Global Studies
Honors
World Religion Comparison
Unit
Mrs. Hoffnagle
August 2015
Some terms….
Belief: A "belief" is an attitude or idea
that motivates a person to act.
Deity: "Deity" is a general term for a
god or goddess.
Faith: The term "faith" is closely
associated with Protestant Christian
attitudes toward religion because it
implies that religions are sets of beliefs.
Holy Books: The term "holy books" refers
to texts that are considered as
authoritative or sacred within a
tradition. Holy books can be written,
oral, or both.
Ritual: The term "ritual" refers to a
system of actions and beliefs. A ritual
has several stages, generally including
a distinctive beginning, middle, and
end, as well as pre-ritual and post-ritual
stages.
Tradition: The term "tradition" refers to
the transmission of received practices,
customs, and knowledge. In some
religions, traditions refer primarily to holy
books; in others, to religious practices;
in still others, "tradition" refers to both
holy books and religious practices.
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/religious_studies.html
Mehndi
According to
religioustolerance.org:
Religion
is any specific system of belief
about deity, often involving rituals, a code
of ethics, a philosophy of life, and a
worldview.
Common Factors:
Belief
in something sacred (gods, texts,
etc.)
Distinction between sacred and profane
objects
Ritual acts focused on sacred objects
Moral code believed to have a sacred or
supernatural basis
Characteristically religious feelings (awe,
guilt) which tend to surface in the
presence of sacred objects and during
the practice of ritual.
Factors (continued)
Prayer
and other forms of communication
with the supernatural
A worldview or general picture of the
world and how the individual fits into it
Organization of one’s life based upon
worldview
A social group bound by the above
What is religion?
Assignment:
Read over the positions on religion.
Part I - Pick a position that you feel either best suits
your personal definition of what religion is or one
that is most opposite of your personal definition.
Part 2 – Pick a position that you feel best describes
how the majority of people in the world feel about
religion. This may be different from your own view.
Part 3 – Take a look at your religion and think
about the shared factors of religion. Can you cite
examples of each from your own personal
experience. If you are not a religious person, try to
think about a religion that you are familiar with.
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