Religion and Theology

Buddhism is one of the many religions that exist in the world. It was founded in India approximately 2500 years ago. As a religion, it is considered to be the most extensive in the Asian continent with most countries in Asia recording it as one with the highest number of faithful. With time, it has laid emphasis on different forms of worship that changed until a nearly uniform one was developed. This is due to the fact that it was practiced by different sets of people with much diversified cultures and beliefs. Originally, Buddhists insisted upon the worship of different deities according to the cultures of the particular people who were involved. For instance, some group of people would have gods representing different issues that affected them. An example is some cultures that had Buddha who was called Laughing Buddha and one who was called the Medicine Buddha. After a while, the sets of beliefs changed considerably in some of the sets of groups. The worship of deities and belief in religious rituals changed to the meditation upon the words of the Enlightened One (Maguire, 2001).

India and China are two examples of countries within which Buddhism is practiced and is considered as the most widespread religion. This implies that both countries have a very high population of citizens who are practicing Buddhism. The religion has shown a very influencing trend whereby it has been noted to be spreading very fast in the West. This might be attributed to the frequent migration and even contact between the East and the West and clash of cultures to bring about harmony. There are different practices in the way the faithful involve in their faith in the aforementioned countries India and China. This might be due to their different cultures and beliefs but the main issue is that the original form which Buddhism took might have been distorted so as to give it a different outlook in the two countries. It has already been noted that Buddhism itself changed initially from the worship of deities to majorly the meditation of teachings from The Enlightened One.

There is an open manifestation in the differences between Indian and Chinese Buddhist faithful. This can be seen in different factors that have contributed mightily to the manifestation. A complete look into the two countries exposes a glaring difference that can be observed to be in the following areas the classes of people, the beliefs and cultures. The most influential factors are beliefs and cultures. Consequently, they have contributed largely to the differences that have continued to visit the way of worship in both the countries. Originally, the Buddhist way of life and as a religion was not accepted in China due to the manner in which it took time for the Chinese to understand fully the teachings of Buddha. First and foremost, the Buddhist beliefs were mainly set upon the principle in not having to gain over others in the society. This would contradict the beliefs of the Chinese who wanted everyone to strive and liberate themselves economically. Evidence to support this is found in the manner in which faithful from different economic classes clustered around religion in India. A keen analysis reveals that most of the faithful in the Buddhist religion came from lower castes and largely people who were not financially endowed. A stark contrast, however, existed in China (Nasotro, 2010).

The beliefs that existed in ancient civilizations in China included Taoism and Confucism. They both had sets of beliefs that were drawn from teachings obtained from their founders. This is one similarity between the two and Buddhism that made the Chinese to accept Buddhism finally. Consequently, the Chinese accepted Buddhism and it is to date observed as the only foreign religion to have successfully penetrated its civilization and taken root effectively. The beliefs arose from teachings that preached on the need to view the world as dependent upon its constituents. Therefore, the faithful were impressed upon to help one another and follow the teachings to the latter. This shows how the religion finally got to be adopted in China due to similarities it shared with the forms of worship in China.

Secondly, the difference in beliefs in China and India are reflected in the forms of human existence in the world. The Chinese believe that a human being has a soul and as such exists even after death. This is shown in the way they revere their dead to an extent of taking time to worship their images after death. They would take pictures of their dear ones and pray for them for assurance that their souls would rest in eternal peace. Clearly, this shows that the Chinese Buddhists have a belief in after-life. On the other hand, the Indian Buddhists have a belief that bars them from believing in after-life. This would make them abhor their dead and as such did not want to have anything to do with their dead. It is believed that this one of the contributing factors to some of the Buddhist faithful cremating their dead. This was a response to the belief that the dead might rise and bring misfortune. As such, they had to be burnt so as not to be able to rise again. This is one difference that has been and is still very common amongst the two groups of believers who happen to be in the same religion.

There is in existence two forms of Buddhism the Zen Buddhism and the Tibetan Buddhism. Zen Buddhism originated in India after a Prince from India settled in China. It has strong foundations in meditation for the realization of a persons self. Tibetan Buddhism, on the other hand, is a conglomeration of thoughts and sets of beliefs and cultures derived from the people living within Tibet and its environs. It infuses in it some religions that also exist in these regions. This form of Buddhism has spread to the other parts of the world like Russia and back to the origins of Buddhism in India. This is a clear indication that the Buddhism in India has been altered a little in China. The difference though lies in the fact that the Buddhism in India has never been influenced by other religions in the manner in which the Buddhism in China has been. The Buddhism in India underwent changes within itself without the influence of other religion that did not enjoy popularity in India (Miscellaneous, 2010).

The second factor that contributes to the big difference is culture and language as a means of delivering teachings. Language, from time immemorial, has been known to be a very big barrier to effective communication between different parties. The Chinese language, with a limited formation, was a hindering factor and in fact is attributed to the resistance received by Buddhists on inception of the religion in China. It is believed that at the onset, the Chinese language was limited in that it did not provide various forms of expressions which in turn contributed to there being a restricted method of teaching. In as much as it was rich in symbols, this did not suffice in conveying teachings to the available converts who were eager to learn from their leaders. This became the focal point of confusion as expressing thoughts conveyed by the senses became tedious to the teachers. Therefore, the little that could be conveyed was not sufficient enough to translate the Buddhist beliefs in its original form to the Chinese believers. This contributed as a cultural difference in bringing about the differences that are currently in existence (Holt, 2010).

Other cultures that contributed to there being differences in the way the faithful from the two nations worshipped involved indigenous ones that were not necessarily within religion. One of them is the classification of people into castes that were basically classes. Of importance is to note that most of the worshippers from India came from the lower castes. This is a clear indication that religion did not necessarily manifest itself in its own cultures. The lower castes believed in the teachings that required all the beliefs to be concerned with the general well-being of every one. By extension, this is similar to most religions belief in goodness and righteousness. The Chinese faithful however were not nearly homogeneously drawn from a specific economic class. Their reason for joining the belief was based on their belief in teachings that was a form of receiving knowledge of their native religion.

