CRASH COURSE ON WORLD RELIGIONS

irst off, there are 4 basic ways of thinking about God, and you can remember them easily; just remember the word PAMM:

1. Polytheism: The belief in many gods;

2. Atheism: The belief that God doesn't exist;

3. Monism: The belief that "all is one"; and

4. Monotheism: The belief in one God (Hey, you Catholic, that means YOU!)

Now you may also hear people refer to agnosticism as if it's the same thing as atheism, but it's not; an agnostic is a person who believes that we can't know anything about God -- that if He exists at all, He is, like, unknowable. (I don't know about you, but to my ears that sounds like a LAME excuse not to think about Him...)

Okay, so you've got the four basic ways of thinking about God; now you need to graduate to the actual religions you're likely to encounter in life:

HINDUISM

-The world's oldest religion, it's the third largest of all religions

- A monistic, religion holding that all things are part of one divine being called "Brahman"

- A very open-minded religion; Hindus view many other religions (including Christianity) as true expressions of Brahman

- Hindus also believe in reincarnation, a process by which the souls of all living things (you know, plants, animals, people, etc.) are reborn over and over and over -- think of it as a type of "soul recycling"

-Hindus use yoga and meditation to strive for Nirvana (no, not the rock group!), the ultimate goal of life which ends the soul's "recycling process." The person finally returns to God (Brahman)

-The Hindu idea of "heaven" (Nirvana) is a lot different from the Christian concept; whereas Christians believe that a worthy person's body, and unique identity are resurrected by God after death, Hindus believe that once a person attains Nirvana, his or her individuality is annihilated -- like a drop of water dissolving in the ocean. 

BUDDHISM

- Dating from about 530 BC and originally a kind of offshoot of Hinduism, Buddhism is another monistic ("all is one") religion.

- Named for "The Buddha," a wealthy North Indian prince named Siddhartha Gautama who left everything behind at the age of 21 to pursue the meaning of life. The name "Buddha" means "The Enlightened One."

- After praying and wandering on his excellent adventure," the Buddha concluded that all of human suffering was caused by SELFISH DESIRE, and that people create their own heaven or hell.

-The Buddha's basic philosophy is contained in "The Four Noble Truths"

1. Man's life is filled with misery and suffering; everyone can see this.

2. Misery and suffering are caused by selfish desire.

3. Selfish desire can be eliminated and thus so can misery and suffering.

4. There is an 8-part path that lead to the elimination of selfishness.

ZEN BUDDISHM

- A Japanese form of Buddishm that became a significant spiritual movement in the 12th century AD. It promotes sudden enlightenment (like, "EUREKA!") as opposed to the more traditional Buddisht view that enlightenment comes gradually.

- Zen Buddishts, like Hindus and "regular" Buddishts, are seeking Nirvana.

- Taught with riddles called "Koans," which are meant to awaken students through deep analysis and meditation.

JUDAISM

- Around 1850 B.C, a wandering polytheistic guy named Abram led his tribe out of the Ur valley of ancient Persia (better known as Iran today).

- Abram's God commanded him to sacrifice his son Isaac --but just as Abram was about to obey this harsh command, God took back the order and established a covenant with Abram and his offspring.

- God announced His name to be YAHWEH (which means "I AM WHO AM"), and He then gave Abram a new name: Abraham

-Abraham urged his followers to renounce their belief in other gods (they were all polytheists) in favor of Yahweh, the one true God who had established the covenant with him

-The Hebrew Bible teaches that Yahweh would send a messiah to save the chosen people of Israel, and today, religious Jews still await the coming of this messiah.

ISLAM

- Followers of Islam are called Muslims.

- A guy named Mohammed was born about 570 AD in a city called Mecca, which at that time was a center of polytheism. Mohammed was worshipping one of the local gods named Allah when he claimed to receive the following message from the Angel Gabriel: "There is about one God, his name is Allah, and Mohammed is his greatest prophet."

- Mohammed wrote his revelations in a book which became known as The Koran, the bible of Islam.

- The people of Mecca didn't like the fact that Mohammed denounced their many gods, and in 622 AD they drove him from Mecca.

- Mohammed returned to Mecca with an army, stomped some people, and proclaimed that Allah was the one true God.

- There are "Five Pillars" of the Islamic faith:

1. The creed ("There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.")

2. Prayer, which is typically done 5 times a day.

3. The month-long fast known as Ramadan (RA-MA-DON)

4. Almsgiving (giving to the poor) -- usually 2.5% of all belongings, given once a year.

5. A pilgrimage to Mecca (the holy city of Islam located in Saudi Arabia); this should be done at least once a year.

EASTERN RELIGIONS

Taoism (pronounced "DOW-ISM") and Confucianism are two ancient Chinese blends of philosophy and religion that coexist in harmony.

Taoism, which means "The Way," was founded by Lao-Tze in 640 BC. Its main teaching is to slow down and let life happen. (Like, chill, baby). Lao-Tze taught that people must respect their own nature of things around them in order to survive.

Confucianism is named for the dude named Kung-Fu-Tzu, or "Kung the Teacher"; Confucius is a Latin version of his name. Anyway, this Kung guy was bom in China to a very interesting set of parents: his dad and mom were married when dad was 70 and mom was 15! (I guess they did things a little differently back then.) Okay, so Kung grew up to be a really brainy man, and he eventually believed that God chose him to teach the Chinese how to live peacefully. After Kung died in 479 B.C., he was thought of as a god by some. It's important to note that Confucianism is a system of moral guidance -- it's not exactly a religion.

Shinto is a complicated system of religious and ethical ideas that existed in Japan before Buddhism and Hinduism were introduced there. Shinto holds the belief in many gods; it is generally accepted that two gods created the world and gave birth to a sun goddess who is the ancestor of the Mikado, or the Emperor of Japan.

So if you're payin' attention, that means the Emperor was thought to be divine! But with the loss of World War II, many Japanese people believed that the Shinto gods had been defeated -- and as a result, the Japanese Emperor declared that Shinto was no longer the official religion of Japan, and that he wasn't a god.

CHRISTIANITY

Since you already know most of this stuff. I'll just tell ya that there are three main divisions within Christianity: Catholicism (YEAH!), the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the various Protestant churches.

Had enough religion for one day? I thought so. Since the world is literally packed with religious beliefs, may I suggest some additional reading. TRUST ME: the book I'm about to suggest is only 111 pages long, and it's really interesting reading. You could even bring it to the beach (or wherever you spend time in the summer). So here it is:

World Religions by Father John T. Catoir. You can get a copy by contacting The Christophers, 12 East 48th Street. New York, NY 10017, telephone (212) 759-4050.