When we think of religion, we picture distinct overview of beliefs, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to certain spiritual manifests. Various religions developed certain stories, symbols, and sacred backgrounds that explain everything from the meaning of life to the overall power of the Universe. Catholics are Christians who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Catholicism shares few beliefs with other Christian practices but, essential Catholic beliefs are as followed: The Bible is the inspired word of God. Baptism, the rite of becoming a Christian, is necessary for salvation whether or not a baptism is done by water, blood, or choice. God’s Ten Commandments provides a certain direction — an ethical standard to …show more content…
live by. Catholics embrace the belief that God, the one Supreme Being, is made up by the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Catholics learned that since Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, everyone would be born with such sin, which only Baptism could cleanse. So the whole religion centers on the truth that humankind stands between the two worlds of matter and spirit. The physical world is considered part of God's creation and is, therefore, inherently good until an individual misuses it. (Wirley Band, 2001). As a young child, my parents took me to church every Sunday. Attending Catholic school became a regime for my first communion as a rite of passage to coming closer to God. We would pray to the statue of the god we believed in, followed by the lighting of a candle. As part of forgiveness, you may speak with a priest to cleanse your wrongdoings. The community also comes together to help the church raise money to help out many unfortunate orphans and families because that's the way god would of wanted. New religious movements, then, are new (or old) religious groups that may or may not claim to be religious, and that are organizations more often then they are movements.
Although an imperfect label, "NRM" continues to be the most helpful one available, and it has achieved a level of acceptance in general discourse about religion that other labels have not (Ashcraft, 2005). Santeria and Catholic are two similar yet, different type of religions but have the same solid belief in a heavenly father. With many different rituals and causes, by having unbalanced elements to what this new religion is, for one - Santeria to me is used as protection among evil worships but, Santeria can create good luck and bad luck to harm others with their voodoo dolls or spells. Santeria also is like a rite of passage - it's not something you get baptized in to when you’re a child, you must perform a ritual to get in and learn the way of becoming a Orisha. From generation to generation, aside from god - there are many higher beings for every type of problem one can have, you pray to that image and bring it an offering. Santeria has no holy place like a church so, this practice is commonly done in a house or a botanica (spiritual Hispanic store). Sacrifices are made, such as slaughtering animals for their blood - to offer it to an image in return for something positive or wishing misfortune upon …show more content…
others. One of the new religious movements that has come under close attention has been on Scientology.
We can distinguish among other religions of such history – Scientology is a complete transformation on a human being. Scientology came about because of Man's increased knowledge of energy (Hubbard, 2007). This movement is a based on the self revelation of the human inner spirit to heal and take on new forms of living. Auditing plays an important role for all Scientologists who learn to believe that our lives need to be controlled in order to develop a higher spirituality. The idea is to confess all of our past endeavors and be cleared path to the "ideal being". The core belief of the religion is that humans are immortal alien beings who have forgotten their true nature. In order to rediscover their inner selves -- the thetans -- Scientologists undergo practices such as auditing (Yapp, 2006). Recognized as a form of technology, the human being is taught to free itself from the barriers and recognize it's true self because of such religious
entity.
The Yoruba religion was brought to the Hispanic Caribbean approximately four hundred years ago by African slaves during the period of conquest and colonization of the new world. The religion remained traditionally strong among the African community until the Spanish conquerors began to prohibit its practice. When the Spaniards reached the New lands they brought with them the religion of the reigning King. That is Queen Isabella's religion; Catholosism. The conquerors forced the slaves to accept the Catholic faith as their new religion. The African, stripped already of their dignity refuse to give up their religious beliefs, this belief being all they brought with them. Knowing of the negative ramnifications, punishment and sometimes even death if caught "devil worshipping" it meant that in order to continue to worship theri Gods the angry Africans had to find a way to practice thier religion. They astutely hide theri religion behind Catholic religious practices and saints.
Santeria, Voodoo, the Cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and Rastafari all embody syncretism of Christian influence and traditional Indigenous beliefs of their followers. While the religions all express their syncretism in various manners, all regularly conduct rituals that deviate from traditional Christianity. These rituals exemplify the influence of the native cultures on these religions, and maintain the importance of tradition culture with the necessity of practicing Christianity during colonial times of religious oppression. Likewise, all of these religions frame their concept of what a “religion” is through their various unique rituals that serve to connect them to their native deities, as well as to the Christian God and Saints.
Mason, in the article, emphasize on the embodiment and fluctuations of what the central character Jose a Santeria also known as Regla de Ocha, was expose too when trying to balance the perception of how people viewed him in society by negotiating his religious practices. When looking more into Olmos and Paravisini-Gebert’s view, they elaborate more on the embodiment of the enslaved West Africans migrating to Cuba during the slave trade; taking them from their mainland of existence to a new place where they need to adjust to a new lifestyle and religion. Also, they have to negotiate their identity and religious practice to be then able to intertwine their original religious practice Santeria
Santería is a newly recognized religion within the United States. Many Americans who practice more traditional religions, such as Catholicism, and Judaism, find the practice of Santeria very odd and quite obscure. The preponderance of our society feels that the practice of animal sacrifice, prevalent in Santeria, is immoral and possibly offensive. One reason for this reaction could be that there is a major lack of understanding of this religion in our society.
The Yoruba people, who were brought over from Nigeria as slaves, came to the Caribbean in the 1500’s with their own religion, which was seen as unfit by the white slave owners. Most plantation owners in the Caribbean were members of the Roman Catholic Church, so they forced their slaves to disregard their native religions and become Catholic. Soon, the slaves realized that they could still practice their West African religion as long as it was disguised as Catholicism, and Santería was born. Now it’s practiced in the United States, Cuba, the Caribbean, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Argentina, Colombia, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Great Britain, Canada, Venezuela, and Panama.
