First of all I’m going to make a brief summary about the topic that was explained in class and, at the end of the blog I’ll answer the question made by the teacher.
To begging based in the teacher’s explanation, the religious institutions are based in creating parameters of life, in order to follow its system of belief.
It was explained; that during the middle the Catholic Religion had a lot of power among the citizens and the rulers of the kingdoms. Almost all the money that a family earned in that age was destined first of all for the Church and then for the kings.
One of the characteristic figures of this age was the Inquisition; this institution was distinguished for having a lot of power and dedicated to the suppression of heresy. But this institution had to stop doing its activities, when Catholicism started to decrease and lose its believers.
From this moment the Church began to lose power, and when the believers became aware of the practices carried out by the Inquisition decided to start in another religion.
Now based on the explanation made by the teacher, I’m going to make a brief summary about Judaism and Buddhism.
Judaism
First of all, I have to began with a short explanation of the Judaism history:
I have to talk about the Diaspora that was “the movement of people that went from one place to another, and spread in many cities”. The Jews suffered two important Diasporas:
a. The Babylonian Diaspora that was the first one, in which the king Nabucodonosor II expelled all the Jews from Israel and, destroyed the first Temple.
b. The second Diaspora, in which the Romans destroyed the second Temple, which nowadays is the Western Wall.
After the WWII, Jews recovered their lands, but when they returned they found that their lands was already occupied by the Palestinians, this problem created and have created many differences and wars among them.
Jews among them are considered as family, that all the time are sharing things without any interest, because they feel as one family.
Buddhism
The first Buda was called Siddhartha Gautama who was an Indian prince. His father in order to avoid that his son started in any religion, decided to kept him away from any pain, because pain was the entrance to the religion.
When Siddhartha got out of his castle, he realized that there was a lot of pain in the world, so he started feeling pain for what he was watching.
When he started to feel this pain; Siddhartha decided to make a long meditation and, he realized that life is trying to found equilibrium.
There is one thing that creates pain, which is desire. The pain is what makes people reincarnate life after life.
There is one important concept to define that is Samsara, which is the cycle of reincarnation in the Hinduism and Buddhism and the end of this cycle is to trying to stop desiring, which will allow to reach the Nirvana.
Finally to end this blog, I’m going to answer the question made by the teacher, which was:
• What is the difference between a Religious institution and a system of beliefs?
We have to differentiate these two concepts, a Religious Institution is “an institution that is established for not-for-profit and is for religious purposes only”. These institutions are created in order to make known their purposes and beliefs; also are distinguished for promoting and developing religious missions that have the purpose to serve for those that are more vulnerable. Additionally, the Religious Institutions have the task of teaching their beliefs, values and ethics in order to help crating a better society.
While a System of Beliefs or a Belief System is “a way of perceive and interact in a society guided by a set of established moral rules”. These beliefs or precepts determine all our actions, thoughts and behaviors not only of the individuals but also of the governments and rulers.
The Belief Systems can be religious or philosophies, developed by the cultures in order to cover all the necessities that societies require.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Teacher's explanation.
- Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons. Religious Institutions. (Online: http://www.rothgerber.com/showarea.aspx?Show=166)
- Charities Definition Inquiry. Chapter 30: Religious, Scientific and Public Educational Institutions. (Online: http://www.cdi.gov.au/report/cdi_chap30.htm)
- Oppapers.com. What Is A Belief System?. (Online: http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Belief-System/154716)
- Image Inquisición. La inquisición en la edad media (Brujas y Dioses Paganos). (Online: http://www.masclarin.com/2010/05/la-inquisicion-en-la-edad-media-brujas.html)
- Image Judaism. Diversidad del Judaismo actual. . (Online: http://www.kalipedia.com/religion-cultura/tema/diversidad-judaismo-actual.html?x=20070718klpprcryc_292.Kes)
- Image Buddhism. Filosofia Oriental. (Online: http://filosofiachina.blogspot.com/)
- YouTube's video.Belief Systems. Randall Niles.
