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Understanding World Religions

Religion is the driving force behind much of what happens in the world today -- particularly when it comes to the "big three" religions -- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Religious differences have and continue to spark wars, create nations, and spawn ongoing conflict down through the centuries. No matter what religion you adhere to (or even if you claim that you don't adhere to any religion at all), you need to have a basic understanding of the world's religions in order to understand what is happening in the world today so that you can be better informed and a more useful citizen of your nation and of the world. Without some knowledge of religion, you will not understand the underpinnings of what is happening in an increasingly global society.
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Now displaying: 2015
Jun 11, 2015

Our quote for today is from Marcus Aurelius. He said, "It is a ridiculous thing for a man not to fly from his own badness, which is indeed possible, but to fly from other men's badness, which is impossible."

Our Understanding World Religions topic for today is, "Jainism" 

Jainism, little known in the West, had a significant role in shaping post-classical Hinduism. And although today it has barely four million followers, Jainism continues to have an impact on modern India because its adherents are among the wealthiest and most influential of the country's businessmen. 

The founder was a man named Mahavira, born somewhere around 590 BC into the Kshatriya caste. As a young man, he abandoned his life of wealth and ease and joined a group of Hindu ascetics in search of answers to life's deep questions. He found even their self-deprivation insufficient and set out on his own course of extreme asceticism, seeking the most difficult and painful circumstances to free his soul from the bonds of reincarnation. After twelve years, he claimed to have achieved moksha (release) and spent his remaining thirty or so years teaching others about the path he had discovered. 

Unlike the monistic concept of Hinduism, Mahavira taught the dualism of body and soul. Somewhat like the ancient Greek philosophers, he saw the body, or material universe, as evil and the soul as good. Karma holds the soul onto the wheel of reincarnation "like mud clings to a wheel." If this is so, the only solution is extreme asceticism, depriving the body to weaken its grip on the soul. The goal becomes complete detachment from worldly things. 

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Jun 4, 2015

Our quote for today is from Robert Hugh Benson. He said, "The Church must be intelligible to the simple as well as to the shrewd."

In this podcast, we are making our way through Garry R. Morgan's book, "Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day."

Our Understanding World Religions topic for today is, "Hinduism Today" 

We've already seen that Hinduism displays tremendous variety even in India. India's place at the forefront of twenty-first-century globalization and modernization has impacted religious practice, as well. Rural life mostly has gone on as it has for centuries, despite the introduction of radio and television, but in cities, a burgeoning middle class is being changed by the secularizing influences of Westernization. India, a nuclear power, is noted for its progress in science and technology. It's also the world's largest democracy, and the political aspirations of its people sometimes clash with Hindu values. 

This clash is most evident today in the social and economic aspirations of the Dalits (Untouchables). For centuries given the lowest jobs, they achieved legal rights at India's independence from Great Britain in 1947. Mahatma Gandhi called them ha-ri-jan, "children of God," and India's constitution outlawed the caste system, but just as 1960s Civil Rights laws didn't eliminate racial prejudice in the U.S., discrimination against Dalits has continued. India has a form of affirmative action that has guaranteed a percentage of university admissions and government jobs to each caste, and there are Dalits who have earned PhDs, but they are still denied entry into many hotels and restaurants (the upper castes believe their presence would bring defilement). 

For devout Hindus, the Dalits are born into their state due to karma from a previous life—to seek improvement is to only make things worse next time around. Some Dalits have protested against Hinduism entirely by formally and publicly converting to Christianity or, more recently, Buddhism. The caste issue is still challenging traditional Hindu beliefs, and change is slow. Cross-caste marriages are slowly being accepted among the educated, urban population, but in rural areas they can still result in so-called honor killings. 

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May 28, 2015

Our quote for today is from Buddha. He said, "There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting."

In this podcast, we are making our way through Garry R. Morgan's book, "Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day."

