one for the road

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/14874641/detail.html

True spirituality is of the soul and we are not binded to any one leader or person regardless how pure they are told to be. We must ascend the chains of following what other people teach us and decide for ourselves what we truly want to be.

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BAsically what father john martin is saying is a quote you gave us at the beginning of the school semester by George Bernard Shaw "There is only one religion, though there are a hundred versions of it”. Basically every religion is trying to secure its believers a wonderful afterlife and the only way is by believieng in each religions specific god. Do I believe what he says? Well I have'nt reached the top of the peak yet. Or as I see it I have'nt died yet so I don't know if we all end up in the samme place.

In my heart I want to say no though I don't believe him. Mainly because of the way I was raised . I was taught there is only one way to god and the path is long and narrow. That chrisitanity is the way truth and the light. I will always subscribe to these methods But i don believe in John martin vision that all religions shuould coincide peacefully and applaude him for his learning community. I especially want to learn more of Buddhism in the future.

God bless everyone and have a wonderful christmas and new year.

time warp

I think jesus and martin luther would be shocked. I think they would be just so surprised at how the world has changed since they left it. I think they would'nt be able to watch tv , read anewspaper or even be able to listen to the radio.Everyone of the pre-emminent forms of christinaity has its own faults and bright spots. For example roman catholicism would have to be discriminated by martin Luther because it is the type of formulaic approach to christianity he was against. I can't be too sure of jesus's response but I doubt it would be positive as the conduct of a select number of catholic priests tarnish the reputation of the church.I think the same view would apply to the eastern orthodox church.

I know martin Luther would love the worship and fire of the protestant church as would jesus however the shortcomings of this specific form of christionaity is in its closed minded approach. I think very few protestants still subscribe to forgiveness and loving everyone , thought thats just my opinion.

Chrisitinaity overall is not ean easy belief system as it purports to be as it is about purity and honesty , and it todays day and age of sex and violence it is very hard to live the life of chrisitanity Jesus and Martin Luther envisioned.

Intreview with a religous leader

As I said in my interview being in a new place where I had never been before was uncomfortable and strange but I still managed to get the interview done. I stood in the back for a while until finally approached by an elder who asked If I needed help of course my response was yea and told him I was doing a report for college and needed to interviews an elder.So I was led to an elder and he asked me my purpose for the visit was to discover diwali and its roots. He was more than happy to show me and also was able to show me the worship process as it was the day of diwali itself. Before the service formally started he taught the background of diwali and all of its story. He went into detail about the way Rama was sent away from his kingdom ayodyha and his subsequesnt return . His path back being lighted by candles placed there by people from his kingdom.therein grew the tradition of diwali or festival of lights.

Then after detailing the background he assumed I was hindu, perhaps due to me being Inidan and my willingness to learn what he was saying.First he siad every prayer in the hindu religion starts with a prayer to hanuman because he is the god of good brginnings. So of course we chanted his name and alll the qualities he embodied. We also paryed to goddess lakshmi as she is the god of properity and wealth.to honor her we laid down flowers and threw rice all materials we needed were in a plate for each individual.These specific gods were prayed to because diwali also signifies a new year spiritually and the 2 gods we pray to embody things people want at the start of the year. We then tied a brotherhood string aound eachother left arms to signal unity.And to finish up we put dots on eachothers foreheads though I am not quite sure what it signifies. I then thanked the man and left.

Current event 10

Beliefnet.com has honored people every year with awards for doing inspiring things and changing the world around us. This year being no different numerous people were nominated for doing inspiring things including Angelina jolie and Don cheadle.Angelina who gives about one third of hear yearly earnings to charities(commands 15-20million a movie)and Don Cheadle focuses on helping Darfur.Liviu Librescu however beat everyone else, A virgina tech professor present the day of the shooting, saw the gunman coming to the class and barricaded the door with his body preventing him from coming in. He saved the lives of thirty student who escaped throught the classroom windows. What makes this feat even more impressive is the fact he was a holocaust survivor who was interned at a Romanian prison camp. Another notable from earlier in the year is Wesley Autrey the newyork man who saved the life of a man who had fallen onto the tracks after having a seizure.

the full story is at http://www.beliefnet.com/story/227/story_22747_1.html

Animoto

The video just shows some contemporary views that modern Christianity has. There is the good side with picture of forgiveness , Jesus and his willingness to sacrifice himself for us and of course an example of love with mother Teresa holding an orphan child.

There are also symbols of the side of christianity that is constantly in the news and is supported in politics.

Judaism

Key Points Of Judaism

The basis of all beliefs in Judaism arise from the written and oral Torah. There beliefs are supposedly based off of 13 principles. Over the years various interpretations of the torah has been developed , but the most widely accepted was written by jewish scholar Moses ben Maimon. He has 13 basic principles.

1. G-d exists
2. G-d is one and unique
3. G-d is incorporeal
4. G-d is eternal
5. Prayer is to be directed to G-d alone and to no other
6. The words of the prophets are true
7. Moses' prophecies are true, and Moses was the greatest of the prophets
8. The Written Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) and Oral Torah (teachings now contained in the Talmud and other writings) were given to Moses
9. There will be no other Torah
10. G-d knows the thoughts and deeds of men
11. G-d will reward the good and punish the wicked
12. The Messiah will come
13. The dead will be resurrected

I got this off a website Judaism 101. Apparently the author can not type the word God.Orthodox Judaism believes in the strict practice of these principles and had two forms Haredi and Modern orthodox judaism. Haredis are ultra conservative and believe mainly in prayer and study and refuse modernity. Modern Orthodox Jews adhere to all the above beliefs but are more liberal and accept living in secular and/or non jewish enviroments.

Conservative jews follow all traditonal rules and customs and have a positive attitude towards modern culture.The main difference from orthodox judaism is that it believes that the torah is divinely written by prophets inspired by God but not directly given to moses from God.Rabbis hold the power of interpretation to reflect modern trends and sensibilities. So it rejects the 7th principle.

Reform is considered liberal or progressive and is based on the principles that german jewish leaders formed in 1843.

1.Continuations in development of Judaism
2.Talmud has no authority on the modern Jew.
3.Seek no Messiah, and know no homeland but land of birth.

Compared to protestant churches and uses vernacular and less hebrew.Rejects the fifth
principle of the 13 principles.