"Culture and Worship" Analysis of how the 5 largest religions (Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam) each use different metheds to manifest worship.

Essay by sippityflowUniversity, Bachelor's April 2005

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In our world there is an innumerable number of societies and cultures that cover our earth and inhabit even the most remote and inhospitable locations. If one were to examine many of these cultures they would find that each is very unique and unlike the others in almost every way. Yet, there is one common bond that links all societies and cultures together. This link comes in the form curiosity about man's beginnings, purpose, and afterlife.

From this universal curiosity spring up countless beliefs and ideals that are meant to give closure to these burning questions. These beliefs then generally manifest themselves into some form of worship of a higher power and begin to form the foundation of an organized religion. It is amazing to see how people who are completely isolated from outside communities or are on opposite ends of the earth all go through this same process and achieve similar results.

Even though, worship is a common element amongst people all over the world its content, meaning, and purpose can differ greatly. Worship is carried out in many different ways by many different people. Some religions and cultures practice worship through self sacrifice or ascetics, some feel that by keeping themselves in constant prostration to their higher power they are worshipping, and others simply worship through song, dance, and music. Keeping with this idea of worship, I am going to discuss how the followers of a few of the world's major religions use this particular aspect of religion to practice and maintain their faith according to its own particular beliefs.

I will start off by analyzing the religion whose form of worship may be the most unclear and unique as compared to the general connotations of worship given to us by many of the other religions of the...