Our Understanding World Religions topic for today is, "Hinduism: Beliefs and Practices" 

As mentioned in our last episodes, Hindu practice involves the worship of a vast multitude of deities. Worship consists primarily of prayers (usually chanted) and praise songs, plus offerings of food, milk, or money placed in front of a statue or idol of the god being worshiped. Worship, both corporate and individual, may take place in a temple. Some temples are dedicated to one god while others contain statues representing a number of gods. Most Hindu homes have shrines as well, with pictures or smaller statues to represent the gods chosen for worship by that family. No one attempts to worship all 330 million gods; people choose a few that are important to a person’s family, caste, occupation, or circumstances. 

Hinduism has an elaborate hierarchical structure for both gods and humans. At the top are Brahma, the Creator (different from Brahman, ultimate reality); Shiva, the Destroyer (also the god of fertility); and Vishnu, the Preserver. These three together are called the Trimurti, which some Hindus believe represents three facets of Brahman and thus sometimes mistakenly equate it with the Christian Trinity. 

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May 21, 2015

Our quote for today is from the Indian philosopher and religious teacher Swami Prabhavananda. He said, "The little space within the heart is as great as the vast universe. The heavens and the earth are there, and the sun and the moon and the stars. Fire and lightening and winds are there, and all that now is and all that is not."

In this podcast, we are making our way through Garry R. Morgan's book, "Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day."

Our Understanding World Religions topic for today is, "Hinduism" 

Hinduism, the world's third largest religion, has about 850 million followers. Most Hindus live in India, although the Indian diaspora has taken the religion around the globe. (Indians joke that the country's biggest export is people.) Sizeable Hindu populations live in the United Kingdom, Canada, the U.S., East Africa, and on the island of Bali in Indonesia. 

Unlike most religions, Hinduism has no identifiable founder or "starting point." The available evidence suggests it has developed out of one or more ancient indigenous religious systems in India, plus outside influences brought by invaders who called themselves Aryans, meaning "noble ones." They entered India from what is now Iran, about 1500 BC. Even within India, the religion exhibits tremendous variety. In some ways, the label Hinduism is a convenient Western term, now adopted by India itself, for the great variety of Indian religious expressions. Hinduism also gave birth to three additional religions: Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. 

Religious expression is influenced not only by the underlying belief system but also by the culture in which it develops. This is most clearly seen in comparing faiths that began in the Middle East (Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Islam, and Baha'i), which are all monotheistic, with those that began in India (Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), which are, with the exception of Sikhism, polytheistic or agnostic, and far more contemplative. With Sikhism again as the exception, the monotheistic faiths believe humans live once and are judged by God after death; the others believe in reincarnation, giving humans multiple tries to improve their spiritual condition. 

Hinduism is probably best known for its many gods and goddesses, represented by a huge variety of colorful statues, sometimes called idols. But this is just the surface of Hindu worship. The core beliefs that underlie all the various Hindu expressions are karma and reincarnation. 

Apr 30, 2015

Our quote for today is from Albert Einstein. He said, "My religiosity consists in a humble admiration of the infinitely superior spirit that reveals itself in the little that we, with our weak and transitory understanding, can comprehend of reality. Morality is of the highest importance — but for us, not for God."

In this podcast, we are making our way through Garry R. Morgan's book, "Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day."

Our Understanding World Religions topic for today is, "Baha'i." 

The newest of what are generally considered world religions is Baha'i, which only began in the mid-nineteenth century. Although small, with about six million followers, in less than one hundred fifty years it has become a global and growing religion with adherents in almost every country.

Baha'i began in what is now Iran and was first seen as a sect of Shi'ite Islam. Shi'ites believe that one of the great imams of the past (some Shi'ites believe there were seven imams, others twelve) is still alive, in hiding, and one day will reveal himself as the Mahdi, who will bring worldwide peace and justice. In 1844, Ali Muhammad declared himself to be the twelfth imam and took the name Bab-ud-Din, meaning “Gate of Faith." Great excitement and rejoicing turned to anger and persecution when Bab-ud-Din's teachings turned out to be inconsistent with the Qur'an. He was executed in 1850, along with many of his followers, but predicted before his death that another man would come after him who would establish a new religion.

Those followers who were not killed were exiled to Baghdad, where in 1863, one of them, Hu-sayn Ali, proclaimed he was the foretold one and took the name Bahaullah, meaning “glory of God." Those who believed him took the name Baha'i. This group was forcibly moved around the Middle East for years until eventually arriving in Acre, near present-day Haifa, Israel.