In conclusion, we can see that the Buddhist religion has enjoyed a growth expanding from China to other regions of the world. The latest beneficiaries of the Buddhist teachings are the West and other originally communist states like Russia. The growth and expansion of this religion has been identified to be fuelled by the need by most religious people to propagate goodness that affects everyone in the world. There have been differences that are observed between the way faithful in China and India carry out their activities. The differences have been contributed by the different sets of indigenous cultures and belief that have been harmonized with the cultures and beliefs in the religion to bring about a manifestation of differences. The differences have been identified as the Chinese belief in human-beings having souls. The Indians were however found not to have similar beliefs. This affected the way in which the two sets of faithful carry out their activities including the religious ones. The other differences were found in the influence of culture whereby Chinese populations in the religion were found to be influenced by different things to join it. They have different ways of worshipping too.

Finally, despite the differences, we can observe some similarities that are shared by the two sets of believers. Firstly, they both adhere to the general principles of Buddha. This means that they all view Buddha as the overall leader of the religion. This is seen as the original thought that existed at the onset of the religion in 520BCE. The principles of Buddha insist upon the faithful the need to pacify the world. This is a principle shared by both the Buddhists in India and China. The admiration for the principles and the Buddha himself is also shared amongst the Buddhists. It is however important to note that Buddhism is losing its appeal in India due to the influence of Hinduism. On the other hand, it is one of the most popular religions in China. It is however important to view India as the origin of this religion.   

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Hilkevich (2005)   defines exegesis as the process of drawing meaning of texts from the scripture. The Bible as the word of God is a collection of 66 books which were written at different times by different authors. Murrell (2009) 2 says authors of the Bible did not rely upon some authority to guide them into truth, but they went directly to the God-breathed Scriptures to discover His will. Preaching involves communication of divine truths from God by man. Therefore biases of the person delivering the message are likely to find their way into their sermons. A number of reasons have been given why proper exegesis is important in understanding the Scriptures. Paul advises his spiritual son Timothy to 
. . .

Present yourself to God a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Improper interpretations of the Scriptures arise because of poor exegesis. (New International Version 2 Tim 215) 3 . Further, Peter says Pauls letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort as they do other scriptures to their own destruction (2 Peter 316)

Additionally, the Bible records accounts of ardent readers of the Bible who failed to understand meaning of the scriptures. 

Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. Do you understand what you are reading Philip asked. How can I, he said, unless someone explains it to me So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him (Acts 830-31).

One of the most important reasons for conducting a good exegesis is because it protects Bible readers and listeners from falling prey to cults and occults. Victims of cults and occults have undergone untold suffering in their pursuit of religion. As Hassan (1988) 6 says persons leaving cults and occults have side effects that can last for years even after they leave the cults especially if they do not receive counseling. According to Hassan, persons who have been members of cults and occults suffer from depression and have nightmares and feelings of guilt. Additionally, they are not able to make their own decisions and they depend on others for direction.  Hassan adds that such people tend to lose concentration and memory. 

In my third year in college, a colleague and member of the Christian union evangelism ministry dropped out of college alleging urgency in fulfilling the great commission. No amount of persuasion would convince him to change his mind. His misinterpretation of the Bible affected his life negatively.  Another example of how dangerous misinterpretation of scriptures is was highlighted by BBC NEWS  Africa in 2006. 7 Members of the House of Yahweh in Kenya predicted that the world would end before 12 September 2006 and had started building bunkers in case of nuclear war. They were arrested and bailed on condition that they stop inciting fear in the local population.

The other major reason why good exegesis is important is because it helps the reader and preacher to overcome their subjective factors that influence the understanding of the Bible. Proper exegesis ensures that religious heritage and background, psychological needs, philosophical background and convictions as well as large culture do not influence the understanding and interpretation of the Bible. Murrell says exegesis allows God to speak to us and not the other way around.

Lutheranism

Overview In the early sixteenth century, a reform movement began in the Roman Catholic Church, instigated by the theologian Martin Luther (1483  1546). Luther did not originally intend to start a new sect, he merely wanted to reinvigorate Catholicism. However, his efforts led to Christianity being divided into two. Martin Luther has come to be called as the Wittenberg reformer and the leader of the Great Revolt (McHugh). He initiated Protestant Reformation and is considered as the father of Protestantism. Lutheranism is a main branch of Protestantism, it is the oldest Protestant sect and in Europe has the greatest number of following among the Protestant denominations. Martin Luther himself preferred the name evangelical to describe his creed, and the Lutheran Church is today more often known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church. In Germany, the native place of Martin Luther and the country where Lutheranism is still the most prominent, the state Church is called the Evangelical Church or the Evangelical United Church (Adler, Pouwels, 313).

Origins Christianity is based on the concept of the original sin. Adam disobeyed God and ate the apple and that started the whole trouble for the mankind. Man has fallen into a state of sin. Therefore every human being that is born needs to seek salvation, otherwise he would be cast into hell for eternity. Salvation is only possible by having faith in the Sonship of Jesus Christ. These are the standard tenets of the Christian religion. However in the Catholic doctrine of Luthers time, the faith in Christ was only one of the three components to attain salvation. The Catholic Church also insisted on the value of performing meritorious works and receiving grace through participating in Church sacraments or rituals. Martin Luther began to question the entire approach of the Church to salvation (Maurius, 68).

