or racism, is on the rise, with some terrorists explicitly claiming that their actions are rooted in Christian beliefs. Examples include the July, 2011 Norway attacks and the March, 2019 shootings at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Learn more about the basic beliefs and practices of Christianity in the following video:<\/strong>\r\n[embed]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4Z6CArFTLmk[\/embed]<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/section><section id=\"fs-id2440276\" class=\"section-summary\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Further Research<\/h3>\r\n<p id=\"import-auto-id3654687\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/pages\/frontline\/shows\/religion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PBS\u2019s\u00a0<em>Frontline<\/em>\u00a0explores \u201cthe life of Jesus and the rise of Christianity\u201d in this documentary<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3><\/h3>\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>glossary<\/h3>\r\n[glossary-page]\r\n[glossary-term]agnosticism:[\/glossary-term]\r\n[glossary-definition]the belief that ultimate reality, or God, is unknowable[\/glossary-definition]\r\n\r\n[glossary-term]animism:[\/glossary-term]\r\n[glossary-definition]the religion that believes in the divinity of nonhuman beings, like animals, plants, and objects of the natural world[\/glossary-definition]\r\n\r\n[glossary-term]atheism:[\/glossary-term]\r\n[glossary-definition]the belief in no deities[\/glossary-definition]\r\n\r\n[glossary-term]civil religion:[\/glossary-term]\r\n[glossary-definition]the implicit religious values and common moral understanding shared by a nation[\/glossary-definition]\r\n\r\n[glossary-term]cults:[\/glossary-term]\r\n[glossary-definition]religious groups that are small, secretive, and highly controlling of members and have a charismatic leader[\/glossary-definition]\r\n\r\n[glossary-term]denomination:[\/glossary-term]\r\n[glossary-definition]a large, mainstream religion that is not sponsored by the state[\/glossary-definition]\r\n\r\n[glossary-term]ecclesia:[\/glossary-term]\r\n[glossary-definition]a religion that is considered the state religion[\/glossary-definition]\r\n\r\n[glossary-term]established sects:[\/glossary-term]\r\n[glossary-definition]sects that last but do not become denominations[\/glossary-definition]\r\n\r\n[glossary-term]monotheism:[\/glossary-term]\r\n[glossary-definition]a religion based on belief in a single deity[\/glossary-definition]\r\n\r\n[glossary-term]polytheism:[\/glossary-term]\r\n[glossary-definition]a religion based on belief in multiple deities[\/glossary-definition]\r\n\r\n[glossary-term]sect:[\/glossary-term]\r\n[glossary-definition]a small, new offshoot of a denomination[\/glossary-definition]\r\n\r\n[glossary-term]totemism:[\/glossary-term]\r\n[glossary-definition]the belief in a divine connection between humans and other natural beings[\/glossary-definition]\r\n[\/glossary-page]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"post-286\" class=\"standard post-286 chapter type-chapter status-publish hentry\">\r\n<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<section class=\"citations-section focusable\" role=\"contentinfo\">\r\n<div class=\"post-citations sidebar\"><\/div>\r\n<\/section><\/section>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning outcomes<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Explain the differences between various types of religious organizations and classifications<\/li>\n<li>Describe the basic tenets of Hinduism<\/li>\n<li>Describe the basic tenets of Buddhism<\/li>\n<li>Describe the basic tenets of Taoism<\/li>\n<li>Describe the basic tenets of Confucianism<\/li>\n<li>Describe the basic tenets of Judaism<\/li>\n<li>Describe the basic tenets of Islam<\/li>\n<li>Describe the basic tenets of Christianity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>The major religions of the world (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, Christianity, Taoism, and Judaism) differ in many respects, including how each religion is organized and the belief system, or common tenets, each upholds. Differences include the nature of belief in a higher power, the history of how the world and the religion began, and the use of sacred texts and objects.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6010\" style=\"width: 513px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6010\" class=\"wp-image-6010\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2034\/2016\/05\/27212904\/peter-hershey-112797-unsplash.jpg\" alt=\"A person is sitting in the foreground but only their clasped hands and forearms are in the photo. They are wearing orange robes.\" width=\"503\" height=\"335\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-6010\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 1<\/strong>. A Buddhist monk sits with their hands clasped. The concept of the \u201cmiddle way\u201d is central to Buddhist thinking, which encourages people to live in the present and to practice acceptance of others (Smith, 1991). (Photo courtesy of Peter Hershey\/unsplash)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/120\/2016\/04\/15204541\/Figure_15_02_01.jpg\" alt=\"The symbols of 14 religions are depicted in a circle around the edge of an illustration of Earth.\" width=\"225\" height=\"350\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 2.\u00a0<\/strong>The symbols of fourteen religions are depicted here. In no particular order, they represent Judaism, Wicca, Taoism, Christianity, Confucianism, Baha\u2019i, Druidism, Islam, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Shinto, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism. Can you match the symbol to the religion? What might a symbolic interactionist make of these symbols? (Photo courtesy of ReligiousTolerance.org)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"fs-id2318989\">\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3>Types of Religious Organizations<\/h3>\n<p id=\"import-auto-id1445411\">Religions organize themselves\u2014their institutions, practitioners, and structures\u2014in a various ways. For instance, when the Roman Catholic Church emerged, it borrowed many of its organizational principles from the ancient Roman military and turned senators into cardinals, for example. Ecclesia, denomination, and sect are terms used to\u00a0describe these classifications. Scholars are also aware that these definitions are not static. Most religions transition through different organizational phases. For example, Christianity began as a cult, transformed into a sect, and today exists as an ecclesia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cults<\/strong>, like sects, are new religious groups. In the United States today this term often carries pejorative connotations. However, almost all religions began as cults and gradually progressed to levels of greater size, stability, and organization. The term cult is sometimes used interchangeably with the term &#8220;new religious movement&#8221; (NRM). In its pejorative use, these groups are often disparaged as being secretive, highly controlling of members\u2019 lives, and dominated by a single, charismatic leader.<\/p>\n<p id=\"import-auto-id1390917\">Controversy exists over whether some religious groups are in fact cults, perhaps due in part to media sensationalism over groups like the polygamous Mormon FLDS or the Peoples Temple followers who died in a mass suicide at Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978. Some groups that are controversially labeled as cults today include the Church of Scientology and the Hare Krishna movement.<\/p>\n<p>A <strong><span id=\"import-auto-id935201\">sect<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0is a small and relatively new group. Most of the well-known Christian denominations in the United States today began as sects. For example, the Methodists and Baptists protested against their parent Anglican Church in England, just as Henry VIII protested against the Catholic Church by forming the Anglican Church. From \u201cprotest\u201d comes the term Protestant.<\/p>\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2693848\">Occasionally, a sect is a breakaway group that may be in tension with the larger society. They sometimes claim to be returning to \u201cthe fundamentals\u201d or to be contesting the truth of a particular doctrine. When membership in a sect increases over time, it may grow into a denomination. Often a sect begins as an offshoot of a denomination, when a group of members believes they should separate from the larger group.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/120\/2016\/04\/15204542\/Figure_15_02_02.jpg\" alt=\"A young Mennonite boy in a straw hat is shown eating a piece of pizza at a picnic table.\" width=\"200\" height=\"532\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 3. <\/strong>How might you classify the Mennonites? As a cult, a sect, or a denomination? (Photo courtesy of Frenkieb\/flickr).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"import-auto-id1459488\">Some sects dissolve without growing into denominations. Sociologists call these <strong><span id=\"import-auto-id1358728\">established sects<\/span><\/strong>. Established sects, such as the Amish or Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses fall halfway between sect and denomination on the ecclesia\u2013cult continuum because they have a mixture of sect-like and denomination-like characteristics.<\/p>\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2625879\">A <strong><span id=\"import-auto-id2287974\">denomination<\/span><\/strong> is a large, mainstream religious organization, but it does not claim to be official or state sponsored. It is one religion among many. For example, Baptist, African Methodist Episcopal, Catholic, and Seventh-day Adventist are all Christian denominations.<\/p>\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2826249\">The term <strong><span id=\"import-auto-id1824902\">ecclesia<\/span><\/strong>, originally referring to a political assembly of citizens in ancient Athens, Greece, now refers to a congregation. In sociology, the term is used to refer to a religious group that most all members of a society belong to. It is considered a nationally recognized, or official, religion that holds a religious monopoly and is closely allied with state and secular powers. The United States does not have an ecclesia by this standard; in fact, this is the type of religious organization that many of the first colonists came to America to escape.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"import-auto-id2011992\"><\/figure>\n<p id=\"import-auto-id1824900\">One way to remember these religious organizational terms is to think of cults, sects, denominations, and ecclesia representing a continuum, with increasing influence on society, where cults are least influential and ecclesia are most influential.