Traditional Religions (Essay Sample)

Traditional Religions
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Outline
1 Introduction
2 Hinduism
3 Buddhism
4 Islamic
5 Christianity
6 Confucianism perception of self, purpose of life, and human relation with nature
7 Hinduism perception of self, purpose of life, and human relation with nature
8 Buddhism perception of self, purpose of life, and human relation with nature
9 Polytheism perception of self, purpose of life, and human relation with nature
10 Christianity perception of self, purpose of life, and human relation with nature
Ways in which religion traditions have shaped people's views about themselves, their society, and nature in the past
Religious traditions impact people's views concerning themselves, the society, and nature. Religious traditions led to the cropping of some characters and fears within people in the society in the past. They not only constrained the behaviors of people towards some specific points, but also united people to nature. For instance, the Hindus, the Christians, Islam, and the Buddhist had different religious perception about themselves, their society, and nature, but related greatly in terms of views.
Hinduism
The Hindus, one Being worshippers, associated their livelihood with the past practices. They believed that their mode of living had a direct connection with their past livelihood. In most occasions, they associated hardship lives with the evil acts. This religious belief made majority of them avoid committing crimes in the society. It also made most people undergoing suffering to consider themselves as sinners and those living happily as holly. In order to avoid suffering, Hindus also believed in having a spiritually controlled society. This religious believe made them perceive their society as the only society that permits mixed and varied versions of leadership. Indeed, Hinduism played a significant role towards emergence of a caste system made up of religious tendencies. Additionally, Hinduism enacted a crucial thought in people concerning their environment. According to it, there was a great relationship between the environment and human beings. The existence of karma teachings made people perceive the act of misusing the environmental resources as a portrayal of selfishness. This made Hindus believe in having and maintaining a well natural balance.[Beate Diagnas, Historical and Religious Memory in the Ancient World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 198-201.] [Kevin, Reilly. The West and the World: A History of Civilization: From the Ancient World to 1700 (New York: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1997) 211-232.]
Buddhism
The Buddhists, none believers of any gods or being, believed that human beings had some transformations in life that had a great connection with their livelihood. They believed in existence of countless rebirths including suffering. Just as the Hindus, they believed in individual acts contributing significantly to the occurrence of rebirths. This religious belief made Buddhists develop different views about themselves. Some of them associated their suffering with their occasional involvement in sinning. Buddhism also made Buddhists view themselves as hardworking; their religion did not allow any sort of laziness or lethargy among its people. The teachings of Buddha also make Buddhists view themselves as the kind hearted and generous people. The teachings also make them view themselves as the only beings with the potential of solving any kind of problem in life. The inoculation of Buddhism culture also played a significant role in the cropping of good habits and decisions among the Buddhists. Buddhism also made Buddhist view their societal practices as the best among all religions that exist in the world. It made them view their society as a society that easily differentiates good from bad and true from false; a society that believes in only truth. Buddhism also made Buddhists view nature differently. According to them, nature consisted of emptiness of true, shunyata. They believed that everything including the environment originated from nothing and will end in nothing. Additionally, Buddhism made Buddhists believe that nature dictated overdependence of living and non living things upon each other.[Beate Diagnas, Historical and Religious Memory in the Ancient World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 211-227.] [Kevin, Reilly. The West and the World: A History of Civilization: From the Ancient World to 1700 (New York: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1997) 255-263.]
Islamic
Islamic is also one of the traditional religions that played a significant role in molding individuals' views about themselves. It made majority of the people view themselves as servants of God, Allah. It also made them avoid committing evil deeds. Additionally, the occasional involvement of the Muslims in keeping their words as required by their religion madee them perceive themselves as honest. The Islamic teachings from the Quran and Hadith made the Muslims view their society as unique and full of goodness. Muslims also viewed their society as an Ummah of moderation. The teachings also made Muslims view their society as the only society that practices the spirit of brotherhood. Additionally, Muslim made people in the past believe that everything that coexisted on earth was created by God. Thus, they viewed nature as Muslim because it adored God.
Christianity
Just as Muslims, Christians also believed in one God in the past. Their religious belief made them view themselves as servants of God. The teachings from the Bible made them believe that they were the only true followers of Christ. Christianity teachings and activities also made Christians believe that all social, cultural beliefs and doctrines evolved from them.[Beate Diagnas, Historical and Religious Memory in the Ancient World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 231-242.]
Confucianism perception of self, purpose of life, and human relation with nature
Although Confucianism was not a religious entity like others such as Christianity and Islam, it played a significant role in defining self, life and importance of nature. Individuals that practiced Confucianism, believed in good examples in the society. It outlined the crucial steps that ought to be observed by the parties involved. For instance, it defined the responsibilities of wife and husband, father and son, and also the young to the old. According to it, each person had the responsibility of conveying good conduct in the society. Confucianism also believed in life after death. According to it, the dead were worshipped after death. Additionally, Confucianism advocated observance of nature. According to it, nature dictated on what ought to be done in the society. It advocated the young to respect individuals who were superior to them.[Kevin, Reilly. The West and the World: A History of Civilization: From the Ancient World to 1700 (New York: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1997) 301-311.]
Hinduism perception of self, purpose of life, and human relation with nature
Hindu religion employs the use of Dharma and Karma theories in defining what life entails. According to Hindu religion, all life forms have one goal in common, Moksha. According to Morksha, there exists eternal choice for birth and death. The role of observing the coexistence of life is allocate...