Luther was a professor at the University of Wittenberg, and on one occasion while preparing a lecture, he stumbled on a verse from Pauls epistle to Romans (117), For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written, The just shall live by faith. (KJV) (For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written The righteous will live by faith.  NIV). This verse normally would seem to mean that the righteous or the meritorious persons have faith and live by it. However Luther saw that it that original phrase which was translated as the righteous people will live by faith can also be translated as the people righteous by faith will live. Luther had a moment of deep insight. He saw that what Paul must have intended to mean was one can only become righteous through faith, and only through this faith can one receive the gift of everlasting life. This was the seed of what later developed to be the Lutheran creed, which can be summed up in three phrases Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Solus Christus  through Grace alone, through faith alone, through Christ alone. This meant that salvation is possibly only through faith in Jesus Christ  nothing else is needed  and also that this faith is a gift of God, it is grace. Luther felt that the Church doctrine was essentially inconsistent with the scripture (Gritsch, 5)

The immediate cause of the controversy that Luther created was the increasing importance attached to indulgences by the Catholic Church. Confession is one of the cornerstones of the Catholic religion, and there were three aspects to this sacrament during Luthers time contrition, absolution and works of satisfaction, meaning the act of repentance, the act of forgiving, and various penances. These penances could include a variety of things, like repeating Hail Marys, or fasting or going on a pilgrimage. One of the possible modes of these penances was known, ironically, as indulgences, which meant making a financial contribution to the Church. At that time the Church was in need of large sums of money, and a new trend of selling special indulgences was started. Therefore indulgence became a sacrament in itself, separated from confession. The believers were asked to buy the indulgences in return for huge reductions in the time they would spend in the purgatory, a limbo region that is very much like hell but is only a temporary habitat before one ascends to heaven. Luther saw this as a huge sign of corruption and began sending his protests to the Church, challenging not only this new trend but the Churchs entire doctrine. This resulted in public debate and controversy and led to the rise of Lutheranism and Protestantism (Maurius, 83).

Luthers teachings have been collected into a volume called the Book of Concord. However, this book is secondary Lutheranism and all or most of the various sects of Protestantism are based on the belief that the Bible is the Word of God, and the Bible is taken to be the sole authoritative text of their creeds. Usually, a very close literal interpretation is followed. The Protestant scriptural canon, however, differs from the Catholic. The Protestant Canon was finalized in 1790 C.E., by excising a few Old Testament books which were supposedly added to the Jewish Canon by the early Church Councils while the Catholic Bible consists of 75 books, the Protestant consists of 66 (Myers).

Beliefs What makes Lutheranism different from the other sects of Protestantism is of course not the concept of salvation through faith in Christ, but that this faith is entirely a gift of God. In other words, according to Lutheranism you either have or do not have faith, there is nothing you can do about it since it is a free gift from God. This is the complete about-turn of the Catholic belief that humans have to merit salvation through their works. Lutheranism insists that not only is there any need to do any kind of works or cultivate any kind of virtues to achieve salvation, but there is no need to cultivate even the faith because the faith is simply a gift from God and happens through His grace (Lacoste, 965). This is the central doctrine of Lutheranism, called the doctrine of justification. Faith is everything in Lutheran creed, but this faith happens on its own accord, by Gods grace, and not through anything that a man does. No thought or act of man can be useful in winning him salvation. It is not clear on what basis, if at all there is a criterion, God chooses to shower his divine grace upon a certain individual. Lutheranism is a doctrine of predestination, which was further refined by John Calvin and turned into Calvinism, a creed of purely predetermined salvation. 

Lutherans believe in the Catholic version of Trinity  God, Son, and the Holy Spirit  and in the angels. They also believe in the actual physical existence of the devil. However, there are many versions of Lutheranism in the present day, and followers of some of these Lutheran denominations do not hold a belief in either the angels or the devil. In the United States itself there are over 20 denominations of Lutheranism with noticeably divergent belief systems (Walker 214).

Scientology

Overview Scientology is very different from Lutheranism, because it has nothing to do with traditional religions and is a cult born in the mid-twentieth century America. It was founded not by a theologian, philosopher, mystic, healer or a person with any kind of spiritual background or orientation, but  rather bizarrely  by a noted science fiction writer. L. Ron Hubbard (1911  1986), an SF writer who achieved a moderate degree of success through his writings in the 1940s, suddenly began to develop an interest in studying the dynamics of the human mind, and went on to develop a new system of psychotherapy. He published his book, Dianetics The Modern Science of Mental Health in 1950. Hubbard contacted AMA, APA and other medical associations to get them approve his new techniques, but his pseudo-scientific methods did not appeal to the establishment. However, Dianetics became a bestseller, and then became the Bible of Scientology. Although Dianetics is largely concerned with the mind, Hubbard developed a concept for the human soul and Dianetics evolved from a program of psychotherapy into a sort of religion. The Church of Scientology (CoS) was established in 1954.

Over the decades, Scientology has developed into a very controversial movement. It has generated a great deal of negative press in the recent times, but one of the things going for this beleaguered cult is the number of Hollywood celebrities such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta who happen to be avid Scientologists. The Church of Scientology International has over a thousand branches across the world. Scientology is also associated with humanitarian work, with over a few hundred community groups all over the world associated with Scientology.

Origins How Hubbard came to formulate the highly exotic creed of his Scientology is not clear, since there is no relation between any existing religious sect or school of psychology to the system of Dianetics. There are certain obvious resemblances with Eastern religions and Western mystic traditions such as Gnosticism, but Scientology has many novel, unique and at the same time highly dubious elements. Scientology would appear to a considerable extent to be a product of pure fantasy, something that SF writers habitually indulge in, or it could be a product of divine revelation  depending on whether you are in favor of or against Hubbards creed. But even if the initial impetus might have come out of inspiration, Hubbard developed Dianetics over years of personal research during the 50s.

Beliefs Dianetics may appear to be a very complex system, but it is based on a few simple premises. Each human being is or has an everlasting spirit, called the thetan, but this soul is encumbered in the human body. The ignorant mind is the cause of bondage for the spirit of a human being, and this ignorance is a consequence of negative thoughts (engrams) that have accumulated in the subconscious mind (reactive mind) over several lifetimes, influencing the whole mental outlook of a person. Therefore liberation or freedom can be achieved only when the mind is freed from the engrams this is possible only with the help of a guide  counselor  therapist called an auditor. The aspiring candidate has to go through years of auditing and training. Once the mind is rid of engrams, the scientologist lives in a state of freedom called the Clear. But this is not the final stage even after reaching Clear, one can go on and on further disencumbering oneself of the burden of the past thought patterns until one ultimately reaches total freedom. However, the training process after the Clear is supposedly deeply esoteric and is veiled in secrecy. 