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"fs-id2228551\">\n<h3>Types of Religions<\/h3>\n<p id=\"import-auto-id1414894\">Scholars from a variety of disciplines strove to classify religions. One widely accepted categorization that helps people understand different belief systems considers what or who people worship (if anything). Using this method of classification, religions might fall into one of these basic categories, as shown in the table below.<\/p>\n<table id=\"import-auto-id2870462\" summary=\"Pictured is a table showing how scholars have categorized religions by classifying what or who the population holds to be divine. In polytheism, multiple gods are divine, and an example is the belief system of the ancient Greeks and Romans. In monotheism, one god is divine, and an example is Judaism or Islam. In Atheism there are no divine gods, and an example is atheism. In Animism nonhuman beings, like animals, plants, and the natural world, are considered divine, and an example is an indigenous nature worship like Shinto. In totemism there is a human and natural being connection that is considered divine, and an example is Ojibwa, a Native American religion.\">\n<caption style=\"text-align: bottom\">One way scholars have categorized religions is by classifying what or who they hold to be divine.<\/caption>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Religious Classification<\/th>\n<th>What\/Who Is Divine<\/th>\n<th>Example<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Polytheism<\/td>\n<td>Multiple gods<\/td>\n<td>Belief systems of the ancient Greeks and Romans<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Monotheism<\/td>\n<td>Single god<\/td>\n<td>Judaism, Islam<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Atheism<\/td>\n<td>No deities<\/td>\n<td>Atheism<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Animism<\/td>\n<td>Nonhuman beings (animals, plants, natural world)<\/td>\n<td>Indigenous nature worship (Shinto)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Totemism<\/td>\n<td>Human-natural being connection<\/td>\n<td>Ojibwa (Native American) beliefs<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2616362\">Note that some religions may be practiced\u2014or understood\u2014in various categories. For instance, the Christian notion of the Holy Trinity (God, Jesus, Holy Spirit) defies the definition of <strong>monotheism<\/strong>, which is a religion based on belief in a single deity, to some scholars. Similarly, many Westerners view the multiple manifestations of Hinduism\u2019s godhead as <strong>polytheistic<\/strong>, which is a religion based on belief in multiple deities, while Hindus might describe those manifestations are a monotheistic parallel to the Christian Trinity. Some Japanese practice Shinto, which follows <strong>animism<\/strong>, which is a religion that believes in the divinity of nonhuman beings, like animals, plants, and objects of the natural world, while people who practice <strong>totemism<\/strong> believe in a divine connection between humans and other natural beings.<\/p>\n<p id=\"import-auto-id1291652\">It is also important to note that every society also has nonbelievers, such as <strong>atheists<\/strong>, who do not believe in a divine being or entity, and <strong>agnostics<\/strong>, who hold that ultimate reality (such as God) is unknowable. While typically not an organized group, atheists and agnostics represent a significant portion of the population. It is important to recognize that being a nonbeliever in a divine entity does not mean the individual subscribes to no morality. Indeed, many Nobel Peace Prize winners and other great humanitarians over the centuries would have classified themselves as atheists or agnostics.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"fs-id3025662\" class=\"short-answer\">\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Think It Over<\/h3>\n<div id=\"fs-id3623266\" class=\"exercise\">\n<div id=\"fs-id2081817\" class=\"problem\">\n<ul>\n<li id=\"import-auto-id2010799\">Consider the different types of religious organizations in the United States. What role did ecclesia play in the history of the United States? How have sects tended to change over time? What role do cults have today?<\/li>\n<li>What is your understanding of monotheism versus polytheism? How might your ideology be an obstacle to understanding the theism of another religion you\u2019re unfamiliar with?<\/li>\n<li>In U.S. society, do you believe there is social stratification that correlates with religious beliefs? What about within the practitioners of a given religion? Provide examples to illustrate your point.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<h3>Hinduism<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"import-auto-id1364200\">\n<div style=\"width: 260px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/120\/2016\/04\/15204544\/Figure_15_02_03.jpg\" alt=\"The photo shows a woman\u2019s hands being covered in intricate henna designs.\" width=\"250\" height=\"346\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 4.\u00a0<\/strong>Hindu women sometimes apply decorations of henna dye to their hands for special occasions such as weddings and religious festivals. (Photo courtesy of Akash Mazumdar)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The oldest religion in the world, Hinduism originated in the Indus River Valley about 4,500 years ago in what is now modern-day northwest India and Pakistan. It arose contemporaneously with ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian cultures. With roughly one billion followers, Hinduism is the third-largest of the world\u2019s religions;\u00a0its followers, known as\u00a0Hindus, constitute about\u00a01.15 billion, or 15\u201316% of the global population. Hinduism is the most widely professed faith in\u00a0India,\u00a0Nepal\u00a0and\u00a0Mauritius. It is also the predominant religion in\u00a0Bali,\u00a0Indonesia. Significant numbers of Hindu communities are also found in the\u00a0Caribbean,\u00a0Southeast Asia,\u00a0North America,\u00a0Europe,\u00a0Africa, and\u00a0other countries.<\/p>\n<p>Most forms of Hinduism are henotheistic, meaning they worship a main single deity, known as Brahman, but still recognize other gods and goddesses such\u00a0Vishnu, Shiva,\u00a0and Krishna, among others.\u00a0Hinduism includes a diversity of ideas on spirituality and traditions, but has no ecclesiastical order, no unquestionable religious authorities, no governing body, no prophet(s) nor any binding holy book (although there are sacred texts). Hindus can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, panentheistic, pandeistic, henotheistic, monotheistic, monistic, agnostic, atheistic or humanist. Because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, and &#8220;a way of life.&#8221; From a Western lexical standpoint, Hinduism, like other faiths, is appropriately referred to as a religion but in India, the term <em>dharma<\/em> is preferred, which is broader than the Western term religion.<\/p>\n<p>One of the key thoughts of Hinduism is the belief in the soul, or atman. This philosophy holds that all living creatures have a soul, and all will be reincarnated, which is one reason why many Hindus are vegetarians. The ultimate goal of Hinduism is to achieve moksha, or salvation, which ends the cycle of sorrow, suffering and rebirths (sa\u1e43s\u0101ra) to become part of the absolute soul, or in complete oneness with God and existence.\u00a0Hindus also generally believe in a set of principles called dharma, which refers to one\u2019s duty in the world that corresponds with righteous choices and ethical actions. Hindus also bel<span style=\"color: #0000ff\"><span style=\"color: #333333\">ieve in karma, or the notion that spiritual ramifications of one\u2019s actions are balanced cyclically in this life or a future life.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The caste system, described in the module on social stratification, is based on the Hindu principles of karma and dharma. This ancient system, estimated by some scholars to be 3,000 years old, divides society into the following four castes: 1) brahmin (the intellectual and spiritual leaders), 2) kshatriyas (the protectors and public servants of society), 3) vaisyas (the skillful producers), and 4) shudras (the unskilled laborers) <a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;Hinduism,&quot; 2018. History.com, https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/religion\/hinduism.\" id=\"return-footnote-286-1\" href=\"#footnote-286-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Although discrimination based on caste was banned with India&#8217;s independence from Great Britain in 1947, some traditions such as marrying within one&#8217;s caste are still embraced.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6775\" style=\"width: 427px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6775\" class=\"wp-image-6775\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2034\/2016\/05\/14180149\/Diwali_Festival.jpg\" alt=\"Two girls light lamps on the ground during the Diwali festival.\" width=\"417\" height=\"277\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-6775\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 5<\/strong>. These girls light lamps during Diwali.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Multiple sacred texts, collectively called the Vedas,\u00a0were composed around 1500 B.C. and\u00a0contain hymns and rituals from ancient India. They are mostly written in Sanskrit. Like many other religions, Hinduism was suppressed at various points in India&#8217;s history\u2014by Muslim Arabs from 1200 to 1757 and between 1757 and 1848 when the British controlled India <a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;Hinduism,&quot; 2018. History.com, https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/religion\/hinduism.\" id=\"return-footnote-286-2\" href=\"#footnote-286-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>There are several Hindu festivals that are observed, but Diwali, or the festival of lights, is probably the most well known. The five days of Diwali include different rituals such as spring cleaning, shopping, decorating, praying, fasting, gift-giving, and eating, but the focal point of the celebration includes lighting lamps to represent a victory of good over evil and the light that comes from within. Another popular festival is the celebration of the arrival of spring, known as Holi, or the festival of colors, named for the bright colors of powders and water that many throw at others during the celebration.<\/p>\n<p>The most famous Hindu, Mohandas &#8216;Mahatma&#8217; Gandhi, helped India to gain independence from the British in 1947 before he was assassinated by an extremist Indian nationalist in 1948. After the dissolution of the British Raj in 1947, two new sovereign nations were formed\u2014the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The subsequent partition of the former British India displaced up to 12.5 million people and resulted in conflict and war between the main religions groups, Muslims and Hindus, with estimates of loss of life varying from several hundred thousand to 1 million. India emerged as a secular nation with a Hindu majority population and a large Muslim minority, while Pakistan emerged also as a secular nation with a Muslim majority population and a large Hindu minority.