 

Bahaullah was imprisoned the rest of his life, but wrote a number of books and letters and sent out missionaries to spread his message. When he died in 1892, he was succeeded by his son Abbas Effendi, who took the name Abdul Baha, meaning “Servant of Baha." He continued his father's work of writing, was released from prison in 1908, and began to travel widely in Europe and North America, proclaiming the Baha'i message and organizing local assemblies of followers. Baha'i leadership passed to his grandson Shoghi Effendi in 1921, who continued this work until his death in 1957. Thereafter, leadership ceased to be hereditary and was handed over to an elected body chosen from the now global Baha'i community.

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Apr 23, 2015

Our quote for today is from Joe Mullally. He said, "I judge a religion as being good or bad based on whether its adherents become better people as a result of practicing it."

In this podcast, we are making our way through Garry R. Morgan's book, "Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day." 

Our Understanding World Religions topic for today is, "The Nation of Islam." 

The Nation of Islam is probably best known for the Million Man March, held on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on October 16, 1995. Louis Farrakhan, its leader, gave the keynote address and led the huge crowd in pledges to "take responsibility for their lives and families, and commit to stopping the scourges of drugs, violence, and unemployment." Social and economic improvement for African-Americans through self-discipline and moral living has always been part of the Nation's beliefs, and it has made a positive contribution to the lives of many in this regard. 

The Nation of Islam began in 1930. In this period of Jim Crow laws, legal segregation, and horrendous discrimination, millions of poor, rural African-Americans from southern states migrated to northern cities in search of work. Conditions often were no better than what they had left behind. Into this situation a man named Wallace D. Fard appeared, in Detroit, preaching a message of Black supremacy. He said all Africans were originally Muslim; Christianity, which most African-Americans then professed, was a tool of "white devils" to subjugate them. Rather than seeking equality and integration, Fard preferred a totally segregated, Apartheid-like system where Blacks would have their own country. Many saw his message as the way out of poverty and oppression, and he gained many followers. 

In 1931, Fard met Elijah Poole (who took the name Elijah Muhammad) and trained him for over three years before Fard mysteriously disappeared. Elijah Muhammad took over leadership, and the organization continued to grow, later attracting such celebrities as Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Elijah Muhammad taught that W.D. Fard was Allah in the flesh, the Messiah and the Mahdi, and gave him the title of The Master. He claimed he'd been called by The Master to be the true religion's final Messenger. 

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Apr 16, 2015

Our quote for today is from Father Mulcahy, a character on the hit TV show M*A*S*H. He said, "A faith of convenience is a hollow faith."

In this podcast, we are making our way through Garry R. Morgan's book, "Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day."

Our Understanding World Religions topic for today is, "Islam: Varieties and Issues." 

Even small religions show amazing variety within their beliefs and practices, so it's no surprise that Islam is not monolithic.

First, as with any religion, there are differing levels of commitment and participation. At one end of the spectrum among professing Muslims are the nominal (non-practicing). Next are the Conformists, whose personal attitude is indifference or even unbelief but who follow the rituals due to family or societal pressure. While this might seem primarily limited to Muslim-majority countries where Sharia (Islamic law) is enforced, even where there's legal religious freedom, families and communities can exert tremendous pressure.

Next are the Reformers who are not an official branch (as in Judaism). The term refers to Muslims who sincerely believe Islam is the true religion but that the Qur'an must be understood and applied in the present, separating it from its seventh-century cultural roots. The Moderates, probably the largest group worldwide, are sincere in their belief, appreciate Islam's positive aspects (family, community, morality, etc.), and reject more radical interpretations.

Even the Fundamentalists, at the far end of the spectrum, have subgroups. All agree on a literal, almost rigid interpretation of the Qur'an, but some (such as the Taliban) teach law practices that go beyond the Qur'an. Some Fundamentalists actively propagate their faith and believe Islam's message will eventually reach and persuade everyone, yet they renounce violence. The most extreme Fundamentalists -- the ones recruiting suicide bombers and planning acts of terror -- believe Western cultural, political, and economic encroachment must be stopped by any and all means. 