Something called an E-meter plays an important role in the development of a subjects mental maturity in Scientology. This is a device that Hubbard invented, enlisting the help of an engineer called Volney Mathison. It is supposed to measure the tiny electrical currents that ripple across the body of a person as he or she experiences emotional reactions. The E-meter is used to objectively assess the progress of a Scientologist on the path toward the ultimate goal of liberation. Scientology has been called Technological Buddhism by a researcher (Lewis, 216). Scientology indeed prides itself on developing technological capabilities to validate deeper truths of mind and spirit, but Scientologys in-house technologies can be at best described as pseudo. As the author of the book Gods Mechanics How Scientists and Engineers Make Sense of Religion remarks, Indeed, no scientist of my acquaintance has ever had anything good to say bout Scientology  rather ironic, given its name. (Consolmagno 98)

Scientology believes in reincarnation, as do the Eastern religions. In fact in most of its core beliefs, namely, that there is an everlasting spirit called the observer-entity, which could be equated with the witness or Sakshi of Hinduism, and that the ignorance and darkness in the minds of human beings is the cause of their bondage, and that the mind moves toward light and truth over several incarnations  Scientology bears some strong resemblances to Eastern religions. Scientology would appear like an SF version of an esoteric tradition. However esoteric and mystical traditions of the world, both in the East and the West have been developed through direct experiencing, and usually by many people over the generations. In the case of Scientology, we do not know what is the source of Hubbards information or the basis of his authority but Scientology appears as if it has been developed by years of deliberate thinking, studying, speculating and imagining, not in the way any form of mysticism or Gnosticism has evolved in the past. Scientologists are supposed to experience the essential nature of reality as propounded by their religion after becoming an Operating Thetan, i.e., after becoming clear, but when and how Hubbard himself reached this state, if in fact he did, is unclear.

The fundamental difference between an Eastern philosophy such as Hinduism and Scientology is that upon liberation, the individual soul will cease to exist as a separate entity and merges into the Supreme Being, but there is no strong concept of Supreme Being in Scientology, whose existence is merely acknowledged and is not of further relevance in the training process. The Thetan continues to exist as a separate entity even after being freed from the ignorance of the mind. In the Eastern religions, the goal is oneness with the universe, whereas in Scientology the goal is brotherhood with the universe(Lewis, 5). Interestingly enough, the Thetan is supposed to be trapped in MEST (Matter, Energy, Space, Time), so upon attaining freedom, the Thetan should be liberated from the relative world and move into the absolute, but this does not happen in Scientology (Davis, Hankins, 45). We are given to understand that though the Thetan is not trapped in MEST anymore after attaining freedom, he continues to exist and experience in the world of MEST.

Comparisons between Lutheranism and Scientology

Lutheranism is the oldest of the new religions, Scientology is the newest of the new religions, in fact it is still struggling to be accepted as a religion in many parts of the world. Catholicism had been a monolithic doctrine for over a thousand years when Lutheranism began the trend of starting new religions, though these were based on the old religions. We can see this trend as culminating in Scientology where an entire self-proclaimed religion apparently started from scratch, though it turns out that this religion has many parallels with ancient mystic traditions of the world. In this context it may be interesting to compare and contrast Lutheranism and Scientology. 

To begin with, Lutheranism believes that after the original sin, human soul became fundamentally tarnished, and therefore humans are essentially sinners. Nothing that humans do can exempt them of their sin. In quite contrast, scientology believes that humans are essentially good, they have an eternal soul which is merely going through a phase of ignorance and suffering. In Lutheranism, the whole fate of a human being rests in the hands of God, with the human being unable to change it in any way, whereas in Scientology the case is again quite the opposite the whole fate of God seems to rest in the hands of man. This is so because, in Scientology, God is generally seen as the endpoint of human evolution. The God is imprisoned in MEST and in the human body and is therefore suffering, man has to bring freedom and salvation to this God. In Lutheranism, faith plays the most crucial role in Scientology, faith plays no part at all. The scientologist only asks you to be open-minded and be willing to explore and follow the first steps of the audit process. If the person experiences any benefits after counseling, he or she would be naturally prompted to go a little further. The emphasis in Scientology is not on faith, but on understanding. Also, Lutherans believe in the standard Christian concept of devil, and that the devil is responsible for all the human suffering, since it was the devil who tempted Eve to convince Adam to eat the apple. In Scientology, the origin of evil is not explained, as to why the Thetan who was originally good and pure fell into ignorance however, it is clear that human suffering is not caused by any external agency but only by some intrinsic dynamic of reality itself. In fact suffering is not something that is not supposed to be, a result of something that should not have happened, as in Christianity, but a necessary part of the souls self-discovery, or self-rediscovery.

As we can see, Lutheranism and Scientology not only have sharp differences, but in fact these creeds are quite opposite to each other in all the fundamental ways. Lutheranism belongs to the Judeo-Christian tradition, whereas Scientology is closer to Eastern religious traditions or Gnosticism in the West religious tradition.

However, while Lutheranism is clearly grounded in the Western exoteric religious traditions, the affinity of Scientology to Eastern esoteric religious traditions such as Hinduism or Buddhism has to be assessed with caution. Scientology cannot be directly linked to any Eastern religious tradition, since Hubbard did not comment about any kind of association with the Eastern traditions, or acknowledge any Western tradition by name. Further, there are too many dissimilarities not only in the philosophical systems of Eastern religions and Scientology, but also in their approaches. In the Eastern religions, for instance, philosophies and practices are in fact secondary, the presence of living master is all-important, since he is the embodiment of truth and enlightenment. In scientology, however, nobody even claims for the superior wisdom or truth manifested in Hubbards life. What we can gather about Hubbards life from here and there points to a rather ordinary mind full of normal human impulses like greed and anger in action (Robinson). Nor do we see any instances of wisdom and nobility in the lives of individual members of Scientology. Despite Scientologys claim that it has produced tens of thousands of Clears  virtually a new race of humans  who have achieved a superhuman level of mental functioning, we do not see much that is tangible or testable in the real world (Bainbridge, Stark, 128). 