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Learn about the basic beliefs and practices of Hinduism in this short video.<\/strong><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"oembed-1\" title=\"Introduction to Hindusim | Belief | Oprah Winfrey Network\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9EICcU9oN-s?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Think it Over<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>How do Hindus view the individual&#8217;s relationship with the Divine?<\/li>\n<li>What does the traditional Hindu greeting\u00a0<em>namaste\u00a0<\/em>tell us about Hindu beliefs?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Jainism<\/h3>\n<p>Jainism is another predominantly Indian religion that shares some commonalities with Hinduism, although there are still major distinctions. Followers of Jainism are called &#8220;Jains,&#8221; a word derived from the Sanskrit word jina (victor) and connoting the path of victory in crossing over life&#8217;s stream of rebirths through an ethical and spiritual life. Jains consider their religion to be eternal (sanatan), and trace their history through a succession of 24 victorious saviors and teachers known as tirthankaras. Jains believe that Jainism is an eternal dharma with the tirthankaras guiding every cycle of the Jain cosmology.<\/p>\n<p>The main religious premises of Jainism are ahi\u1e43s\u0101 (non-violence), anek\u0101ntav\u0101da (many-sidedness), aparigraha (non-attachment) and asceticism. Devout Jains take five main vows: ahi\u1e43s\u0101 (non-violence), satya (truth), asteya (not stealing), brahmacharya (celibacy or chastity), and aparigraha (non-attachment). These principles have impacted Jain culture in many ways, such as leading to a predominantly vegetarian lifestyle that avoids harm to animals and their life cycles. &#8220;Parasparopagraho J\u012bv\u0101n\u0101m&#8221; (the function of souls is to help one another) is the motto of Jainism.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Watch this video to learn about Jainism:<\/strong><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"oembed-2\" title=\"Introduction to Jainism | Belief | Oprah Winfrey Network\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/h_VA7mWWn58?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>\u00a0Buddhism<\/h3>\n<div style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/120\/2016\/04\/15204545\/Figure_15_02_04.jpg\" alt=\"The photo shows, left, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, holding hands with, right, Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, dressed in maroon and yellow robes.\" width=\"200\" height=\"450\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 6.\u00a0<\/strong>Buddhism promotes peace and tolerance. The 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso) is one of the most revered and influential Tibetan Buddhist leaders. (Photo courtesy of Nancy Pelosi\/flickr)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama around 500 B.C.E. Siddhartha was\u00a0born as a prince in present-day Nepal and was so moved by the suffering in the world, he is\u00a0said to have given up a comfortable, upper-class life to follow one of poverty and spiritual devotion. At the age of thirty-five, he famously meditated\u00a0under a sacred fig\u00a0tree and vowed not to rise before he achieved enlightenment (<em>bodhi<\/em>). After this experience, he became known as Buddha, or \u201cenlightened one.\u201d Followers were drawn to Buddha\u2019s teachings, known as &#8220;dharma,&#8221;\u00a0and the practice of meditation, and he later established a monastic order.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"import-auto-id1348647\"><\/figure>\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2754766\">Buddha\u2019s teachings encourage Buddhists to lead a moral life by accepting the four Noble Truths: 1) life is suffering, 2) suffering arises from attachment to desires, 3) suffering ceases when attachment to desires ceases, and 4) freedom from suffering is possible by following the \u201cmiddle way.\u201d The concept of the \u201cmiddle way\u201d is central to Buddhist thinking, which encourages people to live in the present and to practice acceptance of others (Smith 1991).\u00a0Buddha taught that wisdom, kindness, patience, generosity and compassion were important virtues.\u00a0Buddhism also tends to de-emphasize the role of a godhead, instead stressing the importance of personal responsibility (Craig, 2002). This is illustrated by five moral principles, which prohibit:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Killing living things<\/li>\n<li>Taking what is not given<\/li>\n<li>Sexual misconduct<\/li>\n<li>Lying<\/li>\n<li>Using drugs or alcohol<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/120\/2016\/04\/15204547\/Figure_15_02_05.jpg\" alt=\"A man dressed in an orange robe is shown with his legs crossed, sitting within outdoor brick walls.\" width=\"200\" height=\"475\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 7.\u00a0<\/strong>Meditation is an important practice in Buddhism. A Tibetan monk is shown here engaged in solitary meditation. (Photo courtesy of Prince Roy\/flickr)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Four Truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism: people crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, &#8220;incapable of satisfying&#8221; and painful. This keeps people caught in sa\u1e43s\u0101ra, the endless cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha, and dying again. According to Buddhism, there is a way to liberation from this endless cycle to the state of nirvana, namely following the Noble Eightfold Path.\u00a0The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices: right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right samadhi (&#8220;meditative absorption or union&#8221;).<\/p>\n<p>Buddhism is the world&#8217;s fourth-largest religion, with over 520 million followers, or over 7 percent of the global population. While some of the main tenets were explained above, Buddhism encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs, and spiritual practices, and can be further divided into other traditions, which have some variations in their beliefs. The two major extant branches of Buddhism are Theravada (Pali: &#8220;The School of the Elders&#8221;) and Mahayana (Sanskrit: &#8220;The Great Vehicle&#8221;). Theravada Buddhism has a widespread following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia such as Myanmar and Thailand. Mahayana, which includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon and Tiantai (Tendai), is found throughout East Asia.<\/p>\n<p>Vajrayana, a body of teachings attributed to Indian adepts, may be viewed as a separate branch or as an aspect of Mahayana Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth-century India, is practiced in the countries of the Himalayan region, Mongolia, and Kalmykia. The Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959 has led Tibetan Buddhists to live in exile in India since 1959, including His Holiness The Dalai Lama.<\/p>\n<p>Buddhists celebrate several festivals throughout the year, including a Buddhist New Year, Vesak, a festival to celebrate Buddha&#8217;s birth, enlightenment, and death, and Uposatha, an observance that encourages Buddhists to recommit to the teachings.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;Buddhism,&quot; 2018. History.com. https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/religion\/buddhism.\" id=\"return-footnote-286-3\" href=\"#footnote-286-3\" aria-label=\"Footnote 3\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Watch this video to learn about the basic beliefs and practices of Buddhism.<\/strong><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"oembed-3\" title=\"Introduction to Buddhism | Belief | Oprah Winfrey Network\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Lxq-RiLb-6M?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Think It Over<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Think of some ways in which the principles of Hinduism and Buddhism are visible in mainstream culture in the United States.<\/li>\n<li>Try to meditate for four minutes. Is it challenging? Try listening to this\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.nytimes.com\/podcasts\/2016\/07\/01\/well\/well-meditation-4-minutes\/4-minute-final.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">guided four-minute meditation<\/a>\u00a0if you want help.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Taoism and Confucianism<\/h2>\n<h3>Chinese Religions<\/h3>\n<p>The government of the People&#8217;s Republic of China officially espouses atheism, though Chinese civilization has historically long been a cradle and host to a variety of the most enduring religio-philosophical traditions of the world. Confucianism and Taoism, later joined by Buddhism, constitute the &#8220;three teachings&#8221; that have shaped Chinese culture. There are no clear boundaries between these intertwined religious systems, which do not claim to be exclusive, and elements of each enrich popular or folk religion. Following a period of enforced atheism after the Cultural Revolution\u00a0(1966-1976) in China, religion has recently become more popular once again. The government today formally recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Islam (though the Chinese Catholic Church is independent of the Catholic Church in Rome). In the early twenty-first century there has also been increasing official recognition of Confucianism and Chinese folk religion as part of China&#8217;s cultural inheritance. Let&#8217;s take a closer look at two of these Chinese religious traditions: Taoism and Confucianism.<\/p>\n<h3>Taoism<\/h3>\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2855702\">In Taoism (also commonly\u00a0written as Daoism), the purpose of life is inner peace and harmony. Tao is usually translated as \u201cway\u201d or \u201cpath.\u201d Lao Tzu, sometimes written Laozi, was an ancient Chinese philosopher and writer who lived during the 6th or 4th century B.C.E., and who authored the Tao Te Ching, which remains the fundamental text on philosophical Taoism. In the Tao Te Ching, Laozi often explains his ideas by way of paradox, analogy, repetition, symmetry, rhyme, and rhythm.<\/p>\n<p>Taoism as an organized religion began in the year 142 C.E. with the revelation of the Tao to Zhang Daoling (Chang Tao-ling) by the personified god of the Tao, Taishang laojun,\u00a0the Highest Venerable Lord (one of the three main deities). Taoism became a semi-official Chinese religion during the Tang dynasty (7th-10th centuries) and continued during the Song dynasty (960-1279). As Confucianism gained popularity, Taoism gradually fell from favor, and changed from an official religion to a popular religious tradition. <a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;The Origins of Taoism.