Christianity Compared to Muslim Traditions Research Paper

Christianity Compargond to Muslim Traditions - Research Paper ExampleIn the year 1689 nates Locke argued that no citizen of a state should be denied rights merely based on their religious beliefs. On the basis of this argument, a radical change spread crosswise the Western nations, beginning in the New World and eventually into the European states towards a tolerance and level of acceptance that was intended to provide every matchless the same opportunities without encounter to their religious affiliation (Lewis and churchill, 1). Bias, on the other hand, is a very different sort of experience and the bias that exists against other belief systems has been a driving suck for the evil that men will do for thousands of years. In recent history two religions that have come into conflict based on political ideologies are those of Christianity and Islam where neither people fully understands the other. If looked at from an observational perspective, however, the religions are not that far apart in their beliefs or in the pattern of those beliefs. While aspects of the Muslim and Christian religion are very far apart, the central judgments that hold each of the religions together are very similar in practice. Perspectives on ChristianityChristianity encompasses a number of different denominations that all have small differences in the way in which they worship. Denominational differences primarily occurred during the time of the Reformation after Martin Luther took exception to the idea of selling forgiveness by the Catholic Church. The Christian religion has undergone a long list of changes from its beginning. The followers of Christ were originally rebels against a polytheistic society. after(prenominal) centuries of spreading the word, European followers were suddenly the oppressors creating wars and hosting invasive organizations like the Inquisition which judged and harmed. The organization of Christianity into a political system created a spiritual world w ith one foot in the secular as it began to function as members of state and as a center of wealth. Catholicism There about 900 million Catholics in the world today, which comprise about half of the Christian population. A Catholic church is headed by the clergy who are closely priests and bishops. There are ranks within the Church with the leader of the Church being the Pope. One of the more interesting practices of the Church is the event of electing a novel Pope. As the Cardinals vote on electing a new Pope they will release black smoke form the chimney on days that they fail to vote in a new leader. On the final day that they choose a new Pope, the chimney will release white smoke, indicating to the masses that a new Pope has been elected (Penney 12). The most important celebration within the Catholic Church is the taking of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is Communion, which means that the individual has confessed their sins and is in a state of forgiveness, opening them to commu nication with idol through share in a symbolic meal with Him. The worshiper takes in a wafer that symbolizes the bread which is the body of Christ and drinks wine, believing that this symbolizes the blood of Christ. This practice had many tribal communities that missionaries had approached and tried to teach the ways of Christian worship believing that Christians were cannibals (Jones 62). This practice, however, is intended to symbolizing becoming one with God through sharing of food and drink. As well, the worshiper becomes connected to the divine, thus the requirement for having cleared the conscious before participating. There are many symbolic rites that are conducted in the Catholic Church. The sign of the Cross is made when entering into a Church as the worshiper kneels before entering a pew. As well, this practice, called genuflecting, is also conducted when the believer leaves the pew. The worshiper has dipped their fingers into holy water before making the sign of the c ross, creating a a symbolic washing of the heart before touching the head, solar plexus, left