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Apr 9, 2015

Our quote for today is from David C. Hill. He said, "Debating theological niceties is fine, and even useful, but if it distracts us from the Greatest Commandments, then we're doing something wrong."

In this podcast, we are making our way through Garry R. Morgan's book, "Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day." 

Our Understanding World Religions topic for today is, "The Beliefs of Islam." 

In addition to the Five Pillars, Muslims are obliged to hold other beliefs. First among these is that, unlike Judaism, wherein a person can be an atheist and still be considered Jewish, a Muslim must believe in God. 

For other monotheistic faiths, and especially Judaism and Christianity, a common question is whether Muslims worship the same God. For American Christians, the frequent question "Is Allah God?" creates confusion. Because Islam is so closely tied to Arabic language and culture, many people think Allah is a special Muslim name for God or refers specifically to the God of Islam. Again, however, Allah is the generic Arabic word for God (like the Greek “Theos”, Spanish “Dios”, or Hebrew “Elohim”). Allah is used in the Arabic Bible (there are millions of Arabic-speaking Christians in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, and elsewhere). The wording of the question likewise assumes that the English word God refers exclusively to the God of the Bible, but English-speaking followers of any religion use that word to refer to their deity.

So the question should be "Is the God revealed in the Qur'an the same God revealed in the Bible?" Muslims believe they worship the God of Abraham, and thus, the same God as Jews and Christians. While there is a real historical connection, along with some similarities in beliefs about God's attributes, there are many significant theological differences as to God's nature and relationship to humans. In the Bible, God reveals himself to Moses as Yahweh; in Islam, God's name is unknown. Muslims refer to the ninety-nine names of God, but the actual or correct name is a mystery. 

 

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Apr 2, 2015

Our quote for today is from Martin Luther King Jr. He said, "Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge, which is power; religion gives man wisdom, which is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals."

In this podcast, we are making our way through Garry R. Morgan's book, "Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day."

Our Understanding World Religions topic for today is, "The Theology of Islam." 

Monotheistic Islam shares many similarities with Judaism and Christianity, along with Zoroastrianism and Baha'i. But there are important differences. For example, Muslims share Judaism's belief in God's absolute oneness. Christians also believe God is one Being and that he eternally exists as three persons. The Qur'an and the Bible likewise agree on many of God's attributes, but again there are areas of disagreement. That the same or similar words are sometimes used with different meanings generates misunderstanding. For instance, Muslims and Christians both say God is merciful, but the Bible adds to this his grace and love. Minus these attributes, salvation as a divine gift is incomprehensible to Muslims. 

All the monotheistic religions believe their scriptures to be a revelation from God. Muslims believe the revealing takes place by a process of dictation. The Qur'an, they say, exists eternally in heaven, and Gabriel came to earth and dictated the book to God's messenger Muhammad. Christians believe in a process called inspiration, from a Greek word meaning "God-breathed." The Holy Spirit inspired the Bible's human authors so that God's message is communicated while retaining the writers' individual styles and vocabulary. 

These views have significant impact on thoughts about translation. The Bible was rendered into Syriac and Latin within a century of the New Testament's completion. Other translations followed; the combination of the printing press and the Protestant Reformation unleashed a tidal wave of translations into other languages. In contrast, the "true message" of the Qur'an can be read only in Arabic. Though translations exist, they're considered paraphrases, not authoritative. The many Muslims who don't read Arabic often use editions with parallel columns in Arabic and their own language. 

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Mar 26, 2015

Our quote for today is from Tony Blair. He said, "The big issue of our time is trying to deal with extremism based on a perversion of religion and how you get peaceful coexistence between people of different faiths and cultures."

In this podcast, we are making our way through Garry R. Morgan's book, "Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day." 

Our Understanding World Religions topic for today is, "The Foundations of Islam." 

Essential to the religion of Islam are the Five Pillars, or obligations, that are required of all Muslims. These are, in English:

 

1. Reciting the Creed

2. Praying five times daily

3. Almsgiving

4. Fasting

5. Making the pilgrimage to Mecca

 

We will look at each in more detail in this episode.

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