&quot; BBC. http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/religion\/religions\/taoism\/history\/history.shtml.\" id=\"return-footnote-286-4\" href=\"#footnote-286-4\" aria-label=\"Footnote 4\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The central concept of <em>tao<\/em>\u00a0describes a spiritual reality, the order of the universe, as being in harmony with the virtues of compassion and moderation. The ying-yang symbol and the concept of polar forces are central Taoist ideas (Smith, 1991). Some scholars have compared this Chinese tradition to its Confucian counterpart by saying that \u201cwhereas Confucianism is concerned with day-to-day rules of conduct, Taoism is concerned with a more spiritual level of being\u201d (Feng and English, 1972).<\/p>\n<p>After the communist takeover of China in 1949, Taoism was banned and its followers re-educated, with the result that the number of practicing Taoists fell by 99 percent in 10 years.\u00a0At this time Taoism began to flourish in the greater freedom on offer in Taiwan (a separatist island territory which had not been absorbed into the new communist China).\u00a0After the end of the Cultural Revolution the Chinese government began to allow a small measure of religious freedom. Taoism began to revive in China, and Taoist temples and practitioners can now be found throughout the country. <a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;The Origins of Taoism.&quot; BBC. http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/religion\/religions\/taoism\/history\/history.shtml.\" id=\"return-footnote-286-5\" href=\"#footnote-286-5\" aria-label=\"Footnote 5\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[5]<\/sup><\/a> Today, the Taoist tradition is one of the five religious doctrines officially recognized in the People&#8217;s Republic of China (PRC) as well as the Republic of China (ROC), and although it does not travel readily from its East Asian roots, it claims adherents in a number of societies, in particular in Hong Kong, Macau, and in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n<p>Taoism has had a profound influence on Chinese culture in the course of the centuries, and Taoists (Chinese: \u9053\u58eb; pinyin: d\u00e0oshi, &#8220;masters of the Tao&#8221;), a title traditionally attributed only to the clergy and not to their lay followers, usually take care to note the distinction between their ritual tradition and the practices of Chinese folk religion and non-Taoist vernacular ritual orders, which are often mistakenly identified as pertaining to Taoism. Chinese alchemy (especially neidan), Chinese astrology, Chan (Zen) Buddhism, several martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine, feng shui, and many styles of qigong have been intertwined with Taoism throughout history.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Watch this video to learn about Laozi (also written Lao Tzu or Lao-Tze), the founder of Daoism, and the teachings in the Tao Te Ching.<\/strong><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"oembed-4\" title=\"EASTERN PHILOSOPHY - Lao Tzu\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dFb7Hxva5rg?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Confucianism<\/h3>\n<p>The founder of Confucianism (also known as Ruism), or Master Kong, better known as Confucius (551-479 B.C.E.), was a philosopher and politician. He did not intend to create a new religion, but sought to provide structure and reform to some of the religious ambiguities of the Zhou dynasty.\u00a0According to Judith Berling, Professor Emerita of Chinese and Comparative Religions at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, &#8220;The burning issue of the day was: If it is not the ancestral and nature spirits, what then is the basis of a stable, unified, and enduring social order?&#8221; <a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Berling, Judith. &quot;Confucianism.&quot; 1996. Center for Global Education, Society for Asian Studies. https:\/\/asiasociety.org\/education\/confucianism.\" id=\"return-footnote-286-6\" href=\"#footnote-286-6\" aria-label=\"Footnote 6\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[6]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0This sounds very familiar to founding sociologist August Comte&#8217;s question after the French Revolution\u2014what holds society together? Confucius&#8217; answer was in the Zhou religion and its rituals (li), which embodied the ethical core of Chinese society.<\/p>\n<p>The worldly concern of Confucianism rests upon the belief that human beings are fundamentally good, teachable, and perfectible through personal and communal endeavor, especially self-cultivation and self-creation. Confucian thought focuses on the development of virtue in a morally organized world. Some of the basic Confucian ethical concepts and practices include r\u00e9n, y\u00ec, and l\u01d0, and zh\u00ec. R\u00e9n (\u4ec1, &#8216;benevolence&#8217; or &#8216;humaneness&#8217;) is the essence of the human being which manifests as compassion, and is sometimes translated as love or kindness. It is the virtue-form of Heaven, and the source of all other virtues. Y\u00ec (\u7fa9\/\u4e49) is the upholding of righteousness and the moral disposition to do good. L\u01d0 (\u79ae\/\u793c) is a system of ritual norms and propriety that determines how a person should properly act in everyday life so as to be in harmony with the law of Heaven. Zh\u00ec (\u667a) is the ability to see what is right and fair, or the converse, in the behaviors exhibited by others. Confucianism holds one in contempt, either passively or actively, for failure to uphold the cardinal moral values of r\u00e9n and y\u00ec. Confucianism also places am emphasis on filial piety (Chinese: \u5b5d, xi\u00e0o), which is a virtue of respect for one&#8217;s parents and ancestors.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333\">Confucianism entrenched itself in Chinese history and culture, becoming\u00a0what sociologist Robert Bellah called a <strong>civil religion <\/strong>whereby &#8220;the sense of religious identity and common moral understanding is at the foundation of a society&#8217;s central institutions.&#8221; <a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Bellah, Robert Neeley. 1975. The Broken Covenant: American Civil Religion in a Time of Trial, New York: Seabury Press.\" id=\"return-footnote-286-7\" href=\"#footnote-286-7\" aria-label=\"Footnote 7\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[7]<\/sup><\/a> Like Hinduism, Confucianism was part of the social fabric and way of life; to Confucians, everyday life was the arena of religion.\u00a0Some religious scholars consider Confucianism more of a social system than a religion because it focuses on sharing wisdom about moral practices but doesn\u2019t involve any type of specific worship; nor does it have formal holy objects.<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2783332\"><span style=\"color: #333333\">Confucianism\u00a0was the official religion of China from 200 B.C.E. until it was officially abolished when communist leaders discouraged religious practice in 1949. Like Taoism, Confucianism spread to other countries and was somewhat dormant in China for a time, but is on the rise once again.<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"fs-id2019435\">\n<section id=\"fs-id2183949\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Watch this video to learn more about Confucius and the basic tenets of the religion.<\/strong><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"oembed-5\" title=\"EASTERN PHILOSOPHY - Confucius\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tUhGRh4vdb8?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"fs-id2326918\"><\/section>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"fs-id2440276\" class=\"section-summary\">\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Link to Learning<\/h3>\n<p>For more insight on Confucianism, read the <a href=\"http:\/\/classics.mit.edu\/Confucius\/analects.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Analects by Confucius<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<h3>Judaism<\/h3>\n<p>Judaism is the ethnic religion of the Jewish people. It is an ancient, monotheistic, Abrahamic religion that encompasses the religion, philosophy, and culture of the Jewish people. It began over 3,000 years ago and is well known through the book of both the Torah and the Old Testament called Exodus, which describes the emancipation of the Hebrews from Egyptian captivity in the thirteenth century B.C.E. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenant that G-d established with the Children of Israel. It encompasses a wide body of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. The Torah is part of the larger text known as the Tanakh, or the Hebrew Bible, and is supplemented by oral tradition represented in later texts such as the Midrash and the Talmud. The Torah consists of the five books of Moses, which are also contained in the Christian Bible. With between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide, Judaism is the tenth largest religion in the world. It is part of the Jewish faith that one never speaks or writes out the word or name of G-d, out of reverence. G-d is referred to as &#8220;Adonai&#8221; in religious texts and prayers.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6505\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6505\" class=\"wp-image-6505 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2034\/2016\/05\/01200825\/683px-Hasidic_Family_in_Street_-_Borough_Park_-_Hasidic_District_-_Brooklyn-300x264.jpg\" alt=\"Family in traditional Hasidic Jewish dress walking down the street.\" width=\"300\" height=\"264\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-6505\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 8<\/strong>. A Hasidic Jewish family in New York City.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The most important teaching of Judaism is that there is one G-d, who wants people to do what is just and compassionate. Judaism teaches that a person serves G-d by learning the holy books and doing what they teach. These teachings include both ritual actions and ethical interpretative frameworks.\u00a0Jews place an emphasis on moral behavior and action in this world as opposed to personal salvation in the next world. Like Hindus and Buddhists, the Jewish sages believed in non-violence and\u00a0taught: \u00a0\u201cAnyone who takes a single life, it is as though he has destroyed the entire world. And anyone who saves a single life, it is as though he has saved the entire world&#8221;\u00a0<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Freeman, Tzvi. 2018. &quot;What are Jewish Values?