How Religion would Respond to Today's Issues Essay

How Religion would Respond to Today's Issues - Essay Example This paper analyses the ways in which religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam respond to today's issues. Hindu religion consists of different castes such as Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras and Chandalas (Jayaram). Brahmins are the upper class caste while Chandals are the lower class caste in Hindu caste system. In other words racism appears in the form of caste system in Hindu religion. Hinduism considers poverty as a virtue rather than curse. In other words, Hindus do believe that the sufferings or poverty in this world is good for getting salvation. Hindus are not much aggressive like some of other religions. They will try to avoid war and murder as much as possible. They are peace loving people which are evident from the fact that India never tried to attack Pakistan even though Pak terrorists created so many problems in Indian soil in the recent past. Hindus normally do not believe in sex activities outside a marital relationship. However, in some of the Hindu castes, keeping more than one wife is allowed. Hindu women command huge respect from Hindu men and it should be note d that some of the goddesses of Hindu religion are females such as Sita, Lakshmi and Saraswathy. Hindus do believe in democratic administrations and they are the strong advocates of freedom and individuality. Education is considered as an essential activity by Hindu religion. Perhaps Buddhists are the most liberal and peace loving people in the world. They hate all types of war and murder activities. Killing of even an insect is a sin in Buddhism. Racism in any form cannot be witnessed in Buddhism. Freedom and liberties are much respected terms in Buddhism. Truthfulness is the major land mark of Buddhism. Buddhism advocates normal sex activities for layman. However, â€Å"Complete sexual continence is considered an essential feature of the monastic life. Intercourse of a heterosexual or homosexual character is automatically a Parajika offense† (Walshe). Capitalism and injustices are unacceptable to Buddhism. Taoism give more emphasize to living in harmony with the environment or nature. Taoism believes in the ancestor spirits and immortals. Taoists believe in a peaceful life filled with happiness. So, war and murder like activities are unacceptable to Taoism. Even though Taoism considers sex as a vital component in the relationship between men and women, it never advocates crazy sex habits or unnatural sex. As per the beliefs of Taoism, â€Å"a strong military was an important tool in human relations, but the conduct of warfare was an absolute last resort. Its consequences so potentially harmful that it had to be understood completely and practiced flawlessly when required†(Davis). Confucianism believes in humanity more than any other religions in the world. It has not much customs or rituals compared to other religions. War and crimes are unacceptable to Confucianism. â€Å"Confucius regarded himself as a transmitter, not the originator, of social values and wisdom† (Dr. Sprunger). Judaism, Christianity and Islam are three Abrahamic relig ions. Even though the origins of these three religions have some common elements, their beliefs are entirely different. Islam does not hesitate to conduct wars against the enemies. In fact killing of enemies of religion is a sacred act in Islam. Jews and Christians are also seeing no dangers in conducting wars even though they are not much adamant in religious belief and thoughts. Jews and Christians give more freedom to the sexual life. Homosexuality is practiced among Christians and Jews even though their religious beliefs are against it. On the other hand such things are punishable acts in Islam. Muslim males can keep