PART C
Christianity ✝️
Christianity began in the 1st century CE after Jesus died and was resurrected. Starting as a small group of
Jewish people in Judea, it spread quickly throughout the Roman Empire. Despite early persecution of
Christians, it later became the state religion. In the Middle Ages it spread into Northern Europe and
Russia. During the Age of Exploration, Christianity expanded throughout the world; it is currently the
largest religion of the world.
Christians believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God – fully human and fully divine – and that through
believing in him and following his teachings they can inherit eternal life. Christians believe that Jesus
died for humanity, that God raised him from the dead, and that Jesus will come again at the end of time.
In addition, Christians believe in the Trinity, or the three parts of God: God the Father or Creator, God
the Son (Jesus) or Redeemer, and God the Holy Spirit or Sanctifier. The Holy Spirit is God's presence in
the world.
Depending on the specific denomination of Christianity, practices may include baptism, the Eucharist
(Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper), prayer (including the Lord's Prayer), confession, confirmation,
burial rites, marriage rites and the religious education of children. Most denominations have ordained
clergy who lead regular communal worship services. Christian rites, rituals, and ceremonies are not
celebrated in one single sacred language. Many ritualistic Christian churches make a distinction between
sacred language, liturgical language and vernacular language. The three important languages in the early
Christian era were: Latin, Greek and Syriac.
Islam ✝️
Islam, major world religion promulgated by the Prophet Muhammad in Arabia in the 7th century CE. The
Arabic term islām, literally “surrender,” illuminates the fundamental religious idea of Islam—that the
believer (called a Muslim, from the active particle of islām) accepts surrender to the will of Allah (in
Arabic, Allāh: God). Allah is viewed as the sole God—creator, sustainer, and restorer of the world. The
will of Allah, to which human beings must submit, is made known through the sacred scriptures, the
Qurʾān (often spelled Koran in English), which Allah revealed to his messenger, Muhammad. In Islam
Muhammad is considered the last of a series of prophets (including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses,
Solomon, and Jesus), and his message simultaneously consummates and completes the “revelations”
attributed to earlier prophets.
The religious obligations of all Muslims are summed up in the Five Pillars of Islam, which include belief in
God and his Prophet and obligations of prayer, charity, pilgrimage, and fasting. The fundamental
concept of Islam is the Sharīʿāh—its law, which embraces the total way of life commanded by God.
Observant Muslims pray five times a day and join in community worship on Fridays at the mosque,
where worship is led by an imam. Every believer is required to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest
city, at least once in a lifetime, barring poverty or physical incapacity. The month of Ramadan is set aside
for fasting. Alcohol and pork are always forbidden, as are gambling, usury, fraud, slander, and the
making of images. In addition to Eid al-Fitr, which celebrates the breaking of the fast of Ramadan,
Muslims celebrate Muhammad’s birthday and his ascension into heaven. Eid al-Adha inaugurates the
season of pilgrimage to Mecca.
Hinduism ॐ
Most scholars believe Hinduism started somewhere between 2300 B.C. and 1500 B.C. in the Indus Valley,
near modern-day Pakistan. But many Hindus argue that their faith is timeless and has always existed.
Unlike other religions, Hinduism has no one founder but is instead a fusion of various beliefs. Around
1500 B.C., the Indo-Aryan people migrated to the Indus Valley, and their language and culture blended
with that of the indigenous people living in the region. There’s some debate over who influenced whom
more during this time. The period when the Vedas were composed became known as the “Vedic Period”
and lasted from about 1500 B.C. to 500 B.C. Rituals, such as sacrifices and chanting, were common in the
Vedic Period. The Epic, Puranic and Classic Periods took place between 500 B.C. and 500 A.D. Hindus
began to emphasize the worship of deities, especially Vishnu, Shiva and Devi. The concept of dharma
was introduced in new texts, and other faiths, such as Buddhism and Jainism, spread rapidly.
Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs called Purusharthas, refers to the objectives of human life. Classical
Hindu thought accepts four proper goals or aims of human life, known as Puruṣārthas: include (but are
not restricted to) Dharma (ethics/duties), saṃsāra (the continuing cycle of entanglement in passions and
the resulting birth, life, death, and rebirth), Karma (action, intent, and consequences), moksha
(liberation from attachment and saṃsāra), and the various yogas (paths or practices).
The second strand in the fabric of Hinduism is practice. Many Hindus, in fact, would place this first.