&quot; Chabad.org. https:\/\/www.chabad.org\/library\/article_cdo\/aid\/3852164\/jewish\/What-Are-Jewish-Values.htm.\" id=\"return-footnote-286-8\" href=\"#footnote-286-8\" aria-label=\"Footnote 8\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[8]<\/sup><\/a>. Jews also believe in improving the world around them, as another core value is that of\u00a0<em><i><span class=\"glossary_item\">Tikkun olam<\/span><\/i>, <\/em>which translates to mean &#8220;repair&#8221; and &#8220;of all time [later translated to mean the world]&#8221;\u2014meaning they feel an obligation to fix up the world.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;Tikun Olam: Repairing the World,&quot; My Jewish Learning. https:\/\/www.myjewishlearning.com\/article\/tikkun-olam-repairing-the-world\/.\" id=\"return-footnote-286-9\" href=\"#footnote-286-9\" aria-label=\"Footnote 9\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[9]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Another\u00a0related value is that of<em>\u00a0tzedakah<\/em>, which translates to mean &#8220;righteousness or justice or fairness,&#8221; but which is often mistaken for charity. The Talmud categorizes <em>tzedakah <\/em>into eight levels with the lowest level of giving as &#8220;begrudging&#8221; and the highest as &#8220;enabling the recipient to become self-reliant&#8221; <a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;Tzedekah 101,&quot; My Jewish Learning. https:\/\/www.myjewishlearning.com\/article\/tzedakah-101\/.\" id=\"return-footnote-286-10\" href=\"#footnote-286-10\" aria-label=\"Footnote 10\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[10]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0It is a\u00a0<em>mitzvah<\/em>, or commandment, and is one of 613 laws.<\/p>\n<p>Today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism (Haredi Judaism and Modern Orthodox Judaism), Conservative Judaism, and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between these groups include their approaches to Jewish law, the authority of the Rabbinic tradition, and the significance of the State of Israel.\u00a0There is a wide spectrum of devotion, practice, and even appearance within Judaism, but the most visible are Orthodox Jews because they are recognized by their outward appearance. For example, one ultra-orthodox group that emphasizes conservatism and tradition are Hasidic Jews, who have a large population in\u00a0parts of Brooklyn, New York. They are recognizable by their\u00a0dress code\u2014women cover most of their bodies (shirts with sleeves below the elbows, legs covered with pantyhose, hair covered with a wig or a headscarf, and often a hat, etc.) and men wear black coats, black hats, <em>payos\u00a0<\/em>or long curly sideburns, and full uncut beards\u00a0(sometimes brown fur hats depending on the sect and time of year and\/or holiday), and sometimes white stockings (depending on the type of Orthodox Jewish sect). At the other end of the spectrum is Reformed Judaism, which permits women to be rabbis and does not require strict observance to the laws found in the Torah.<\/p>\n<p>Although Jews make up a very small percentage of the global population (0.2 percent), most people around the world are familiar with Jewish culture and practices, and some historical facts.\u00a0Children all over the world are taught about the genocide that occurred during World War II when six million European Jews were killed in the Holocaust. In New York City, public schools observe many of the major Jewish holidays including Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, and Passover. Foods associated with traditional Jewish culture like bagels and lox, knish, latkes, and babka are enjoyed widely.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Link to Learning: Understanding the ISraeli-Palestinian Conflict<\/h3>\n<p>Jews and Muslims both claim a religious tie to the land in Israel and Palestine, not only because both religions had major events take place there and are deeply rooted in the area, but because both claim that they were promised the land by God, through Abraham. Abraham had more than one son, however, and descendants from Isaac were predominantly Jewish and descendants from Ishmael became predominantly Muslim. This contention is important today, as there is frequent geo-political news surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel as a nation did not come into existence until and after World War II, and the area is continually plagued by conflict. You can learn more about it through this\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1wo2TLlMhiw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Crash Course video \u201cConflict in Israel and Palestine.\u201d<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Learn more about the basic beliefs and practices of Judaism in this short video:<\/strong><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"oembed-6\" title=\"Introduction to Judaism | Belief | Oprah Winfrey Network\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xJbg_cXYFyM?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Link to Learning: Judaism in America<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333\">To learn more about the Orthodox Jewish communities in New York City, please click on this link to PBS&#8217;s <a style=\"color: #333333\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/alifeapart\/intro_2.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A Life Apart: Hasidism in America.\u00a0<\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #333333\">You could also search for a 2017 Netflix documentary titled\u00a0<em>One of Us, <\/em>which looked at the lives of three Hasidic Jews who left their religious communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Islam<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"import-auto-id2726402\">\n<div style=\"width: 280px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/120\/2016\/04\/15204548\/Figure_15_02_06.jpg\" alt=\"A mosque is shown, a large building with one large dome and two smaller domes and two towers, called minarets.\" width=\"270\" height=\"360\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 9.<\/strong>The Islamic house of worship is called a mosque. (Photo courtesy of David Stanley\/flickr)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<section id=\"fs-id1175410\">\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2318477\">Islam is monotheistic, Abrahamic religion that follows the teachings of the prophet Muhammad, born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in 570 C.E. Muhammad is seen as an earthly prophet, not as a divine being, and he is believed to be the messenger of Allah (God), who is divine. The followers of Islam, whose U.S. population is projected to double in the next twenty years (Pew Research Forum, 2011), are called Muslims.\u00a0It has over 1.8 billion followers worldwide (24 percent of the population), making it the world&#8217;s second-largest religion. Is is one of the fastest-growing religions in the world, with Muslims expected to account for 30% of the global population by 2050.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050 Why Muslims Are Rising Fastest and the Unaffiliated Are Shrinking as a Share of the World\u2019s Population (2015). Retrieved from https:\/\/www.pewforum.org\/2015\/04\/02\/religious-projections-2010-2050\/.\" id=\"return-footnote-286-11\" href=\"#footnote-286-11\" aria-label=\"Footnote 11\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[11]<\/sup><\/a> Births to Muslims between 2010 and 2015 outnumbered deaths by 152 million (213 million births vs. 61 million deaths), meaning Muslims have the highest fertility rate of any religious group at 2.9 children per woman (Christians are 2.6 children per woman and Hindu and Jewish fertility rates are 2.3)\u00a0<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Hackett, Conrad and David McClenden. 2018. &quot;Christians Remain World's Largest Religious Group.&quot; https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/fact-tank\/2017\/04\/05\/christians-remain-worlds-largest-religious-group-but-they-are-declining-in-europe\/.\" id=\"return-footnote-286-12\" href=\"#footnote-286-12\" aria-label=\"Footnote 12\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[12]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p>About 13 percent of Muslims live in Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority country; 31 percent of Muslims live in South Asia, the largest population of Muslims in the world; 20 percent in the Middle East\u2013North Africa region, where it is the dominant religion; and 15 percent reside in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sizeable Muslim communities are also found in the Americas, the Caucasus, Central Asia, China, Europe, Mainland Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and Russia.<\/p>\n<p>Most Muslims belong to one of two denominations: Sunni (87\u201390 percent) or Shia (10-13 percent) (Pew Research). Following Muhammed&#8217;s death in 632 C.E., disagreements arose over would be the next caliph, or leader. Those who believed that Muhammed&#8217;s father-in-law, Abu Bakr, was the first caliph became known as Sunnis, and those who followed Muhammad&#8217;s son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib became known as Shias. Today, Shia Muslims are the majority in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Lebanon, and Azerbaijan, as well as being a politically significant minority in Pakistan, Syria, Yemen and Kuwait.<\/p>\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2797973\">Islam means \u201cpeace\u201d and \u201csubmission.\u201d The sacred text for Muslims is the Qur\u2019an (or Koran). As with Christianity\u2019s Old Testament, many of the Qur\u2019an stories are shared with the Jewish faith. While divisions exist within Islam, all Muslims are guided by five core beliefs or practices, often called \u201cthe five pillars\u201d:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span id=\"First_Pillar:_Shahadah_(Profession_of_Faith)\" class=\"mw-headline\">Shahadah: the profession of faith in God. This is commonly recited, and translates to &#8220;There is no god but Allah<\/span>, and Muhammad is his prophet.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><span id=\"Second_Pillar:_Salat_(Prayer)\" class=\"mw-headline\">Salat:\u00a0<\/span>daily prayer. These prayers are performed five times a day, at set times, with the individual kneeling and prostrating in a particular pattern while facing in the direction of Mecca (the birthplace of Muhammed, and therefore of Islam itself). The five prayer times correspond to dawn, noon, afternoon, evening, and night.<\/li>\n<li>\n<div style=\"width: 260px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/120\/2016\/04\/15204550\/Figure_15_02_07.jpg\" alt=\"A man dressed in white is shown from behind looking down over the Kaaba, Islam\u2019s most sacred site. Hundreds of other people, dressed in all black or all white, can be seen circling a large black cube-like structure on the floor of a stadium-like structure.