Modern practitioners of Santeria may be attracted to the religion for a variety of reasons, notable among which are curiosity with secret rituals and the longing among many immigrants and people of color to get in touch with Caribbean and African roots. What each specific individual wants from a religion is difficult to generalize upon, but Santeria offers a way for people to achieve harmony in their lives through communication with and obedience to orishas, the divine beings that act as intermediaries between humans and the Supreme Being, Olodumare. Santeria teaches how to know and appease the specific desires of a pantheon of orishas who alert devotees to problems in their lives and protect them from harm. In addition to a distinctive and demanding set of rituals that requires a commitment of time and energy from believers, Santeria offers a rich history and a supportive community that make it a way of life and not just a passive belief structure that bears little relevance to the daily life of its adherents.
Christianity is considered to be a living religion especially in terms of the reach for salvation. In the present through the practice of Baptism, Christians believe they die to the life of Original Sin and are born again to Christ, thus able to achieve Salvation. Thus, the tradition and sacred ritual of baptism implies that in order to be active adherents in the Catholic church, one must be baptised, just as Jesus was in the New Testament, “Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ.” (Acts 2:38) Another way in which baptism demonstrate that Christianity is a living religious tradition, is through the teachings associated with the purpose of human existence. Through the act of Baptism, which is a direct display of the belief in Salvation through Jesus, the purpose of human life is presented in terms of adherent’s purpose to lov...
Religion is one of the most scared aspects a person has in his or her life; for many practitioners
The church of Scientology has been the subject of controversy since its inception. Its methods and beliefs have attracted the attention of scholars from around the world. The church has been under government investigation and has endured a countless amount of lawsuits (Reitman 14). It is also a hot topic by the media with several endorsements by some of the most recognized Hollywood celebrities. However, the main topic of debate regarding the Church of Scientology is its status as a religion. Some members claim that the church has helped them overcome their struggles and that they are happier people, while others condemn it as a dangerous cult (Sweeney). The church of Scientology is a religious group whose purpose is to retain their members with the promise of spiritual enlightenment. Its controversial history, beliefs, and practices reveal the church’s commitment to keep its members.
The religion of Roman Catholicism draws a prominent image of life after death. To begin, the Roman Catholic Church believes in the grant of eternal life among their believers. The death of a person simply puts an end to their mortal life; the soul itself is eternal. Everlasting life is determined by the person, through their acceptance or refusal of the Lord’s divine grace (Catholic Church 1021). Although the Church mainly speaks of the Final Judgment, Christ’s second coming, the...
Growing up in a traditional catholic family I attended catholic school and church just like everyone else in my family. Every Sunday and Tuesday growing up I spent time at church. Going to church taught all about religion and forgiveness. I learned from the bible that god knows we are all sinners and that if we ask for forgiveness he forgives us. I was told that to church is a safe place for someone to go if they need help and that everyone has their arms open to people in need. The catholic religion says that god loves all his children even when they sin.
Catholics believe that the Roman Catholic Church is the highest-ranking authority on earth and that God’s word is spoken through the pope. Christians on the other hand have different interpretations of the bible, they are willing to accept and reject individual teachings from the bible. The key to salvation is baptism, Christians can be baptized any time after the belief and faith in Christ is acquired. Catholics are usually baptized after birth. Christians aside from biblical readings also include the readings of the gnostic gospel, which were excluded from the bible during the fourth century. Catholics don’t follow the gnostic gospel, as an alternative they rely on sacred traditions which are believed to be handed down throughout the centuries. The place of worship between Catholics and Christians are different in the sense that Christians are conducted in a church setting or small gatherings can also be conducted in people’s homes, Catholics have a more formal service with the church being the majority part of the Catholic mass. When it comes down to confessing your sins, Catholics confess their sins to a priest where they must sit down and have a face to face conversation with the priest and confess all of the sins that they have committed in order for them to be forgiven by God, Christianity does not require having to confess to a priest instead all they must do is confess to god and all of their sins will be
Catholicism. There are three major differences in the teaching of the two. Christianity teaches by scripture and what the bible says, where Catholicism teaches by tradition. They believe that the church is the judge of the truth. They also believe that salvation comes from doing works and that people can’t be sure of eternal life. Christians believe that salvation comes from admitting your sins, asking for forgiveness, and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior. Catholics believe that Mary is the mediator between God and man, whereas Christians believe that Jesus Christ
“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.” According to Buddha, everyone needs some form of spirituality to define his or her life and existence. Webster Dictionary defines spiritualism as “a system of beliefs or religious practices based on supposed communication with the spirits of the dead, often times through mediums.” Though this is one general definition of spiritualism, this concept is one that does not hold a conclusive meaning. Each and every single person has the ability and right to create and practice their own idea of spiritualism. From ancient times to present day, the term and practice of spirituality has transformed, particularly from region to region. Despite the discrepancies in practices and overall understanding of this idea, spirituality has had an effect and impact upon all of humanity since the creation of time. This religion that is believed to have been established in the early eighteen hundreds, after two little girls claimed to have the ability to talk to spirits, sparked interest in this spiritual movement, allowing it to spread rather rapidly over many geographical locations. Aside from being recognized as a religion, spiritualism is also believed to be a form of philosophy and a science in which spiritualists believe that there is life after death and try to demonstrate this through the ability of attempting to communicate with those that have passed on. Spiritualism was socially different from other religions in existence at the time because it presented followers with a more tolerant belief system that assimilated the principles and facts from a selection the world's religions. Spiritualism also made it acceptable for women to play a disti...