Religion also provided a strong role in the governments of different societies around the world. Even today the American government is based on the beliefs of the Christian faith and Christian values. Other civilizations base their government practices on different religious beliefs and have been for thousands of years. The Ottoman Empire was an empire that was very heavily influenced by their Islamic faith. Their religion served as the base for their entire societal structure.
Week 2 Writing Assignment Religion is probably one of the most powerful and influential faiths in the world. Religion has a history that dates back to the most ancient of times, therefore it holds the most influence on our world today. Abraham was the first man to spread religion and it was said he was given a mission by God himself. Many thousands of years later, the Virgin Mary gave life to Jesus Christ. Today, the Virgin Mary is seen as the mother of all.
Countries that do have a national religion often face more violent and extreme problems. BBC news produced a special, titled, The Battle for Islam. This documentary is a prime example of how the national religion influences peoples everyday lives. Throughout the documentary, people are talking about the importance and significance of a national religion. In most Islamic countries, there are a very large population of one sec of Islam.
Christianity has flourished for the past thousand years and has taken hold in every continent in some form or fashion. In order to sell Christianity, it was important that many of the locals find some form of acceptance or way to identify with the new religion. Such a representation can be found the Celtic Cross. The Celts had many gods, but they had one deity above the rest, Morrigan. Morrigan was the sun god and had a symbol that resembled a circle.
Compare and Contrast Shiite, Sunni, and Sufi Mohammad Qahoush Period 5 5/22/2013 WHAP Today Islam is considered one of the largest religions of the world. With over one billion followers it is without a doubt a large impact on the world today and the history behind it. Like other religions Islam faced a split in followers not dissimilar to the Great Schism between the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches. The three main sects found today are Sunnis with 940 million followers, Shiites with 120 million, and Suffis who make up less than five percent of the Muslim population (http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_shiite.html). However, this split within a religion has caused the most bloodshed and warfare to arise based on religious disagreement in history.
Anglo-Saxon Religion Historically, religion has played a huge role in every major civilization. The Anglo-Saxons are no different. Their religious history is an interesting one because they were both pagan and Christian. It can be clearly seen in the course of England’s history just how important religion was to the stability and unification of the many scattered kingdoms in Britain. Eric John, the author of Reassessing Anglo-Saxon England, tells us that the Anglo-Saxons were pagans for the first two centuries that they were in England.
Both religions founded from the Judaism belief in one God. Both Christianity and Islam agree that humans are the ruling species upon the earth. Both believers of Islam and Christianity believe that they are the children of Abraham. Whereas similarities in foundational beliefs and origin exist, many differences divide the two nations of believers. In the 1,300 years after the life of Muhammad, the relationships between Christianity and Islam have remained less than harmonious.
Though both Christianity and Islam believe themselves to be the one true religion, Islam went about establishing itself as a dominant religion differently…by the way of the sword. The Islam religion was originated by the prophet Muhammad. He spread this faith first to his family and friends, and then went on teaching it to his clan. He formed a tight society that eventually “brought most of southern and western Arabia under its control.”(Bentley 90) After Muhammad’s death, his followers went on to expand the first Islamic Empire. Such areas included: Egypt, North Africa, Armenia, etc.
The influence of western culture has permeated nearly every part of the world. Even before Christopher Columbus made his famous voyage, westerns have been spreading their language, traditions and especially their religion. The largest of which happened to be Christianity, specifically the Catholic Church. Christianity is a very strong evangelical power that firmly believed, spread and enforced the teachings of the Bible. Both “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce and The Inferno by Dante depict a vivid image of hell formed by western influence, specifically the Christian Bible.
The main disagreement being that Christians believe that all men are created equal and Muslims believe that they are the chosen ones and all others are considered infidels. The First Crusades were a result of this. Palestine and Syria were dominated by Christians due to a counter attack after Muslims began trying to spread the Muslim Religion. About two hundred years later, these two states were then destroyed by Muslims. The ways of the world have changed, and things are not quite so barbaric.