Comparing Religions of the World

There are 3 different categories of religions that are still practiced in this world, Abrahamic, Dharmic, and Taoic. A lot of Religions are categorized by these, but they all have a specific meaning. Abrahamic means that the religions are monotheistic and trace to their origin of Abraham. Dharmic religions have a great importance in Indian philosophy and religions, and Taoic religions originate from the far eastern, often in China or India. Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are in the Abrahamic category. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism are all Dharmic religions, where Taoism, Confucianism, and Shintoism are Taoic religions.

Many of these religions are still practiced today. Many of which are very popular, and many not so much. Christianity was formed when people started believing that Christ was God’s son, even though the religion wasn’t officially formed until christian and catholic churches started teaching from the Latin Bible. Judaism, on the other hand, is not very popular. There aren’t any big Jewish cities or countries, besides Israel, but there are many Jews spread across the world.

Islam was founded by Muhammad, in 622 CE. The people that believe in Allah (their God) are called Muslims.

They also believe that Muhammad was a prophet or a messenger from God. Muslims worship the Koran (a Book) and Allah (a God). This religion is an Abrahamic religion, which means it is a monotheistic religion. Muslims pray facing Mecca, to worship Muhammad’s birth place. They also celebrate a world wide holiday called Ramadan, where they fast for a month.

The large populations of Muslims are located in North Africa, Indonesia, and South western part of Asia. Buddhism is a Dharmic Religion, which means it is very important to Indian Philosophy. Buddhism was founded by Gautama Siddhartha, in the fifth century, in Nepal.

People that believe in Buddhism are called Buddhists. Buddhists have a ritual of Meditating to find inner peace, and they read the Tripitaka, the holy book of Buddhism. Buddhists celebrate Hanamatsuri, Vesak, Band the Bodhi Day. They believe in the Four Noble Truths: life is suffering, suffering is due to attachment, attachment can be overcome, and there is a path for accomplishing this. Taoism originated in Eastern China, and was founded by Lao-Tse, which became a state religion in 440 CE. People that believe in Taoism worship the Tao Te Ching. Many people in Eastern China are Taoists.

Taoists also have the ritual of meditating. Taoism and Buddhism are more beliefs than a religion. Islam, for example has rules to live by to be a Muslim, whereas Buddhism, or Taoism, only needs a person’s own belief in what he wants to follow. I learned that there are many religions in existence, also, that by many you have to, both, believe, and follow the rules, but by some you just have to believe. I learned that many religions are not passed down to an offspring, though a lot are, the person, himself, has to decide on their own. There are 3 categories religions are categorized by, and they all have their own meaning.