\" width=\"250\" height=\"338\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 10.\u00a0<\/strong>One of the cornerstones of Muslim practice is journeying to the religion\u2019s most sacred place, Mecca. (Photo courtesy of Raeky\/flickr)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span id=\"Third_Pillar:_Zakat_(Almsgiving)\" class=\"mw-headline\">Zakat: almsgiving.\u00a0<\/span>This is given as a tithe (often around 2.5 percent of a person&#8217;s income) and is used to support holy places and mosques around the world, as well as those within the same community as the payer.<\/li>\n<li><span id=\"Fourth_Pillar:_Sawm_(Fasting)\" class=\"mw-headline\">Sawm:\u00a0<\/span>fasting as a spiritual practice, as is done during the month of Ramadan. During Ramadan, Muslims do not eat or drink from sunup to sundown for\u00a0an entire month. Ramadan includes special daily prayers called <em>taraweeh<\/em>, which take place at mosques and last for 1-2 hours, and a period of seclusion, or\u00a0<em>l&#8217;tikaf,<\/em> during the last ten nights of the month. The fast is meant to allow Muslims to seek nearness and to look for forgiveness from God, to express their gratitude to and dependence on him, to atone for their past sins, and to remind them of the needy.[32] During Ramadan, Muslims are also expected to recommit to the teachings of Islam by refraining from violence, anger, envy, greed, lust, profane language, gossip and to try to get along with fellow Muslims better. In addition, all obscene and irreligious sights and sounds are to be avoided<\/li>\n<li><span id=\"Fifth_Pillar:_Hajj_(Pilgrimage)\" class=\"mw-headline\">Hajj:\u00a0<\/span>pilgrimage to the holy center of Mecca.\u00a0The reason for this journey is to follow in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad, hoping to gain enlightenment as Muhammad did when he was in the presence of Allah.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>While Muslims celebrate many special occasions and events, there are two specific days set aside as holy days: <em>Eid ul Fitr<\/em> and <em>Eid ul Adha<\/em> (<em>Eid<\/em> or <em>Id<\/em> is a word meaning festival). The holiday, E<em>id ul Fitr<\/em>, marks the end of Ramadan and is a time of feasting, fine clothes, decorating one&#8217;s home, praying, and making amends. <em>E<\/em><i>id ul Adha\u00a0<\/i>is a festival to remember the prophet Ibrahim&#8217;s (known as Abraham in Judaism and Christianity) willingness to sacrifice his son when God ordered him to do so. <a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;Muslim Holy Days,&quot; BBC. http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/religion\/religions\/islam\/holydays\/holydays.shtml.\" id=\"return-footnote-286-13\" href=\"#footnote-286-13\" aria-label=\"Footnote 13\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[13]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Jihad and Post-9\/11<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333\">Following the 9\/11 attacks in 2001 by the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, the word &#8220;jihad&#8221; has become a contentious term associated with extremists who justify their violent actions as part of a a political project, or a religious war against nonbelievers. Jihad is an Arabic word which means &#8220;to strive&#8221; or &#8220;to struggle,&#8221; especially toward a praiseworthy goal. In a broader Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform to God&#8217;s will, such as to struggle against one&#8217;s evil inclinations, or to undertake religious proselytizing (i.e., the spreading of the faith), or to work toward the moral betterment of the &#8220;ummah,&#8221; which refers to the entirety of the Muslim community. Despite the multiple and many benevolent applications of this idea, today it is often narrowly associated with a form of holy war, or with sacrificing one&#8217;s life for the sake of God.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333\">Al-Qaeda (the &#8220;base&#8221; or &#8220;foundation&#8221;) is a terrorist network of Islamic extremists and Salafist jihadists (a splinter group from Sunni Islam).\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #333333\">Islamic extremism is not the same thing as Islam\u2014remember that Islam, by definition, is peaceful.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #333333\">Al-Qaeda formed during the Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989) and has had a strong presence at various times in different regions throughout the Middle East. It is connected with ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), or the Islamic State (IS)), which recently controlled large areas in Iraq and Syria, but lost nearly all of its significant territory by March 2019. ISIS claimed responsibility for the Easter suicide bombings in Sri Lanka, which killed over 250 people at churches and hotels, and has also been connected with terrorist activities in Congo, the Philippines, Nigeria, Libya, and parts of Egypt. It&#8217;s important to note that Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups or splinter sects are not representative of Islam overall, just as extremist Christian terrorists such as the Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh are not representative of mainstream Christian beliefs.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Watch this short video to learn more about the beliefs and practices of Islam.<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wgP_OSOS3IA\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wgP_OSOS3IA<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<h3>Christianity<\/h3>\n<section id=\"fs-id2326918\">\n<p id=\"import-auto-id1360790\">The largest religion in the world is Christianity, with 2.3 billion people, or 31.4 percent of the world&#8217;s population identifying as Christian.\u00a0Today, the four largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church (1.3 billion), Protestantism (920 million), the Eastern Orthodox Church (260 million) and Oriental Orthodoxy (86 million).<\/p>\n<p>Christianity\u00a0began 2,000 years ago in Palestine, with Jesus of Nazareth, who believers consider to be the Son of God and savior of the world. Christianity understands its namesake to be a charismatic leader who taught his followers about <em>caritas<\/em> (charity), or the principle that one should treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.\u00a0Jesus, a Jew, rebelled against many of the Jewish laws and did things like heal the sick on the Sabbath\u2014a day in which no work was to take place. Christians believe that Jesus died and was resurrected, and that Jesus&#8217; death was necessary so that humankind can obtain salvation.<\/p>\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2106117\">The sacred text for Christians is the Bible. While Jews, Christians, and Muslims share many of same historical religious stories, their versions of these narratives and subsequent beliefs often diverge. In their shared sacred stories, it is suggested that the son of God\u2014a messiah\u2014will return to save God\u2019s followers. While Christians believe that he has already appeared in the person of Jesus Christ, Jews and Muslims disagree. While they recognize Christ as an important historical figure, their traditions don\u2019t believe that he is the son of God, and these faiths see the prophecy of the messiah\u2019s arrival as not yet fulfilled.<\/p>\n<p id=\"import-auto-id2755898\">Within Christianity, different groups do not necessarily adhere to the same religious texts, though there are often important similarities among them. For instance, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, an established Christian sect, use the Book of Mormon, which they believe details other parts of Christian doctrine and Jesus\u2019 life that are not included in the Bible. Similarly, the Catholic Bible includes the Apocrypha, a collection of texts that, while part of the 1611 King James translation, is no longer included in Protestant versions of the Bible.<\/p>\n<p>The 16th-century Reformation led to Protestants, or <em>protest<\/em>-ants, breaking off from the Catholic Church. Today 40 percent of Christians are Protestants, which include Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, and others.<\/p>\n<p>Although monotheistic, Christians often describe their god through three manifestations that they call the Holy Trinity: the father (God), the son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a term Christians often use to describe religious experience, or how they feel the presence of the sacred in their lives. One foundation of Christian doctrine is the Ten Commandments, which decry acts considered sinful, including theft, murder, and adultery.<\/p>\n<p>Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter are widely celebrated in the United States and around the world. They are marked by gift-giving, singing, praying, decorating one&#8217;s home, and preparing specific foods associated with the holidays. Many Christians and Jews strive to go to the holy sites of Israel, as a form of pilgrimage, which is similar to a Muslim&#8217;s journey to Mecca to participate in the Hajj. Although Christians do not typically fast, Lent (or the forty days leading up to Easter) is a time of reflection and contemplation for Christians, and many choose to give up something as part of their preparation for the sacred holiday.<\/p>\n<p>Like participants in other world religions, Christians have been persecuted for their beliefs, but have also historically been involved with persecuting non-Christians, such as during the Spanish Inquisition or the Crusades. Today politically volatile forms of Christian extremism, often combined with strains of nationalism and\/or racism, is on the rise, with some terrorists explicitly claiming that their actions are rooted in Christian beliefs. Examples include the July, 2011 Norway attacks and the March, 2019 shootings at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Learn more about the basic beliefs and practices of Christianity in the following video:<\/strong><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"oembed-7\" title=\"Introduction to Christianity | Belief | Oprah Winfrey Network\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4Z6CArFTLmk?