Free Essay Sample: Nature of religion

In today's world, it isn't easy to find a homogenous nation. In many places, various social groups have people of different cultures, ethnicities, religions, leaderships, races, and backgrounds. People from the same environment can lead separate lives depending on the individual's beliefs. The Christians majorly dominate the West, and the East is Islam. Despite the many different beliefs, Islam and Christianity are almost similar. They all believe in God. They think that when we do well and live by faith, we will see eternal life. Christians believe in God. They also believe in Jesus and that He is the son of God who comes in three denominations; son, father, and Holy Ghost. Christians believe that God has a son through the Holy Spirit with the Virgin Mary. In the Quran, there is only one book named after the female character, Mary. The Quran states that Jesus was conceived through the Virgin Mary, and he declared himself as the Son of God when he was born at the Manger. It shows that Muslims and Christians are both the same in a way. I believe Jesus was born, but he is one of the Prophets just like the Holy Prophet Mohammed.

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Christianity believes that Jesus will come back from heaven during judgment day to restore the faith if those who died believing in Him and those who died as sinners are burned in Hell for life. Jesus was lifted to heaven three days after his resurrection. He promised to send the Holy Spirit to protect and guide His people until Judgement Day.

During Easter, Christians celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus was crucified on the cross and killed by the Jews because, as they believe, He declared himself as the Messiah, yet he is just a man like them. Christians are baptized during this time, symbolizing that they are now clean in faith, and they can lead to a journey of faith serving God. We always pray at home to God to forgive us. The Muslims fast during the holy month of Ramadhan.

Christians always go to church on Sunday, wearing their best clothes. They don't have the specific clothes meant for holy occasions. I have seen Catholic priests wearing different clothes on different occasions. I asked my friend why they always wear those clothes in different colors. He said that every collar got a represents the saints that are being referred to on Sunday. I didn't understand why, but it is their religion.

Christians do not believe in war. They say that war is a sin. It is the case with Muslims too. We don't find in battle, although in the past, Muslims could go for holy war, and convert non-Muslims to Islam. It was the basis of Islamic culture to spread across the world. Christians in the Old Testament are seen to have gone to war, killing their enemies who wanted to dominate their land, and God himself gave them powers to defeat their enemies.

In the world today, some significant religious cases hostilities have become so spent. Christians blame the Muslims and vice versa. I think if we all understand and respect each other religion, the world would be in total peace. I believe every religion is unique and holy by nature

In the recent past, the West has been dominated by the Muslim population; this motivated people to better understand the religious beliefs of the people of a different religion. The dominance of the Muslim in the West has also created tension between the West and Islam. The need to promote tolerance, understanding, and respect between the Arabs and the Westerners, Advocate for Arabs-westerns, and AWARE centre was established. The leaders believed that applying the principle of respect, tolerance, and understanding will promote peace and bring unity between the westerns and Islam. Any challenge which will bring conflicts is sought to be solved harmoniously. The original language for Christians is believed to be Hebrews, Greek, and Aramaic. Islam believes that their unique style is Arabic.

For many years, the relationship between the West and Islam is believed to be evolving. In the recent past, Israel-Palestinian conflict, Islamic militants, and Afghanistan and Iraq wars have been a significant issue, which leads to animosities and misunderstanding between the West and the Arabs. In the West, the islamophobia has increased, and the Islamic nations have started abandoning the western culture.

The West and Islam have different ethnocultural identities. Their mode of dressing, language, and social relations are different depending on their cultural norms. In the Islam nations, all the women are required to dress in modesty. They should cover their hair using Hijab and body shape by wearing the long specific dress (Burqa), and men are supposed to cover their body from the waist to knee. According to Islam culture, it's wrong for them to expose their bodies. For the Christians, they vary in mode of dressing. The liberal Christians usually don't have any dressing code. They don't put any restrictions as they believe the more important thing is the soul of an individual but not physical appearance. The conservative Christians have some limits. Women wear long skirts/dresses, and the men usually have to cover the chest, arms, and legs.