According to Scientology, after reaching the Clear state, individuals are free to live creative lives. But we do not see any marked creative outpouring from the Scientology community. Another question arises in this context if living a creative life is the goal, there are any number of people leading highly creative lifestyles while their minds are presumably fully encumbered by engrams. On the other hand, a Scientologist even after reaching the highest level of maturity may not be able to show a fraction of the creativity of so many persons who have nothing to do with Scientology. When we look at Scientology from this perspective, it has nothing much to show for itself in terms of fruits it has yielded. From time to time there have been statements made by people suffering from complex emotional problems, especially celebrities, that they went through some dramatic life-changing experiences during the initial stages of the audit and training process. Besides such rare personal claims, Scientology did not show any magic.  Therefore there is no practical benchmark for the veracity and authenticity of the religion that Scientology purports to be, whereas in the Eastern religions the living experience is everything. And if we look at Lutheranism, the creed is based on a notion that cannot be tested in any way, since it is entirely focused on the afterlife. Scientology can be subjected to test by its own criteria and it fails, whereas Lutheran doctrine does not have any criteria which can be subjected to test in the first place.

Lutheranism and Scientology, despite so many differences between them, seem to share something in common. Though Lutheranism has been around for several hundred years now and is one of the major Christian denominations, it is a very peculiar religion. Lutheranism claims to have a complete scriptural basis, but nowhere is it written in the scriptures that man cannot or need not put any kind of effort to ensure his salvation since the possibility of salvation for each individual is predestined. The concept of predestination takes out the entire meaning and purpose of human life, making human beings hollow. Apparently, if everything was predestined we are simply puppets playing out a tedious cosmic drama. Christian religion is fundamentally based on the notion of free will and choice. Therefore it is rather strange that so many well-meaning Christians followed and still follow this cult religion which goes against a most fundamental Christian ethic.

It is no less strange that so many otherwise intelligent people in deep search of spirituality and meaning of life choose to follow Scientology, with all its pseudo-psychology, pseudo-science and pseudo-mysticism. Scientology appears like psychology, but it is not, it appears like mysticism but it is not, it appears like a technology-based process, but it is not it also appears very pseudo, and this it is. It is a mystery why millions of adherents of Scientology cannot see through the shallowness of their creed. Scientology keeps enlisting tens of thousands of new members every year even when its whole sham has been exposed by the media. Since its inception Scientology has only been a money-making racket. As Passas and Castillo conclude in their paper (103), the Church of Scientology is a successful commercial enterprise which, seeking to achieve its goals, occasionally adopts illicit means.  Beit-Hallahmi, after a thorough investigation into the matter, supports this view The assertion that Scientology is a misunderstood religion seems less tenable than the competing assertion, that it is a front for a variety of profit-making schemes, most of which are totally fraudulent.

Tertullian, the Christianized Roman philosopher of 4th century C.E., declared Credo quia absurdum est, meaning, I believe (in the Christian doctrine) because it is absurd. In general, every religion and creed contains some degree of absurdness and it is a test of faith for its followers to adhere to it despite its seeming meaninglessness. It would appear as if both Lutheranism and Scientology test the faith of their adherents very severely, and only those people whose faith is very strong can consistently stick to such highly non-rational religions.   

(Note All opinions expressed in the 3rd section of this essay, unless they are explicitly cited, are my own.)

Eastern religious traditions are the spiritual believes prevalent in Asia. These traditions are mostly evident in India, Japan and china. They are most common in India revealing the reason why the term eastern religion is also used to refer to the Indian religion. The most common eastern religions are Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. These four religions have a number of aspects that cuts across them. Some of these elements are dharma, karma, samsara and maya (Atkinson, p.25). One of the doctrines that are common among the eastern religions is reincarnation. Reincarnation is a concept that refers to the coming back of the soul or the spirit after death. They believe that after the body dies, the soul returns back to the earth in a new form, depending with the kind of life the person led before death. Reincarnation is also known as the transmigration of the soul. Apart from the Indian religions, the idea of reincarnation was also evident in the ideologies of the Greek philosophers. It is still evident in some few regions around the world such as Siberia, North America, Australia and West Africa. While the eastern religions have upheld their belief in reincarnation, most of the Christians, Judaists and Muslims have completely done away with it. While majority in the East still believe in the doctrine of reincarnation, only about 20 of the West still believe in it. Whenever this concept is referred to, eastern or Indian religious traditions are what come to mind. It is a doctrine that is almost characteristic to the religious beliefs of the west (Markham and Ruparell, p.18).

Definition
The term reincarnation emanates from a Latin term. The term in Latin means entering the fresh again. There is also a Greek equivalent of the term that relates to the English version, transmigration of the soul. All these phrases represent the idea of coming back to life or reincarnating after one dies. Reincarnation refers to coming back to life as either a human being or animal. The emphasis of this doctrine is the continuing of the soul, rather than the body. The general process that produces the cycle of dying and being reborn, controlled by karma is known as Samsara in the eastern religious traditions. Birth is the state that a person is reborn into. The term also refers to the single process of coming back to the earth. According to the eastern religious traditions, even gods can die and become reborn again. In this case however the term reincarnation is not firmly appropriate. Nevertheless, Hindus claim that their gods do reincarnate. For example, Lord Vishnu whom they claim has reincarnated ten times. Celtic religion also tends to believe that their gods also reincarnate. Most of the Christians tend to believe as a holy incarnation. These Christians and majority Muslims hold to the belief that Jesus and some of the prophets may be incarnated again (Coogan, p. 34).