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"fs-id2440276\" class=\"section-summary\">\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Further Research<\/h3>\n<p id=\"import-auto-id3654687\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/pages\/frontline\/shows\/religion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PBS\u2019s\u00a0<em>Frontline<\/em>\u00a0explores \u201cthe life of Jesus and the rise of Christianity\u201d in this documentary<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>glossary<\/h3>\n<div class=\"titlepage\">\n<dl>\n<dt>agnosticism:<\/dt>\n<dd>the belief that ultimate reality, or God, is unknowable<\/dd>\n<dt>animism:<\/dt>\n<dd>the religion that believes in the divinity of nonhuman beings, like animals, plants, and objects of the natural world<\/dd>\n<dt>atheism:<\/dt>\n<dd>the belief in no deities<\/dd>\n<dt>civil religion:<\/dt>\n<dd>the implicit religious values and common moral understanding shared by a nation<\/dd>\n<dt>cults:<\/dt>\n<dd>religious groups that are small, secretive, and highly controlling of members and have a charismatic leader<\/dd>\n<dt>denomination:<\/dt>\n<dd>a large, mainstream religion that is not sponsored by the state<\/dd>\n<dt>ecclesia:<\/dt>\n<dd>a religion that is considered the state religion<\/dd>\n<dt>established sects:<\/dt>\n<dd>sects that last but do not become denominations<\/dd>\n<dt>monotheism:<\/dt>\n<dd>a religion based on belief in a single deity<\/dd>\n<dt>polytheism:<\/dt>\n<dd>a religion based on belief in multiple deities<\/dd>\n<dt>sect:<\/dt>\n<dd>a small, new offshoot of a denomination<\/dd>\n<dt>totemism:<\/dt>\n<dd>the belief in a divine connection between humans and other natural beings<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"post-286\" class=\"standard post-286 chapter type-chapter status-publish hentry\">\n<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"citations-section focusable\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n<div class=\"post-citations sidebar\"><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-286\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Introduction to World Religions. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Modification, adaptation, and original content. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Sarah Hoiland for Lumen Learning. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Buddhism. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Buddhism\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Buddhism<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Taoism. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Taoism\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Taoism<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Religion in China. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Religion_in_China\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Religion_in_China<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>World Religions. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: OpenStax CNX. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/AgQDEnLI@12.3:k-vms25Q@8\/15-2-World-Religions\">https:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/AgQDEnLI@12.3:k-vms25Q@8\/15-2-World-Religions<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Download for free at http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/02040312-72c8-441e-a685-20e9333f3e1d@3.49<\/li><li>Monk. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Peter Hershey. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Unsplash. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/tK67jI9G398\">https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/tK67jI9G398<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/about\/cc0\">CC0: No Rights Reserved<\/a><\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: https:\/\/unsplash.com\/license<\/li><li>India-Pakistan Relations. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/India%E2%80%93Pakistan_relations\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/India%E2%80%93Pakistan_relations<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Hinduism demographics and definitions. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hinduism\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hinduism<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Jainism. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jainism\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jainism<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Diwali Festival. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikimedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Diwali_Festival.jpg\">https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Diwali_Festival.jpg<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Laozi. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Laozi\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Laozi<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Paragraph on Confucianism beliefs. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Confucianism\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Confucianism<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Hasidic Family. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/images.app.goo.gl\/duBEkQF5HKy2WaAu9\">https:\/\/images.app.goo.gl\/duBEkQF5HKy2WaAu9<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Judaism. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Judaism\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Judaism<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Judaism Beliefs. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/simple.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Judaism\">https:\/\/simple.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Judaism<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Jihad. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jihad#Muslim_public_opinion\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jihad#Muslim_public_opinion<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Islam. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Islam\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Islam<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Five Pillars of Islam. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Five_Pillars_of_Islam\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Five_Pillars_of_Islam<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Christianity. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Christianity\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Christianity<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">All rights reserved content<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Introduction to Hindusim | Belief | Oprah Winfrey Show. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: OWN. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9EICcU9oN-s\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9EICcU9oN-s<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em>Other<\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Standard YouTube License<\/li><li>Introduction to Jainism | Belief | . <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Oprah Winfrey Network. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=h_VA7mWWn58\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=h_VA7mWWn58<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em>Other<\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Standard YouTube License<\/li><li>Introduction to Buddhism | Belief | Oprah Winfrey Network. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Lxq-RiLb-6M\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Lxq-RiLb-6M<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em>Other<\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Standard YouTube License<\/li><li>EASTERN PHILOSOPHY - Confucius. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: The School of Life. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tUhGRh4vdb8\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tUhGRh4vdb8<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em>Other<\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Standard YouTube License<\/li><li>EASTERN PHILOSOPHY - Lao Tzu. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: The School of Life. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dFb7Hxva5rg\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dFb7Hxva5rg<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em>Other<\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Standard YouTube License<\/li><li>Introduction to Judaism | Belief | Oprah Winfrey Network. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: OWN. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xJbg_cXYFyM\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xJbg_cXYFyM<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em>Other<\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Standard YouTube License<\/li><li>Introduction to Islam | Belief | Oprah Winfrey Show. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: OWN. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wgP_OSOS3IA\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wgP_OSOS3IA<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em>Other<\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Standard YouTube License<\/li><li>Introduction to Christianity | Belief | Oprah Winfrey Network. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: OWN. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4Z6CArFTLmk\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4Z6CArFTLmk<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em>Other<\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Standard YouTube License<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section><hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-286-1\">\"Hinduism,\" 2018. History.com, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/religion\/hinduism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/religion\/hinduism<\/a>.  <a href=\"#return-footnote-286-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-286-2\">\"Hinduism,\" 2018. History.com, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/religion\/hinduism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/religion\/hinduism<\/a>.  <a href=\"#return-footnote-286-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-286-3\">\"Buddhism,\" 2018. History.com. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/religion\/buddhism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/religion\/buddhism<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-286-3\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 3\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-286-4\">\"The Origins of Taoism.\" BBC. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/religion\/religions\/taoism\/history\/history.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/religion\/religions\/taoism\/history\/history.shtml<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-286-4\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 4\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-286-5\">\"The Origins of Taoism.\" BBC. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/religion\/religions\/taoism\/history\/history.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/religion\/religions\/taoism\/history\/history.shtml<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-286-5\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 5\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-286-6\">Berling, Judith. \"Confucianism.