The West and east religions have different views on women. The western mainly the Christians have equal measures for women and men, although, in Catholicism, some women become Nuns. These nuns are said to practice celibacy until eternity and provide full service to the society. In Islam, women are believed to be subservient. For all the women, dressing is always controlled. They are supposed to put on Hijab and Burqa, and any disobedient wives are supposed to receive 'light beating.'

The concept of church and state has it that the roles, leadership, and rules of the religious and political powers, including the government, are different. However, both need the loyalty of those who are participating. Before the start of Christianity, there was no difference or distinction between religious rules and that of the political bodies. The people living in those countries used to worship gods that belong to their state they living in. In this case, religion, Christianity was part of that state. The ritual itself, therefore, had its gods that the people worshipped, which marked their faith.

Following the worship of the gods of different states led to the discovery of the Christian faith. The Jewish people discovered the rules of Israel that where written on the manuscripts. The reveal of Israel's written laws by the Jewish people leads to the advent of Jesus from the two concepts named secularization and spirituality. Secularization refers to the act of separation from religious and spiritual rules that is detaching from the orders those bounds someone to a particular spiritual belief of a state. In this case, Christian started to stand and develop by its written values and rules of Israel. The separation was based on the written "rules give to Caesar what's for Caesar and god what it Gods" (Mark 12:17). The phrase above, therefore, formed the basis of Christianity, and its teaching sat the ancient times. It gave the clear distinction between the religion and state powers, although it was not an order of separation.

The apostles living in the Roman Empire, who were pagans, during the first century, thought the people the virtues of respecting and obeying their rulers and leaders. They taught that they should abide by and respect their leaders so as long they are doing does not go against the laws that are higher than the political rulers, thus mentioning the religion. The apostle's teachings brought about the distinction between the supreme powers of the state and persuasion, clearly showing that religion is a higher authority than the rule. In this time, the founders of the church were already the empire's religion. During this time of the empire, the religion's emphasis on the importance of supreme powers was more potent than the political authorities. The emperors insisted on the church becoming more independent and given the skills to question the ruling of the state ruler.

In the past years, politics, Islam, and state have been challenging. The leaders from the Islam religion usually use the term 'Islamic socialism/democracy' to describe politics in their faith. In 1979 after the Agrarian revolution, whose plan was to ensure that the Islam community has been involved in international politics, Saudi Arabia had conflicting differences saying the interpretation was against Islam society. The Saudi Arabians, therefore, do not apply any Islamic politics since they didn't take part in its formulation.

In recent days, the use of Islamic law (sharia) gives an identification of Islam state. This Islamic law is applicable in both the Monarchies and the democracies. In Iran, it is believed that the use of the unity of the nation and Islam religion does not guarantee the protection of the inhabitants from the state. It is, however, evident that Islam (Muslims) is majorly independent. The interpretation of the sharia and the Koran determines the form of rule.

In conclusion, the relationship between Islam and the Western religion (Christianity) is varied. We are, however, hopeful and optimistic that the relationship between Islam and Christianity religion will show a progressive trend in the future and not reactionary. Also, a collaborative and understanding relationship with zero conflicts.

References

Church and State. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/church-and-state

The Church in the Christian Roman Empire. (1953). Thought, 28(4), 629-629.

Issues in Christian-Muslim relations: Ecumenical considerations — World Council of churches. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/wcc-programmes/interreligious-dialogue-and-cooperation/interreligious-trust-and-respect/issues-in-christian-muslim-relations-ecumenical-considerations

Issues in Christian-Muslim Relations: Ecumenical Considerations — World Council of Churches. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/wcc-programmes/interreligious-dialogue-and-cooperation/interreligious-trust-and-respect/issues-in-christian-muslim-relations-ecumenical-considerations

Société des Missionnaires d'Afrique. (n.d.). Relations Between Islam and Christians. Retrieved from https://mafr.net/relations-between-christians-and-muslims