Essay Religion & Ethnic Diversity

Submitted By rkitchen3453
Words: 1467
Pages: 6

Religion and Ethnic Diversity

Christianity and Islam believe in a deity through whom the ways of life have been preached while religions such as Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism have a more human-centered depiction. The overall summary of every religion is to care for humanity and spread love and peace among the people, but the ways of self reflection and seeking inner peace and prayers vary among the different groups. The Eastern Orthodox is well known for being traditionalist in its prayer routines and culture. The closest religion to the Orthodox is the Catholics on the basis of believing in similar saints and having similar prayers. Islam, Orthodox, and Catholics have the same characters in their holy books that they consider valuable to their spiritual life. Unlike the aforementioned religions, Hinduism has a lot of characters which are considered as deities but are criticized for being fictional than plausible. The only proofs they have are the pilgrimage locations which are thought to be the areas where the events occurred based on the scripts. Buddhism takes a whole different approach by focusing on the teachings of Buddha who preaches about leading a simple life, eradicating ignorance, and restraining from doing harm onto others. The Eastern Orthodox believes in the Holy Mass which represents the partaking of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, in confession, and values the roles bishops played in the religion and society. Eastern Orthodox does respect other religions and rarely experiences conflict with other practices and beliefs. It does not involve in cultural wars, religious arguments about who is right or wrong, or who has the high power. It does engage in heated discussions on the latest topics such as gay marriages and women opportunities to priesthood. Even though the Eastern Orthodox are open to accepting the values and beliefs of other religions, the tradition of the mass dictates participation by Christians alone and non Christians are not allowed to view the ceremony. As times have changed, they have become more open to the ideology of non-Christians viewing the ceremony first hand. The entry of Orthodox Christianity into the American Society was comparatively later than other beliefs. It took quite some time for Orthodox Christians to adjust to the society and culture. It was finally achieved by integrating certain cultural aspects, modifying it to fit their needs, and reestablishing itself within the society. The orthodox Christians were able to accept the American lifestyle yet preserving the culture and traditions of the Orthodox ways. America’s strength is its diversity in demographics and the Orthodox Christianity was able to assist in this diversity as they diversified in ways that enables different races and ethnic groups to participate in a single goal such as holding onto a common faith. This enabled them to blend in with the American cultural society and not create difficulties for any other group. They have helped in building monasteries, schools, hospitals, clinics, and businesses that created work opportunities for all without discrimination. Orthodox Christianity has never been discriminated against by any ethic, racial, or religious group except in Israel where the Jews discriminate against them. It cannot be classified purely as a religious conflict as there are political interests hidden behind the scenes. The discrimination has taken its toll on the orthodox civilians in the country in the form of denial of access to certain businesses or exchanges, deaths, riots, property damage, destruction to churches, and schools. The Jews believe themselves to be the children of God, and hence frown upon the Christians as they believe Jesus Christ to be a human to whom the Christians worship. This blasphemy according to them is intolerable and can also be considered as anti-Semitism. The conflict has been pursuing for a long period of time and no one can really