Учебно-методическое пособие по работе с темой "COUNTRY PROFILE". Дедова С.А. - 18 стр.

3. Read a brief review of religions worldwide.                                      whelmingly in India and Nepal today. It represents beliefs in the impor-
                                                                                    tance of karma, reincarnation, and many gods. Temples are a vision of the
                            ROLE OF RELIGION                                        world in miniature. Hindus numbered 747 million in 1997 (12.8 % of the
                                                                                    world).
        Our world view originates in our culture. And one of the predomi-
                                                                                           Judaism.
nant elements of culture that gives us our world view is religion. Al relig-
                                                                                           It originated with Semitic seminomads in the Middle East about
ions imply in one way or another that human beings do not and cannot stand
                                                                                    33 000 BCE. About 1300 BCE the earliest texts of the Old Testament ap-
alone. For well over four thousands years, people have concluded that
                                                                                    peared. Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. Persecuted by the Romans, they
they depend on powers in nature or elsewhere that are external to themselves.
                                                                                    departed creating a Jewish Diaspora. Jews are widely scattered, with almost
        Religion has helped people explain things that they could not other-
                                                                                    six million in North America, four million in Israel and three million in
wise understand or explain. Whether it be conceptions of a first cause of
                                                                                    Russia. They are monotheistic and strongly ethnic. Judaism is based on
all things or natural occurrences such as comets, floods, lighting, thun-
                                                                                    beliefs in Torah consisting of five books plus commentary. Zionist move-
der, drought, disease, or abundance, people have relied on religious ex-
                                                                                    ment led to the establishment of Israel in 1948. Jews numbered 15 million
planations for understanding.
                                                                                    in 1997 (0.25 % of the world). In the US there are almost 6 million Jews (2
        Religion has also helped people recognize where they from, why
                                                                                    million live in New York City), compared with under 5 million in Israel.
they die, and what happens when they die. The diversity of human behav-
                                                                                           Buddhism.
iour in these circumstances depends upon the religious view that has devel-
                                                                                           Founded about 525 BCE by Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) near the
oped and prevailed in a culture. According to the Koran, death is like enter-
                                                                                    Ganges River, it is a reformation of Hinduism. It was spread by missionar-
ing the original Garden of Eden, with abundant fruits and many maidens.
                                                                                    ies and trade caravans. It is found overwhelmingly in Asia, especially in Sri
        Religion teaches values, in part, through taboos. The eating of pork,
                                                                                    Lanka, Tibet, and Indochina, with relatively few in India. Buddhism is
for instance, is a Jewish social taboo; the Jain of India prohibits the eating
                                                                                    combined with traditional Chinese beliefs in China and Shintoism in Japan.
of all meat. And among the taboos of Islam is a prohibition against the con-
                                                                                    Suffering is caused by the desire for material goods. Buddhists believe in
sumption of alcohol.
                                                                                    the sanctity of all life and importance of meditation to end the cycle of re-
        The teaching of taboos serves a useful social function in giving di-
                                                                                    incarnation. They numbered 353 million in 1997 (6.0 % of the world).
rection for socially acceptable behaviour. Knowing about religions can
                                                                                           Christianity.
provide insight into values and behaviour or at least offer explanations for
perceived behaviour.                                                                                              ‘Christianity started out in Palestine as a fellowship;
        People in Ireland, the United States and Spain have strong beliefs in                                            it moved to Greece and became a philosophy;
                                                                                                                            it moved to Italy and became an institution;
the devil, but people in France, Denmark, and Sweden do not. People in the
                                                                                                                              it moved to Europe and became a culture;
United States tend to believe in heaven; Hindus in India believe in reincar-                                            it came to America and became an enterprise’.
nation. These belief differences have some impact on the behaviour of the                                                               Sam Pascoe, American Scholar.
people.
        Although there are literally thousands of religions, they can he set into          Founded in the Middle East by Jesus Christ (4 BCE – 29 A.D.), it
a few major categories, each of which has a view of God, a founder, sa-             developed as an European religious system. Its beliefs include eternal life.
cred writings, holy places, holy days, sacred symbols, and the like.                It was spread by Roman Empire after Emperor’s conversion (313), by later
        Hinduism.                                                                   colonial empires, and migration. Its major divisions are Roman Catholic,
        Founded in Indus Valley about 3 500 BCE within Dravidian Civili-            Eastern Orthodox (split in 1066 A.D.), Protestant and Anglican (Luther
zation, it later incorporated the religion brought by Aryan invaders from           1519, etc). New denominations in America include Mormon (1830) with
1500 BCE onwards. The Aryans came with oral histories in Sanskrit, in-              4.4 million. Christians numbered 1,930 million in 1997 (33.0 % of the
cluding Vedas with over a thousand hymns. Hinduism is located over-                 world).

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