Despite India’s enormous diversity, a common grammar of ritual behaviour connects various places,
strata, and periods of Hindu life. While it is true that various elements of Vedic ritual survive in modern
practice and thereby serve a unifying function, much more influential commonalities appear in the
worship of icons or images (pratima, murti, or archa). Broadly, this is called puja (“honouring [the
deity]”); if performed in a temple by a priest, it is called archana. It echoes conventions of hospitality
that might be performed for an honoured guest, especially the giving and sharing of food. Such food is
called prasada (Hindi, prasad meaning “grace”), reflecting the recognition that when human beings
make offerings to deities, the initiative is not really theirs. They are actually responding to the generosity
that bore them into a world fecund with life and possibility. The divine personality installed as a home or
temple image receives prasada, tasting it (Hindus differ as to whether this is a real or symbolic act, gross
or subtle) and offering the remains to worshipers. Some Hindus also believe that prasada is infused with
the grace of the deity to whom it is offered. Consuming these leftovers, worshipers accept their status
as beings inferior to and dependent upon the divine. An element of tension arises because the logic of
puja and prasada seems to accord all humans an equal status with respect to God, yet exclusionary rules
have sometimes been sanctified rather than challenged by prasada-based ritual.
Buddhism ✝️
When Gautama passed away around 483 B.C., his followers began to organize a religious movement.
Buddha’s teachings became the foundation for what would develop into Buddhism. In the 3rd century
B.C., Ashoka the Great, the Mauryan Indian emperor, made Buddhism the state religion of India.
Buddhist monasteries were built, and missionary work was encouraged. Over the next few centuries,
Buddhism began to spread beyond India. The thoughts and philosophies of Buddhists became diverse,
with some followers interpreting ideas differently than others. In the sixth century, the Huns invaded
India and destroyed hundreds of Buddhist monasteries, but the intruders were eventually driven out of
the country. Islam began to spread quickly in the region during the Middle Ages, forcing Buddhism into
the background.
Some key Buddhism beliefs include:
Followers of Buddhism don’t acknowledge a supreme god or deity. They instead focus on achieving
enlightenment—a state of inner peace and wisdom. When followers reach this spiritual echelon, they’re
said to have experienced nirvana.
The religion’s founder, Buddha, is considered an extraordinary being, but not a god. The word Buddha
means “enlightened.”
The path to enlightenment is attained by utilizing morality, meditation and wisdom. Buddhists often
meditate because they believe it helps awaken truth.
There are many philosophies and interpretations within Buddhism, making it a tolerant and evolving
religion.
Some scholars don’t recognize Buddhism as an organized religion, but rather, a “way of life” or a
“spiritual tradition.”
Buddhism encourages its people to avoid self-indulgence but also self-denial.
Buddha’s most important teachings, known as The Four Noble Truths, are essential to understanding the
religion.
Buddhists embrace the concepts of karma (the law of cause and effect) and reincarnation (the
continuous cycle of rebirth).
Followers of Buddhism can worship in temples or in their own homes.
Buddhist monks, or bhikkhus, follow a strict code of conduct, which includes celibacy.
There is no single Buddhist symbol, but a number of images have evolved that represent Buddhist
beliefs, including the lotus flower, the eight-spoked dharma wheel, the Bodhi tree and the swastika (an
ancient symbol whose name means "well-being" or "good fortune" in Sanskrit).
Shintoism ✝️
In the late 6th century AD the name Shinto was created for the native religion to distinguish it from
Buddhism and Confucianism, which had been introduced from China. Shinto was rapidly overshadowed
by Buddhism, and the native gods were generally regarded as manifestations of Buddha in a previous
state of existence. Buddhist priests became the custodians of Shinto shrines and introduced their own
ornaments, images, and ritual. At the end of the 8th and the beginning of the 9th centuries, the
celebrated Japanese teacher Kukai, or (posthumously) Kobo Daishi, established a doctrine uniting
Buddhism and Shinto under the name of Ryobu Shinto (Japanese, "the Shinto of two kinds"). In the new
religion, Buddhism dominated Shinto, and elements were adopted from Confucianism. The ancient
practice of Shinto proper virtually disappeared and was maintained only at a few great shrines and in
the imperial palace, although the emperors themselves had become Buddhists. The distinctively Shinto
priests became fortune-tellers and magicians.
At the core of Shinto is the belief in and worship of kami—the essence of spirit that can be present in all
things.
According to Shinto belief, the natural state of human beings is purity. Impurity comes from everyday
occurrences but can be cleansed through ritual.
