Religion is something that is held very sacred not only in the United States but all over the world. There are many religions across the globe, but the four that will be covered in this paper are Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam. As these four religions have many differences there are also many similarities to each of them. Christianity is the most widely followed religion in the world. According to the New York Times, 2.2 billion people are self-described Christian which is 32 percent of the world’s population (Harper, 2013).
Though Christianity has many different branches the basic beliefs stay pretty consistent. Christians believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Christians also follow the “Ten Commandments” in the Bible, which essentially is the rules to live by. These beliefs are carried out through practices such as Bible study, prayer, fasting, baptism, and confirmation. In a study done by Lifeway research group, 72 percent of “unchurched” people said that Christians are hypocrites.
This shows how people view Christians in a bad light; That they don’t practice what they preach. The culture for Christianity is to make the world a better place by displaying love towards one another. This is displayed throughout Christian literature in the Bible and other readings. With Christianity being such a popular religion one does not see any issues in business relations.
Judaism is a popular religion that is not as widely followed as Christianity but still has a base of followers of roughly 14 million.
The Jewish belief is to follow the “13 articles of faith” covers theological matters such as human nature and the afterlife. This is similar to the ten commandments in Christianity. Jewish beliefs are carried out through worship and prayer, the synagogue, and Rabbinic Law. Jewish people are said to be often stereotyped as being greedy people when it comes to financing. This dates way back due to the books and other writings by wealthy Jewish men were given the religion a bad rapport. The Jewish culture is one of love and unity. Jewish people pride themselves in acts of “Chesed” which is acts of love and kindness towards others. When it comes to business relations there are no practices that would impede the relationship from both parties. Buddhism is a religion that is unlike the others in the sense that there is no god that is followed. Buddhism is a practice that is often debated rather it is a religion or if it is a philosophy. Even though there is no god that is followed the religion itself is followed by more than 500 million people. Budda is the leader that is followed in the religion and his beliefs for himself and his followers is that nothing is permanent. The three main beliefs they have are Universal Truths, The Four Noble Truths, and The Noble Eightfold Path. The practices of the religion are Mantras, Meditation, and monasticism. The view of others of Buddhism is that it is a place for spiritual people that do not consider themselves religious. The culture associated with the Buddhism religion is one of being one with yourself. Also, they believe in a stress-free, loving lifestyle. With the religion being a caring and more of personal lifestyle there aren’t any aspects of the religion that may affect business relationships. Islam is a religion that it is very popular in the Asia-Pacific region of the world. With 1.6 billion followers Islam is the second most popular religion behind Christianity.
The Islamic belief is there is only one god (Allah) and he is the single most important tenet. Beliefs are the Five Pillars: Faith, Prayer, Alms, Pilgrimage, Fasting. Mosque services on Fridays. Ablutions before prayer. No alcohol or pork. Holidays related to the pilgrimage and fast of Ramadan. With Islam and Christianity being at war seemingly as long as the religions have existed, Christians view Muslims in a bad light. In the Islamic faith, most followers are devoted to the scriptures. In the Qur’an, both men and women should “guard their modesty and looks.” It explicitly states that women should “draw cover over their bodies and bosoms, and not display their beauty except to their husbands, or their fathers”. As not all followers still follow this scripture, many in the Islam faith still do. As many do believe that faith does not impact business relationships, there are sure to be some instances of butting heads. In conclusion, many religions have different views and stances on different topics but all have one common goal. That is the goal is to benefit the people that follow as much as possible. Like all people who follow a religion, it is a sense of purpose for life. All religions that have been covered Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam are all religions of love and care for the better good of all of their followers.
The Pilgrimage And Fast Of Ramadan. (2022, Jun 10). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/the-pilgrimage-and-fast-of-ramadan/