Different Cultures & Religions
- It has about 500 million adherents around the world – about 150,000 (2001 Census) active Buddhists in the UK.
- Buddhism was first formulised by Sidhharta Gautama in India about 2,500 years ago. After his death followers of this religion carried on practicing the main beliefs, which are the importance of discipline and meditation.
- Buddhism focuses on each individual seeking to attain enlightenment. Nirvana (enlightenment) can be reached by following the Eightfold Path of:
- Right understanding
- Right thinking
- Right speaking
- Right acting
- Right lifestyle
- Right endeavouring
- Right mindfulness
- Right contemplation
- Buddhism has no unique creed, no single authority, and no single sacred book.
- There are many schools and practices of Buddhism.
Christianity:
- The religion is widely practiced by Christians all over the world.
- There are 6 million active Christians in the UK, but over 42 million in the UK (2001 Census) would regard themselves as nominally Christian.
- Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who came to earth as a man to restore the relationship between humans and God that had gone wrong.
- There are many different variations or “denominations” including Orthodox, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
- Christians believe that there is only one God, and He is the creator of the universe and everything that is in it. God has created the world distinct from Him but is believed to be active within it. Christianity teaches its followers a way of life.
- God reveals Himself in three ‘persons’: Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit. However, these three persons are regarded as a unity, sharing one ‘substance’.
- The main beliefs of Christianity include the belief in the Holy Spirit, forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the everlasting life.
- The main celebrations of this religion include Christmas, when the birth of Jesus Christ is celebrated and Easter, when it is believed that Jesus Christ was resurrected following his crucifixion.
Hinduism:
- Hinduism first developed in India 4 or 5 thousand years ago. In the UK there are about 560,000 Hindus (2001 Census), approximately 160,000 of whom are active in their faith.
- This religion teaches its followers a way of life and is mainly practiced by Indians. This religion has no single founder or prophet, no single holy book or organized place of worship.
- Hindus believe that there is a creator or a supreme spirit that is neither male nor female and is far too complicated for ordinary people to understand and worship. Therefore they worship this creator through 3 main images:
- Brahma, the creator
- Vishnu, the preserver
- Shiva, the destroyer
- Worship takes place in homes, however temples are also used.
- There are 4 holy books in Hinduism – The Vedas collections of Sanskrit hymns (written down 1200-900 BCE, but based on older oral versions), Brahmanas-ritual instructions (1000-650 BCE), the Upanishads, mystical works (400-200 BCE) and the Bhagavad Gita (200 BCE).
- The two most important festivals are Holi and Diwali.
Islam:
- There are about 1.6 million Muslims in the UK (2001 Census), about 600,000 of whom are active in the faith. Those who are not active still regard being a Muslim as an important part of their identity.
- Islam is more than a system of belief. The faith provides a social and legal system and governs things like family life, law and order, ethics, dress, and cleanliness, as well as religious ritual and observance.
- There is only one God, call “Allah”.
- Allah’s last prophet was Muhammad (peace be upon him). Muhammad (pbuh) was not a god; he was a man through whom God revealed his will. Although Muslims revere Muhammad (pbuh) they do not worship him. The holy book, which Muslims follow as a way of life, is called the ‘Quran’.
- The 5 pillars of Islam include, faith in the religion, worship, which includes 5 daily prayers, fasting in the month of Ramadan, charity and pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca at least once in a lifetime.
- The main celebrations for this religion are Eid ul Fitr and Eid ul Adha.
Judaism:
- There are 267,000 Jews living in the UK (2001 Census). Only 85,000 of them are active in their faith.
- The fundamental beliefs in Judaism are: there is a single all-powerful god who created the universe and everything in it and that God has a special relationship with the Jewish people, cemented by the covenant that God made with Moses on Mount Sinai, 3500 years ago.
- Jews are divided according to their beliefs and practices and according to their racial origins, as either having roots in central Europe (Ashkenzai Jews) or Spain and the Middle East (Sephardi Jews). The main divisions of belief and practice are as follows:
- Orthodox Jews follow the original teachings and traditions of the faith closely.
- Ultra-Orthodox Jews obey religious laws very strictly. Ultra-Orthodox is not a term that Jews like very much, and it is more acceptable to use “Haredi”.
- Conservative (also called Masorti) Jews fall somewhere between orthodox and Reform Jews.
- Hasidic Jews are a sub-group pf Haredi Jews, but the two terms are not interchangeable.
- Reform Jews have adapted their faith and customers to modern life.
- Reconstructionistic and Humanistic Judaism are modern American movements.
- The holy book, which they use as a way of life, is called the Torah.
- Traditionally Jews practice their worship in synagogues, where they pray 3 times a day. Saturday is a holy day (or Sabbath) in the Jewish faith.
- The lighting of candles and the preparation of traditional potato cakes celebrate the festival of lights called Hanukkah.
Sikhism:
- There are 18-20 million Sikhs in the world, 80% of them live in the Punjab state in Northwest India, where the faith began. There are 336,000 Sikhs in Britain (2001 Census), 80% of whom are active in their faith. 39% of UK Sikhs attend a religious service at a Gurdwara (meaning house, or residence of God, this is their place of worship) once a week.
- The word “Sikh” is Punjabi for “disciple” and Sikhs are disciples of the Gurus.
- Sikhism does not have priests, but most Gurdwaras will have a Granthi. A Granthi is a learned Sikh who is skilled in reading the scriptures, however, a Granthi has no special religious status.
- The principal Sikh scripture is the Adi Granth, often called the Guru Granth Sahib.
- Sikhs believe that there is a single, all-powerful God, who created the universe and everything in it.
- The essence of being Sikh is that one lives one’s life according to the teachings of the Sikh Gurus, devotes time to meditating on God and the scriptures, and does things to benefit other people.
- Sikhism emphasizes social and gender equality, and stresses the importance of behaving unselfishly.
- Sikhs believe that a normal family life should involve earning an honest living, having a humble attitude and sharing happiness and wealth with others to make up an ideal life. Sikhs believe in the Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man.
- Their main celebrations include Diwali, the festival of lights and Baisakhi, the day when Sikhs celebrate the formation of the Sikh brotherhood.