Visiting shrines, purification, reciting prayers, and giving offerings are essential Shinto practices.
Funerals do not take place in Shinto shrines, as death is considered impure.
Sikhism ☬
In the Punjab region of the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, and present-day Pakistan, in the
sixteenth century, of the ten Sikh Gurus, the first, Guru Nanak, founded the Sikh faith. The tenth, Guru
Gobind Singh, formalised its practices on 13 April 1699.[1] He baptised five Sikh people from different
parts of India, with different social backgrounds, to form Khalsa (✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️). Those five Beloved Ones,
the Pañj Piārē, then baptised him into the Khalsa fold.[2] This gives the order of Khalsa a history of
around 300 years.
Influenced by the devotional emphasis of bhakti Hinduism and Sufi Islam, Sikhism stresses the unity,
truth, and creativity of a personal God and urges union with him through meditation on his title, the
Name (Nam), and surrender to his will. It also advocates active service rather than the Hindu ideal of
ascetic withdrawal. Loyalty and justice are admired, smoking and intoxicants forbidden. Sikhism also
rejects the Hindu caste system, priesthood, image worship, and pilgrimage, although it retains the Hindu
doctrines of transmigration and karma. The ultimate spiritual authority is the Adi Granth, consisting of
hymns by the ten Sikh gurus (Hindi for “teachers”) and Hindu and Muslim devotional poetry in several
languages. All Sikhs may read the Adi Granth, which is the focus of devotion at the Golden Temple in
Amritsar, the Sikh religious center.
Sikhs are expected to join the Khalsa (Punjabi for “pure”), a religious and military order. Initiates are
“baptized” by drinking sweetened water stirred with a sword, after which Sikh men take the surname
Singh (“lion”) and women take the surname Kaur (“prince,” or here, “princess”). Members of the Khalsa
are instructed to observe the five k‘s: They must wear four symbols of the Sikh faith—soldiers’ shorts
(kaccha), an iron bangle (kara), a steel sword (kirpan), and a comb (khanga)—and they must not cut their
hair (kes).
Judaism ✝️
At its core, the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) is an account of the Israelites' relationship with God from their
earliest history until the building of the Second Temple (c. 535 BCE). Abraham is hailed as the first
Hebrew and the father of the Jewish people. As a reward for his act of faith in one God, he was
promised that Isaac , his second son, would inherit the Land of Israel (then called Canaan). Later, Jacob
and his children were enslaved in Egypt, and God commanded Moses to lead the Exodus from Egypt.
At Mount Sinai they received the Torah — the five books of Moses . These books, together with Nevi'im
and Ketuvim are known as Tanakh, as opposed to the Oral Torah, which refers to the Mishna and the
Talmud.
Eventually, God led them to the land of Israel where the tabernacle was planted in the city of Shiloh for
over 300 years to rally the nation against attacking enemies. As time went on, the spiritual level of the
nation declined to the point that God allowed the Philistines to capture the tabernacle. The people of
Israel then told the prophet Samuel that they needed to be governed by a permanent king, and Samuel
appointed Saul to be their King. When the people pressured Saul into going against a command
conveyed to him by Samuel, God told Samuel to appoint David in his stead.
Jewish people believe there’s only one God who has established a covenant—or special agreement—
with them. Their God communicates to believers through prophets and rewards good deeds while also
punishing evil.
Most Jews (with the exception of a few groups) believe that their Messiah hasn’t yet come—but will one
day.
Jewish people worship in holy places known as synagogues, and their spiritual leaders are called rabbis.
The six-pointed Star of David is the symbol of Judaism.
For Jews, worship can take place either in the synagogue or at home. It is often more important to
practise faith at home. For example, this is the case for the practices related to Shabbat.
One of the key mitzvah is worship, which is a duty as part of the covenant with God. Worship is also
important to Jews because it brings the community together.
Worship in the synagogue includes daily services, rites of passage and festivals. Worship at home
includes prayers, Shabbat meals and study.
Taoism ☯
Taoism (also spelled Daoism) is a religion and a philosophy from ancient China that has influenced folk
and national belief. Taoism has been connected to the philosopher Lao Tzu, who around 500 B.C.E.
wrote the main book of Taoism, the Tao Te Ching. Taoism holds that humans and animals should live in
balance with the Tao, or the universe. Taoists believe in spiritual immortality, where the spirit of the
body joins the universe after death.
