Religion and Theology

Religion is defined as a way of worship as well as faith, with a belief based on the benevolent God. Each religion has a set of rules and well defined customs that each member who subscribes to it must to follow. In this context, this study will be on Islam, Christianity as well as Judaism. Judaism is a religion that is common with the Jews. It has its own values that the adherents should uphold at all times. This religion tends to lay greater emphasis on the current life than the life after death. One of the main issues affecting the Jews is Anti-Semitism. Palestinians have always been particularly hostile toward the Jews. Another issue that the Jews are facing is Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson. This is a movie that is very controversial and it tends to focus on the final 12 hours of the life of Jesus (Robinson, 2009).

Christianity is a religion practiced by the Christians. They believe in the teachings of the Bible and view Jesus Christ as the link that is aimed to reconnect man to God. Abortion remains one of the most contentious issues to Christians. Christians have never supported abortion but there have been medical grounds that always have aimed at saving lives. Christians believe in the sanctity of life and under no condition should this be violated. Another issue is homosexuality that has been taking root in the society. The followers of Islamic religion believe in a single God known as Allah. They believe that Jesus was a prophet and Muhammad was the last prophet. They believe in spiritual scripture in the Quran. They face issues of discrimination and divisions within religious groups (Robinson, 2009).

Judaism
The Jews face the issue of anti-Semitism. They are subjected to discrimination and hatred by their neighbors. Their neighbors usually believe that Jews always want to find ways of harming the society. They also believe that if Jews are not checked, they would take control of their surrounding societies. Their neighbors are constantly fighting them. An example is Israel that hosts many Jews and is always attacked by the Palestinians. Many Jews live in the hostile surroundings of the Middle East. Their neighbors like Iran boast of sophisticated weapons that include nuclear weapons. They are always in constant risk (Robinson, 2009).

Jews like Christians have an issue concerning homosexuality. This is an act that for a very long time had been considered an abomination in Judaism. Some factions have since arisen within Judaism that seems to support homosexuality. However, this vice still remains unwelcome and least discussed aspect of life. Some members of the Jew community engage in homosexuality but they do it secretly to avoid attracting the wrath of the other members of this religion. Homosexuality is an issue in most religions. People claim that homosexuality is dictated by the genes and not necessarily a learned habit (Robinson, 2009).

The Jews observe quite a number of rituals, the most notable among them being their wedding ceremony. This event begins with the signing of the Ketubah by the groom. This is like a contract that the groom will take good care of his wife and accord her the necessary protection. After this process, the groom proceeds to the Chuppa, which is a symbol of their future home. The bride follows escorted by chanting. After this, the bride engages in a very crucial activity of circling the groom for seven times and finally standing on his right side. They exchange rings and people feast (Robinson, 2009).

The Jews observe the Sabbath day, which is normally every Saturday on the conventional calendar. This is a day set aside for prayers and rest. God created the earth and everything in it for six days and on the seventh day he rested. According to the scriptures, one of the commandments that God gave Moses was that we should remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.  We should not engage in economic activities to an extent of not finding time to rest. A particular day in the course of the week is preserved for praising God and rest. During this day, Jews do not engage into any unnecessary activity and thus limit themselves to the basic things (Robinson, 2009).

Christianity
According to the Bible, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of homosexuality, which had become very rampant at the time. This is a clear indication that God does not support homosexuality. This is a vice, which has founded its roots in many societies today. Some people believe that these homosexuals are not able to control their nature and as such should have their own rights. Homosexuality has even cropped up in the churches with some priests and pastors coming out and stating that they are homosexuals and wants to continue with their pastoral duties as they practice homosexuality (Robinson, 2009).

The next issue that has been a cause of concern to Christians is that of abortion. Christians believe that life is sacred and should not be taken at all cost. God is the giver of life and a person should not destroy what he cannot create. Christians respect the sanctity of life. Certain real life circumstances make people contemplate abortion. A woman who becomes pregnant as a result of rape, a woman whose life is in danger in the course of pregnancy and abortion may be the only way to save her life, a woman who becomes pregnant during the course studies and so on. Despite all these possibilities, Christians believe that the child is innocent and should not be subjected to death (Robinson, 2009).

One of the traditions of Christians is that of attending the church weekly or up to three times a week. Christians believe that in situations in which two or more people have gathered to worship, the Holy Spirit is present there. They engage in activities like singing, praying and playing some gospel tunes. In the course of the service, the congregation is expected to give offerings and also pay their tithe. In occasions like Christmas, which is believed to be the day Jesus Christ was born Christians meet to celebrate His birth. Christians pray for the sick members in addition to the conventional treatment (Robinson, 2009).

One other important practice among the Christian adherents is the observance of baptism by water. Christians believe that Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist in river Jordan. During water baptism, a Christian is fully submerged into water by a clergy then he wipes his face. By doing this, Christians believe that the sins of the person in question are washed and thus comes out as a different person who is more inclined towards Godly activities. Most denominations within Christianity require that their members go through this ritual. Once a person has been baptized, he is expected to live a clean life (Robinson, 2009).

Islam
Muslims have been constantly facing discrimination by other members of the society. Islam allows its adherent to engage in violent activities to protect their members and to ensure that the welfare of their religion is given a consideration. They call this act, Jihad. Engaging in Jihad has given Muslims an outlook of being terrorists. Many countries have always been extra vigilant on the activities of Muslims within their territories as they have been associated with bombings that end in greater loss of lives. This has been a particularly big issue especially with America whose people they killed in a bomb attack (Robinson, 2009).

Islam as a religion is faced with the issue of subdivision along religious beliefs. While Islam is not as subdivided as Christianity, the factions of Islam tend to strongly hold to certain opinions. The major factions in Islam are the Shiites and the Sunni Muslims. Their differences tend to originate back at a time when there was wrangle between two contestants for the position of a caliph. The small differences have since grown to yield groups that are always in a continuous conflict. These factions do not agree on most of the issues and some of the concepts of Islamic religion (Robinson, 2009).

Muslims have been known to be in the tradition of observing the Five Pillars of Islam. This gives a guideline to some of the mandatory things that a person should do in the course of his life to qualify to be considered a true Muslim. They are required to profess that Mohammad is a messenger of God. They are required to pray at least five times each day. The privileged members should be charitable to their less privileged Muslim brothers. They are supposed to fast during the month of Ramadhan. Finally, any able person should travel to Mecca at least once in the course of his lifetime (Robinson, 2009).

Any able Muslim is required to visit Mecca at least once in their lifetimes. This is a journey that normally brings together a very big number of Muslim pilgrims. They are normally required to be dressed in robes. The large number often leads to deaths as the pilgrims stumble upon one another. There is a section where the pilgrims throw stones at a given rock that symbolizes the devil. It is at this particular point that the highest numbers of casualties have been reported (Robinson, 2009).