Origin of reincarnation doctrine 
Reincarnation is a concept that is central to human life. The origin of this doctrine is not very clear, as it is not evident in the worlds oldest religious traditions. The doctrine is not as old as some of the other doctrines in religion like deity, nor is it a current concept. It is most common in the history of India and Greece. The recorded history of the term is in the first millennium BCE. The doctrine is likely linked to the early eremitical (sramana) era in India. The concept was later used by the Brahmin orthodoxy. In India the concept was employed along with others like karma, Samsara and Moksha. The term was later developed in various ways and applied in many traditions both in India and other parts of Asia. It was used by Upanishads, Mahavir and in yoga sutras (Atkinson, p.52). 
There are scholars who claim that the dourine in India might have its origins in the pre-Aryan non-Vedic culture. Other scholars claim that the doctrine has a connection between Druid, Vedic culture and ancient Greek. They suggested that the doctrine was there in proto-indo-European religion. Diodorus Siculus believed that the Druids might have had influence from the ideas of Pythagoras. One contemporary philosopher has claimed that some missionaries of Buddhism went to Britain as an order from king Ashoka. Some ancient literatures have confirmed that Pythagoras argued that he has reminiscence of his past life. This is the ancient revelation of the fact that there might be existence in more than one life. Some of the philosophers have claimed that Buddha found out the idea for himself (Coogan, p. 67).

The characteristic structure of reincarnation was developed in India. This took place not prior to the ninth century BC. This is the time when the Brahmana writings were established. The concept was properly defined between the seventh and the fifth century BC. After the definition of the term it was adapted in majority of the eastern religious traditions. After the use of the concept spread in India, it was later accepted by Taoism in china. This is probably later in the third century BC (Atkinson, p.83).     
 
Reincarnation in Hinduism
The source of this doctrine is accredited to Hinduism. There were no ideas of reincarnation in the Vedic Hymns. During the time there was the belief in continuity of life in the same body after death. There was a clear distinction between human beings and gods. This was the reason why the dead were buried with everything they would require in the afterlife. There was also the belief that the dead would be reunited with their relatives who were already dead. They also believed that the dead has some form of influence on the living (Markham and Ruparell, p.74). The whole person was also preserved after death and this is the reason why as a ritual the family members addressed the dead as though they were listening and understanding. The god of death, Yama received the offerings of the relatives in place of the dead. These offerings were offered as a plea for pardon on behalf of the dead. This god was believed to be the ruler over the souls. The idea of reincarnation in Hinduism began with Brahmana writings. This is where the idea of penalty and reward in a new form on earth came up. The writings revealed restricted heavenly immortality which depends on the kind of life that one led. Still in heaven, one has to die the second time, after which he would come back to earth again. The answer of this to this destiny came to be deemed obscure knowledge that would only be attained in the life on earth (Coogan, p. 123).

The writings that moved the idea of the second death from heaven to the earth were Upanishads. This is what the writings deemed right according to the understanding of the atman-Brahman identity. In this writings it was believed that one becomes what he behaves. The person who does good becomes good, and the one who does evil becomes evil. According to these writings reincarnation is the definite way where people receive the fruits of their actions. The soul is made to enter into another form into existence until such a time when all the debts are paid. Depending on the kind of actions of the person, the self enters into various forms depending with the circumstances. Hinduism believed that reincarnation was a way of man paying for the kind of life he lived in the previous life (Coogan, p. 102).

Reincarnation is explained as a process of life that is inevitable. This is the explanation offered in the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna says in verse 2 13 Just as the self advances through childhood, youth and old age in its physical body, so it advances to another body after death. The wise person is not confused by this change called death (Valea, 1999, para 15). In verse 222, Just as the body casts off worn out clothes and puts on new ones, so the infinite, immortal self casts off worn out bodies and enters into new ones (Valea, 1999, para 15). The Laws of Manu (12, 54-69) establishes the fact that it is as a result of large karmic debts that one life cannot be sufficient in repaying it. As a result many lives become essential so that one can be freed from the debts. There is the belief that nothing can liberate one from coming back to repay karmic debts. Any form of intervention from gods or gurus it unnecessary for it would go against the work of karma (Markham and Ruparell, p.84).

According to Upanishads and Vedanta ideology, it is atman that is involved in the reincarnation. Atman refers to the impersonal permanent self. It can be described solely through counteracting personal attributes of a being. This element of a being does not carry any spiritual progress. This is recorded by karma or by a certain amount of karmic debt. The whole being is reconstructed during reincarnation according to karma. It is at this point that the new being is ready to repay its karmic debt. From this point a human can do everything possible to avoid a repetition of the cycle. This can be achieved by payment of all the karmic debts (Atkinson, p.105).

Reincarnation in Buddhism
Unlike Hinduism, Buddhism does not support the idea that there is an impersonal permanent self that keeps on reincarnating. The idea of a permanent self is brought about by the existence of five elements the body (rupa) feeling (vedana) cognition (sanna) mental constructions (sankhara) and consciousness (vijnana). The five are not constant and have no permanent uniting factor or self. Due to the fact that they are always changing, they cannot be identified with the unchanging self. Buddha argues that it is only karma that moves from one life to the next. This means that according to the Buddhists there is no self that undergoes reincarnation. This is explained as reincarnation without passage of self from one form to the next. There is a somewhat detailed explanation of reincarnation in the Tibetan Book of the Dead. This book explains that the dead retains some human attributes as he reincarnates. In Buddhism, there is no reminiscence of the past life. This is due to the fact that there is no psych-mental attribute that is passed from one form to the next (Coogan, p. 83).

Reincarnation in Taoism
Reincarnation in the Chinese religious beliefs, might have appeared later in Taoism. This is why there is no teaching in the Tao-te Ching concerning the doctrine. However, the doctrine is not properly explained, for example the element that reincarnates is not known. What is clear is they believe that there is something that passes from one life to another. Chuang Tzu, scripture of Taoism reveals this. In Chuang Tzu 23, Birth is not a beginning death is not an end. There is existence without limitation there is continuity without a starting point. Existence without limitation is space. Continuity without a starting point is time. There is birth, there is death, there is issuing forth, there is entering in. That through which one passes in and out without seeing its form, which is the Portal of God (Valea, 1999, para 28).

