World civ - final exam
Would you describe Islam as an Eastern or a Western Religion?In general, the main Western religions are typically referred to as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, while the main Eastern religions are typically thought of as Shinto, Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Although Islam is primarily a western religion, ties can be made to both sides. The western religions share many similarities, as do the Eastern religions. The similarities between the Western religions are due to the fact that Islam is a derivate of Judaism, and Judaism is a derivate of Christianity. All three religions are monotheistic, observe a Sabbath, have dieting and fasting restrictions, follow some form of the commandments, and believe in one or more prophets. In particular, Islam is strictly monotheistic, referring only to Allah; Muslims observe Sabbath on Friday, fast during Ramadan, and do not eat pork. They also study the Koran and observe the “Five Pillars of Islam,” which include charity, prayer, public acknowledgement, pilgrimage to Mecca, and Ramadan. The Muslims acknowledge some of the same prophets of Christianity and Judaism, but see Muhammad as the ‘one.’ Although, it should be understood that Muslims believe that he
The caste system was developed by the Verdic people, who found it to be a convenient way of perpetuating their religious distinction and social privileges, and, as already noted, supported in later works including the Bhagavad-Gita, part of the Mahabharata, which is the second great Indian epic, and also in the Upanishads.. The idea of keeping oneself away from unclean people is understandable in a society that was obsessed with the concept of physical and mental purity. Even in modern societies people would not like to interact with people who are physically unclean and are into wrong ways of living. For instance, even our culture exhibits a form of caste system. The social structure in America fairly rigid; although you are not born into an ‘official’ class, you are born into an economic status, which very much determines many of your opportunities. It is probably almost as hard to change your social class here as it is in India. There are very few ‘rags to riches’ stories, as it is exceedingly more common for the children of wealthy adults to become wealthy themselves. Thus, you are not born into a ‘caste’ but rather an economic class, which in many cases is just as rigid. Also, the caste system is identified with the horrible discrimination that the untouchables have had to endure and it was not until only 50 years ago that such discrimination became illegal. Similarly in America, the same is very much true of the adversity and discrimination that the African Americans had to bear. Although the concepts and practices of eastern and western medicine are much different, a combination of Western and Chinese traditional medicine seems most beneficial. In the U.S., however, most people believe that Western medicine is superior because of its ability to combat chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease. The Chinese, however, emphasize the negative side effects that are common of Western medicine drugs. To improve both systems, it seems by incorporating aspects of traditional Chinese medicine in the Western health care system as well as improving the Chinese understanding
Some topics in this essay:
Taoism Buddhism,
Mahabharata Indian,
Pillars Muslims,
Western Chinese,
Islam Eastern,
Additionally Islam,
Bhagavad-Gita Moreover,
Judaism Muhammad,
Truths Eight-Fold,
Judaism Judaism,
caste system,
western medicine,
eastern religions,
christianity judaism,
western religions,
chinese traditional medicine,
system india,
traditional medicine,
chinese traditional,
supported upanishads bhagavad-gita,
upanishads bhagavad-gita,
medical philosophy views,
chinese medicine,
philosophy views health,
caste system india,
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Approximate Word count = 1426
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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