The Tao Te Ching, or “The Way and Its Power,” is a collection of poetry and sayings from around the
third and fourth centuries B.C.E. that guides Taoist thought and actions.
Jaina Dharma, as it is known popularly, is a truly ascetic religion which places heavy emphasis upon
ethical conduct, personal purity for the liberation of the individual Souls. Jainism does not believe in a
Creator God. It accepts the material universe as a self-existing system. Everything in it, including the
individual Soul, is an aspect of matter. Each Soul is eternal but it has states, shapes and sizes. In the
bound state (bandha) it is subject to karma and rebirth. It attains liberation only when it is able to
completely get rid of karma. Jainism was founded by 24 Perfect Beings, known as Tirthankaras, who
appeared upon earth in the past and laid the foundation for its doctrine. Mahavira was the last and the
most popular of the Tirthankaras. Since it is a difficult and austere religion, from the earliest times,
Jainism enjoyed popularity only among certain sections of Indian society, especially merchant
communities. It is a predominantly Indian religion, with some following abroad. In this section we
included information on the history, beliefs, practices, philosophy, and ethics of Jainism, and
comparison with other faiths. Jayaram V.The Tao (or Dao) is hard to define but is sometimes understood
as the way of the universe. Taoism teaches that all living creatures ought to live in a state of harmony
with the universe, and the energy found in it. Ch’i, or qi, is the energy present in and guiding everything
in the universe. The Tao Te Ching and other Taoist books provide guides for behavior and spiritual ways
of living in harmony with this energy. However, Taoists do not believe in this energy as a god. Rather,
there are gods as part of the Taoist beliefs, often introduced from the various cultures found in the
region known now as China. These gods are part of the Tao, like all living things. Taoism has temples,
monasteries, and priests who make offerings, meditate, and perform other rituals for their communities.
One of the main ideas of Taoism is the belief in balancing forces, or yin and yang. These ideas represent
matching pairs, such as light and dark, hot and cold, action and inaction, which work together toward a
universal whole. Yin and yang show that everything in the universe is connected and that nothing makes
sense by itself.
Jainism
Jainism is a religion founded in ancient India. Jains trace their history through twenty-four tirthankara
and revere Rishabhanatha as the first tirthankara (in the present time-cycle). Some artifacts found in the
Indus Valley civilization have been suggested as a link to ancient Jain culture, but very little is known
about the Indus Valley iconography and script. The last two tirthankara, the 23rd tirthankara
Parshvanatha (c. 9th–8th century BCE) and the 24th tirthankara Mahavira (c. 599 – c. 527 BCE) are
considered historical figures. Mahavira was a contemporary of the Buddha. According to Jain texts, the
22nd Tirthankara Neminatha lived about 85,000 years ago and was the cousin of Krishna.
Jaina Dharma, as it is known popularly, is a truly ascetic religion which places heavy emphasis upon
ethical conduct, personal purity for the liberation of the individual Souls. Jainism does not in a Creator
God. It accepts the material universe as a self-existing system. Everything in it, including the individual
Soul, is an aspect of matter. Each Soul is eternal but it has states, shapes and sizes. In the bound state
(bandha) it is subject to karma and rebirth. It attains liberation only when it is able to completely get rid
of karma. Jainism was founded by 24 Perfect Beings, known as Tirthankaras, who appeared upon earth
in the past and laid the foundation for its doctrine. Mahavira was the last and the most popular of the
Tirthankaras. Since it is a difficult and austere religion, from the earliest times, Jainism enjoyed
popularity only among certain sections of Indian society, especially merchant communities. It is a
predominantly Indian religion, with some following abroad. In this section we included information on
the history, beliefs, practices, philosophy, and ethics of Jainism, and comparison with other faiths.
Jayaram V.
Baha'i
The Bahāʾī religion originally grew out of the Bābī faith, or sect, which was founded in 1844 by Mīrzā ʿAlī
Moḥammad of Shīrāz in Iran. He proclaimed a spiritual doctrine emphasizing the forthcoming
appearance of a new prophet or messenger of God who would overturn old beliefs and customs and
usher in a new era. Though new, these beliefs originated in Twelver Shiʿi Islam, which asserts a belief in
the forthcoming return of the 12th imam (successor of Muhammad), who will renew religion and guide
the faithful. Mīrzā ʿAlī Moḥammad first proclaimed his beliefs in 1844 and assumed the title of the Bāb.