\" 1996. Center for Global Education, Society for Asian Studies. <a href=\"https:\/\/asiasociety.org\/education\/confucianism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/asiasociety.org\/education\/confucianism<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-286-6\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 6\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-286-7\">Bellah, Robert Neeley. 1975. The Broken Covenant: American Civil Religion in a Time of Trial, New York: Seabury Press.  <a href=\"#return-footnote-286-7\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 7\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-286-8\">Freeman, Tzvi. 2018. \"What are Jewish Values?\" Chabad.org. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chabad.org\/library\/article_cdo\/aid\/3852164\/jewish\/What-Are-Jewish-Values.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.chabad.org\/library\/article_cdo\/aid\/3852164\/jewish\/What-Are-Jewish-Values.htm<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-286-8\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 8\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-286-9\">\"Tikun Olam: Repairing the World,\" My Jewish Learning. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myjewishlearning.com\/article\/tikkun-olam-repairing-the-world\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.myjewishlearning.com\/article\/tikkun-olam-repairing-the-world\/<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-286-9\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 9\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-286-10\">\"Tzedekah 101,\" My Jewish Learning. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myjewishlearning.com\/article\/tzedakah-101\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.myjewishlearning.com\/article\/tzedakah-101\/<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-286-10\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 10\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-286-11\">The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050 Why Muslims Are Rising Fastest and the Unaffiliated Are Shrinking as a Share of the World\u2019s Population (2015). Retrieved from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewforum.org\/2015\/04\/02\/religious-projections-2010-2050\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.pewforum.org\/2015\/04\/02\/religious-projections-2010-2050\/<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-286-11\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 11\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-286-12\">Hackett, Conrad and David McClenden. 2018. \"Christians Remain World's Largest Religious Group.\" <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/fact-tank\/2017\/04\/05\/christians-remain-worlds-largest-religious-group-but-they-are-declining-in-europe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/fact-tank\/2017\/04\/05\/christians-remain-worlds-largest-religious-group-but-they-are-declining-in-europe\/<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-286-12\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 12\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-286-13\">\"Muslim Holy Days,\" BBC. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/religion\/religions\/islam\/holydays\/holydays.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/religion\/religions\/islam\/holydays\/holydays.shtml<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-286-13\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 13\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":29,"menu_order":3,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Introduction to World Religions\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"World Religions\",\"author\":\"OpenStax CNX\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/AgQDEnLI@12.3:k-vms25Q@8\/15-2-World-Religions\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"Download for free at http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/02040312-72c8-441e-a685-20e9333f3e1d@3.49\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Monk\",\"author\":\"Peter Hershey\",\"organization\":\"Unsplash\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/tK67jI9G398\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc0\",\"license_terms\":\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/license\"},{\"type\":\"copyrighted_video\",\"description\":\"Introduction to Hindusim | Belief | Oprah Winfrey Show\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"OWN\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9EICcU9oN-s\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"other\",\"license_terms\":\"Standard YouTube License\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"India-Pakistan Relations\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/India%E2%80%93Pakistan_relations\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Modification, adaptation, and original content\",\"author\":\"Sarah Hoiland for Lumen Learning\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Hinduism demographics and definitions\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hinduism\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"copyrighted_video\",\"description\":\"Introduction to Jainism | Belief | \",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Oprah Winfrey Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=h_VA7mWWn58\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"other\",\"license_terms\":\"Standard YouTube License\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Jainism\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jainism\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Diwali Festival\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikimedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Diwali_Festival.jpg\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"copyrighted_video\",\"description\":\"Introduction to Buddhism | Belief | Oprah Winfrey Network\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Lxq-RiLb-6M\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"other\",\"license_terms\":\"Standard YouTube License\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Buddhism\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Buddhism\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"copyrighted_video\",\"description\":\"EASTERN PHILOSOPHY - Confucius\",\"author\":\"The School of Life\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tUhGRh4vdb8\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"other\",\"license_terms\":\"Standard YouTube License\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Taoism\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Taoism\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Laozi\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Laozi\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Religion in China\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Religion_in_China\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"copyrighted_video\",\"description\":\"EASTERN PHILOSOPHY - Lao Tzu\",\"author\":\"The School of Life\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dFb7Hxva5rg\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"other\",\"license_terms\":\"Standard YouTube License\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Paragraph on Confucianism beliefs\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Confucianism\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"copyrighted_video\",\"description\":\"Introduction to Judaism | Belief | Oprah Winfrey Network\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"OWN\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xJbg_cXYFyM\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"other\",\"license_terms\":\"Standard YouTube License\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Hasidic Family\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/images.app.goo.gl\/duBEkQF5HKy2WaAu9\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Judaism\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Judaism\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Judaism Beliefs\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/simple.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Judaism\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"copyrighted_video\",\"description\":\"Introduction to Islam | Belief | Oprah Winfrey Show\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"OWN\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wgP_OSOS3IA\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"other\",\"license_terms\":\"Standard YouTube License\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Jihad\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jihad#Muslim_public_opinion\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Islam\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Islam\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Five Pillars of Islam\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Five_Pillars_of_Islam\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"copyrighted_video\",\"description\":\"Introduction to Christianity | Belief | Oprah Winfrey Network\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"OWN\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4Z6CArFTLmk\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"other\",\"license_terms\":\"Standard YouTube License\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Christianity\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Christianity\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"dec25abf-d7ae-407b-aef2-8adc2f69e67f","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-286","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":7955,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtosociology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtosociology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtosociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtosociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtosociology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9337,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtosociology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/286\/revisions\/9337"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtosociology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/7955"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtosociology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/286\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtosociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtosociology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=286"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtosociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=286"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtosociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}