Modern view of reincarnation
The meaning of reincarnation changed once the idea reached Europe. During the middle ages, it was an idea that was common with a few sect traditions like Hermetism and Catharism. In the west the concept of reincarnation began gaining popularity in the nineteenth century. During the time of the New Age Movement, there was a wide approval of the doctrine. Regardless of the fact that the idea of reincarnation has gained roots in the modern society, it is not similar to the ideas adapted in the eastern religious traditions. The current notion of reincarnation is the progress of the soul to a higher degree of religious understanding. From this point of view, the element that reincarnates is the soul. While trying to marry reincarnation with the western religious traditions, the idea of atman was too obscure to be accepted. As a result the western regions accepted the milder notion of reincarnation. This is why they adapted the idea of the soul as the element that underwent reincarnation (Markham and Ruparell, p.92). 

Summary
Reincarnation explains the kind of differences that are evident in people. People are different in many aspects and there has never been any satisfying explanation of these differences. While some people are born health, others have deformities. While some are rich, others live in poverty. Some people are successful while unreligious, and others are always suffering despite the fact that they are religious. The eastern religious traditions have provided answers to these questions. They have explained that people are born the way they are as a result of how they lived their past life. It is their life, either good or bad, that determine how they are reborn through the process of karma. From this point of view, reincarnation offers a perfect explanation of punishment and rewards for ones actions, without acceptance of the almighty God as the final reality (Coogan, p. 25).

Conclusion
The concept of reincarnation is one that provides a very interesting explanation on the origin and destiny of man.  Knowledge of the fact that one lives many lives before the current one and that there are many more lives that one will live, is definitely an interesting point of view. Additionally, reincarnation brings comfort in knowing that death is not the end of life. It offers a consolation in continuity of life and thus providing liberation. It is also a way of opposing the idea of final judgment by the almighty, whose likely consequence is eternity in the fires of hell.   

Islam has a number of rituals that are obligatory on Muslims. The five basic pillars of Islam are Faith (Iman), Prayer (Salat), payment of Alms (a tax called Zakat), Fasting in them month of Ramadan and Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj). A Muslim who does not follow any of the five pillars is a non-believer and a sinner. Fasting is compulsory in Ramadan on all adult Muslims of sane mind. The idea of fasting is to instill patience and self-control in Muslims and enable them to understand the hunger felt by the needy. Fasting is common in Hinduism as well but it is practiced differently. Other Muslim rituals include Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Azha, Khatna and so on. Amongst the numerous Hindu rituals are Karwa Chauth, Diwali and Holy.

Fasting in Islam
Fasting is called Sawm or Roza in Arabic. The word encompasses abstaining not just from food but also from drinking, smoking, sex and anything that tampers with a persons purity. During a fast, a Muslim is required to offer all five of his daily prayers and act in a moral way for his fast to be accepted. The idea is to teach Muslims patience, discipline and make them feel the pangs of hunger felt by the poor.

The process involves waking up before sunrise to have Sehri and then offering prayers. Ideally at Sehri, the Muslim eats enough food to help him survive the fast, after which he is required to state his intention to fast in the name of Allah. However if for any reason the person fails to do so then, he can do it till noon the same day. During a fast, the Muslim is said to be in a state of worship. Hence any immoral behavior such as back biting, fighting, lying, giving or taking bribes or cheating makes the fast void. The fast lasts from Fajr, the first prayer of the day before sunrise, to Maghrib when the sun sets. At Maghrib Muslims break their fasts ideally with dates (a Muslim tradition), water or salt, and then eat food. They call this Iftar. This is an on-going process for the entire month (Budak, 2005).
At the end of Ramadan, all Muslims unite in a celebration called Eid-ul-Fitr by visiting each other and indulging in feasts for three days.

What is the purpose of Fasting in Islam
Fasting is supposed to teach Muslims self-control (Taqwa) and patience. Additionally it also makes them grateful to God for all his bounties. It is a month spent by Muslims trying to restrain from worldly evil and engage in spiritual conduct. During Ramadan, the rich and the poor share common ground which helps the former understand and empathize with those who are disadvantaged (Budak, 2005).

Who is fasting compulsory for
Fasting is made obligatory on all Muslim males and females from the time they reach puberty and become sane adults. Some adults however are still not liable to fast. These include people who are not physically or mentally fit, those who are travelling beyond fifty miles, the elderly, those who are ill, women undergoing menstruation, and pregnant and breast-feeding women. Women who miss fasts during menstruation must make up for them after the month of Ramadan is over and they are back to a state of purity (Budak, 2005).

When does a Muslim fast become void
If a person deliberately eats or drinks, or puts anything into his mouth, his fast breaks. Other things that break fasts include immoral behavior, skipping daily prayers, vomiting, or any form of sexual activity. Unintentional eating does not break a fast as long as the person realizes his mistake and completes his fast according to the ritual (Budak, 2005).

Punishment for not fasting
Fasting is a pillar of Islam. Therefore any Muslim who does not fast and on whom it is obligatory is committing a serious sin. Those who miss fasts for reasons of illness or menstruation in the case of women have to make up for the same number of days as soon as possible. Those who cannot fast during Ramadan must feed a poor person for the same number of days of missed fasts (Budak, 2005).

Fasting in Hinduism
Fasting is a common ritual amongst the Hindus. It requires ignoring physical needs of the body in return for spiritual gain. They fast on some specific days of a month, or on set days of the week. Hindus that worship Shiva mostly fast on Mondays while those that are followers of Vishnu fast on Fridays and Saturdays. Some Hindus fast on Thursdays where they unite to hear stories of their god before opening their fasts. The ritual of fasting involves wearing yellow clothes and eating yellow foods. The Hindu women show devotion to banana trees and nurture it. Some Hindus resort to liquid diets during their fasts. Other than that, Hindus fast on religious occasions. One such occasion is the Karwa Chauth where the women fast for their husbands happiness and welfare. The fast breaks when the women see their husbands faces in the moonlight through a sieve (Ghosh, 2010). These different ways of performing fasting as a ritual in Hinduism is in sharp contrast to that in Islam which is uniform throughout the Muslims with the exception of minor difference between the two sects Shias and Sunnis. In Islam for instance, men and women both have to fast while in Hinduism it is usually the women who fast for the sake of their husbands well being.