Soon the Bāb’s teachings spread throughout Iran, provoking strong opposition from both the Shiʿi
Muslim clergy and the government. The Bāb was arrested and, after several years of incarceration, was
executed in 1850. Large-scale persecutions of his adherents, the Bābīs, followed.
The writings and spoken words of the Bāb, Bahāʾ Allāh, and ʿAbd al-Bahāʾ form the sacred literature of
the Bahāʾī Faith. Membership in the Bahāʾī community is open to all who profess faith in Bahāʾ Allāh and
accept his teachings. There are no initiation ceremonies, no sacraments, and no clergy. Every Bahāʾī,
however, is under the spiritual obligation to pray daily; to abstain totally from narcotics, alcohol, or any
other substances that affect the mind; to practice monogamy; to obtain the consent of parents to
marriage; and to attend the Nineteen Day Feast on the first day of each month of the Bahāʾī calendar. If
capable, those between the ages of 15 and 70 are required to fast 19 days a year, going without food or
drink from sunrise to sunset. The Nineteen Day Feast, originally instituted by the Bāb, brings together
the Bahāʾīs of a given locality for prayer, the reading of scriptures, the discussion of community activities,
and the enjoyment of one another’s company. The feasts are designed to ensure universal participation
in the affairs of the community and the cultivation of the spirit of brotherhood and fellowship.
The Bahāʾīs use a calendar, established by the Bāb and confirmed by Bahāʾ Allāh, in which the year is
divided into 19 months of 19 days each, with the addition of 4 intercalary days (5 in leap years). The year
begins on the first day of spring, March 21, which is one of several holy days in the Bahāʾī calendar.
PART D
"Religion is the recognition of all our duties as divine commands."
- Immanuel Kant
Being a member of a religion, he really wanted to tell that it is our duty to follow the commands that is
being set by divine being.
…"a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and
forbidden -- beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church all those
who adhere to them."
- Emile Durkheim
I agree to his definition of religion as a system of beliefs and pratices that is sacred that makes them
unite through shared morality.
"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature... a protest against real suffering... it is the opium of the
people... the illusory sun which revolves around man for as long as he does not evolve around himself."
- Karl Marx
His definition of religion is very metaphorical where religion is where people in pain would go for
comfort and peace of mind.
Religion is what an individual does with his solitariness
- Alfred North Whitehead
I also agree with his definition that religion is the where an individual being alone to communicate with
some supernatural being.
"The lamps are different, but the light is the same."
- Jalalu'l-Din Rumi
I also agree to his definition that religion may vary but they primarily give an individual the same belief
of similar supernatural being.
PART E
History
On 8 August 1967, five leaders – the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore
and Thailand – sat down together in the main hall of the Department of Foreign Affairs building in
Bangkok, Thailand and signed a document. By virtue of that document, the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) was born. The five Foreign Ministers who signed it – Adam Malik of Indonesia,
Narciso R. Ramos of the Philippines, Tun Abdul Razak of Malaysia, S. Rajaratnam of Singapore, and
Thanat Khoman of Thailand – would subsequently be hailed as the Founding Fathers of probably the
most successful inter-governmental organization in the developing world today. And the document that
they signed would be known as the ASEAN Declaration. It was a short, simply-worded document
containing just five articles. It declared the establishment of an Association for Regional Cooperation
among the Countries of Southeast Asia to be known as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) and spelled out the aims and purposes of that Association.
Member
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok,
Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of
ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam then joined
on 7 January 1984, Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on
30 April 1999, making up what is today the ten Member States of ASEAN.
Objectives
As set out in the ASEAN Declaration, the aims and purposes of ASEAN are:
1. To accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region through
joint endeavours in the spirit of equality and partnership in order to strengthen the foundation for a
prosperous and peaceful community of Southeast Asian Nations;
2. To promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the
relationship among countries of the region and adherence to the principles of the United Nations
Charter;
3. To promote active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest in the
economic, social, cultural, technical, scientific and administrative fields;
4. To provide assistance to each other in the form of training and research facilities in the educational,
professional, technical and administrative spheres;
5. To collaborate more effectively for the greater utilisation of their agriculture and industries, the
expansion of their trade, including the study of the problems of international commodity trade, the
improvement of their transportation and communications facilities and the raising of the living
standards of their peoples;
6. To promote Southeast Asian studies; and
7. To maintain close and beneficial cooperation with existing international and regional organisations
with similar aims and purposes, and explore all avenues for even closer cooperation among themselves.
Benefits
Contributuon to the country