Comparison of World Religions - Essay Example

A Comparison of World Religions Affiliation: Taboo Taboo is a religious custom that prohibits the discussion of certain practices or restricts association with a particular place or thing. Taboo can also be defined as any activity that a particular religious group or culture considers sacred basing on their morals or beliefs. Various religious groups associate taboos with harm or danger. Most religious groups believe that anyone breaking taboo risks facing severe consequences. The essay discusses religious taboos because it is a common belief to most religions. Muslims and Jews do not eat pork. Christians, particularly Catholics, do not eat meat on Fridays during lent time. The Hindus do not eat meat. Shinto does not look at the emperor in the face. Native American people fear handling the dead (Hall et al., 2006). In Islam, pork is forbidden. The act of eating anything in Islam is a form of worship. It is this reason that makes Muslims selective in food. Muslims do not eat pork because the Quran prohibits them from doing so. They also do not drink alcohol because they say it intoxicates the brain as stipulated in the holy Quran. Intoxicating the body by eating ‘unlawful’ food is a sin (Naik, n.d). In Hindu, eating beef is taboo. The Hindus do not eat beef because they associate cows with God’s creation. In the past, Hindus used to sacrifice bulls for religious purposes. The beef would then be eaten. Things later changed among these religious groups. Individuals would be holier by avoiding beef. Nowadays a cow, to a Hindu, is a source of life. The cow is a sacred creature that must not be eaten. Consuming other products like milk, however, is accepted (Nigosian, 2007). They believe that there are severe consequences that come as a result of breaking a taboo. One would be jealousy of others, angry, anxious, and fearful of death. Hindus believe that if they inflict pain on others, including cows, the same pain will rebound on them (Hall et al., 2006). In Christianity, the taboos regarding the choices of food are different among the Protestants, Orthodox and Roman Catholics. Roman Catholics do not eat meat on Fridays during lent time. They fast during lent because they believe it improves spiritual discipline. Fasting is also believed to enable a Catholic overcome the physical world’s sensations and focus on spiritual growth. The Catholics believe that sacrifices are offerings to God. God, therefore, deserves to receive the best form of sacrifice. The Catholics choose meat because it is always associated with celebrations. Eating meat on Fridays is, therefore, prohibited among the Catholics (Hall et al., 2006). Buddhists do not eat animal products. They believe that, while Buddha was on earth, he evolved through various forms of animals before it gained its human form. Refraining from eating meat, therefore, cultivates compassion for living organisms. The Buddhists, like the Hindus, believe that if they inflict pain on any creature, the pain will rebound on them. In Judaism, pork is prohibited. The Jews believe that it is forbidden to eat pigs because they do not chew their cud. Judaism does not also allow the eating of animals whose hooves are not split because such animals are also unclean. In some African religions, women undergoing their menstrual cycle are supposed to stay in seclusion. They are not supposed to cook or touch any food. Some African religions also prohibit such women from coming close to ordinary people. Women undergoing their menstrual cycles are believed to possess harmful spirits (Hall et al., 2006). Most of the religions analyzed above have similar taboos. Nearly all the prohibited things in most of the religions revolve around food. The Muslims and Jews prohibit pork while the Catholics and Buddhists prohibit meat. Some African religions also do not allow women to touch food while undergoing menstrual cycles. There is no complete deviation on the similarities among religions. All religions have similarities. In most religions, there is the existence of a supreme being. There are other similarities such as prayers, moral life, life after death, and compassion and donations. Complete similarities between religions could be explained by considering the places of origin. Christianity and Islam believe in the existence of one God (Allah in Islam). Both religions trace their origins to the larger Middle East region. It implies that there could have been a form of splitting between the two religions. The existence of similar names like Moses and Jesus in both religions may indicate that the two might have at one time been one religion. Divisions might have occurred along the way just in the same way Christianity split into Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox. Similarities also exist between Hinduism and Buddhism. Names like Brahma and Indra exist in both religions. The two religions originated in India. The similarities, therefore, suggest that one of the religions might be an offshoot of the other. Divisions might have separated what might have been one religion into two factions with different ideologies. The major differences between religions might be attributed to geographical areas of the origin. Christianity, Judaism and Islam originated in Middle East while Hinduism and Buddhism started in India. African religions originated in African continent. That is why in Hinduism, Buddhism and African religions, there is no Jesus. The taboo of not eating pork has made Muslims refrain from eating pork or its products. Muslims, therefore, do not keep pigs because they consider them unclean. Similarly, the Jews do not eat pork or pork products. They, therefore, do not keep pigs for consumption. The Identities of the Muslims and Jews can be predicted from the way they associate with pigs. The Hindus consider cattle as sacred animals. They keep them for dairy products other than beef. Hindus fear that if they consume beef, they will accumulate sins that will affect their future destinies. In a community of Hindus, it is unlikely that a butchery selling beef will exist. Majority of Buddhists are vegetarians. They fear inflicting pain on other creatures because they are interested in preserving life. The situation in a vegetarian Buddhist community will not be much different with that of the Hindus. There will be no markets for animal products. All these religious groups are not influenced in the same way because the taboo in each religion differs from other religions. The impact that taboos have on different religious groups has resulted in selective preferences of food. What the Muslims chose will differ from those of other religious groups. The preferences that different religions have for certain food have some health benefits. Vegetarian Buddhists have fewer risks of contracting diseases that are associated with diet. It will be hard to find an obese vegetarian Buddhist. Muslims also refrain from taking alcohol. Alcohol is harmful to human health if it is consumed excessively. References Hall, A., Foster, M., Blas, B. and Diggs, R. (2006, March 27). Similarities and Commonalities in world religions. Central Texas College. Retrieved May 5, 2014 from http://www.arichall.com/academic/papers/phil1304-paper.pdf Naik, K.A.Z. (N.d), Answers to non-Muslims’ common questions about Islam. Islamic Research Foundation. Retrieved May 5, 2014 from http://www.thecommentator.com/ckeditor_assets/attachments/333/en_common_questions.pdf Nigosian, S. A. (2007, July). World religions: a historical approach (4th ed.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martins. Read More