What does the Hindu fast involve
Hindu fasts differ slightly from those of Muslims. Hindus fast from sunset to 48 minutes past the next days sunset. Restricting oneself to a single meal a day or refraining from eating certain food items also qualifies as fasting for the Hindus. Vegetarians are not allowed to eat or touch animals or their products during their fast, except milk (Ryan, 2005).

Like that in Islam, fasting in Hinduism teaches its followers self-control. Moreover it keeps them energetic and healthy. The point is to generate feelings of purity and morality in the Hindus. Hinduism is of the belief that fasting has a healing and cleansing effect. It helps reduce the level of salt in peoples bodies and make them healthier (Ghosh, 2010).

Conclusion
Of the many rituals in Islam, fasting is one of the five most important ones. It is one of the pillars of Islam and is obligatory on all Muslims to follow. Fasting in Islam is characterized by a period of continuous fasting during the month of Ramadan in the Islamic calendar. It requires the Muslims to abstain from food, drinks, sexual activities, and any other immoral behavior that might render their fast void. The Muslim fast starts with Sehri at Fajr or day break when the person expresses his intention to keep a Roza in the name of God. For the next twelve hours approximately, till Maghrib, the Muslim is to exhibit complete self-control over all his activities. He is allowed to break his fast only at sunset, ideally with dates, water or salt.

With the exception of children, the elderly, physically disabled or the insane, every adult person who is a Muslim is supposed to fast.

In Hinduism the popular tradition of fasting exists as well but in a different way. To begin with, Hinduism has numerous sects all of whom are devotees to a different god (Ryan, 2005). Henceforth they also have different rituals. Some of them fast only on Thursdays while others fast on Tuesdays. Many Hindu fasting rituals are just applicable to women who keep them for their husbands wellbeing.  Hindu fasts are not about complete abstinence from food rather they require the Hindus to refrain from a certain type of food such as meat. Most Hindu fasts allow people to maintain a liquid diet. In Hinduism, fasts are also kept on special occasions such as Dewali and Karwa Chauth. Thus it can be concluded that fasting is practiced in both religions but in a different manner. In Islam it is a matter of empathizing with the needy while in Hinduism it is mostly kept by women for the welfare of their husbands.

She caught the worlds imagination. Her fame spread far and wide, not because she was a great politician, a theologian or great writer, but because of her rare character openness and immense compassion. Rarely do people follow their callings as far as religion is concerned. This is what she exemplified, a person who was led by inner promptings to enter a covenant, then to focus her life work clearly and exclusively to the poor, and then to her own religious community. Indeed, her memories will live long in the lives of all people, and in the annals of history, especially those of the Catholics as she practiced the catholic traditions to the letter (Moore, 1989).The life of Mother Teresa will be discussed with close reference to how she exemplified the Catholic religious tradition

Mother Teresa history
According to Schaefer, (2003), the parents of Mother Teresa were Albanian. Mother Teresas real name was Agnes Bojaxhiu, and was born in 1990, in the present Macedonia. She had five siblings, and they had very comfortable lives. Even though the parents had everything in life, in terms of the basic needs, they were strict in bringing up their children. They were always keen on teaching the right virtues to their children. They taught their children to always be kind and helpful to the sick and the needful in the society (Guntzelman, 2010).

Though most of Mother Teresas life was centered in the church context, she never had any idea of joining the convent until she attained the age of eighteen. However, she was always inspired by stories which related to mission work and service. After she attained the age of eighteen, she joined the Loreto Sisters of Dublin, whose main purpose was to educate the young girls. After leaving the convent, she went to Ireland, where she started her work in the ministry. She had a rare self-discipline and unwavering commitment. She got the name Teresa from famous saints, Therese of Lisieux and Teresa of Avila. She went to a high school in Calcutta, where she taught history and geography. According to her, this was her first calling (Guntzelman, 2010).

Her second calling was to serve the poor in the streets of Calcutta, where the poorest people lived. After getting the full consent of her archbishop, she trained as a nurse so that she could be in a better position to serve the poor in the streets and slums. Throughout all her life, she led an exemplary life of a Catholic faithful, as she demonstrated all the virtues that the Catholics are supposed to follow as dictated by the Holy Bible (Guntzelman, 2010).

Mother Teresas exemplary life
According to OGrady, (2001), the Catholics strongly believe that all human beings were created for a greater purpose than their own enjoyment. All human beings are supposed to care for their neighbors and the environment at large. This is what God told Adam during the creation time, that he was supposed to be the sole guardian of the world. Therefore, man and woman were supposed to take the place of God as far as creation is concerned. The Catholics believe that they should act responsibly. When they do so, they are following the will of God. The role is to make the lives of all the other people beautiful through love. They have to combine faith and reason. Both of them have to be used so as to make the creation beautiful.

Prayer
The Holy Bible in Luke 2246 states that Jesus woke up the disciples when they were asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane. He questioned them Why are you sleeping, wake up and pray. This is one of the Catholic beliefs as far as their religious life is concerned. Prayer is a close communication with God, and therefore should be done constantly. Mother Teresa was very obedient as far as this command was concerned. She prayed constantly for over twenty four hours per day. She knew very well that there is no single day she could achieve anything without depending on the strength of God (Moore  Teresa, 1989).

 Through prayer, all the followers of Christ fall in love with him more and more. She demonstrated the real essence of prayer that it is not only a make up of many words, but the desire and fervor which connect a person to Jesus. According to the Catholic tradition, prayer without love is useless. One is not supposed to make very long prayers which are drawn out, but rather, short prayers which are full of love. It is the responsibility of a catholic faithful to pray for all those people who are weak to pray on their own, like the sick in the hospital. Prayer should be a combination, of the mental and the vocal (Moore  Teresa, 1989).

This is exactly what Mother Teresa demonstrated throughout her life in the ministry. Despite the weariness of her days, she never omitted her prayer, finding it the source of support, strength and blessing for all her ministry Guntzelman (2010).  Mother Teresa prayed for all the suffering people in her life of service. Throughout her life in the convent, she devoted most of her time in prayer. Every morning, she would spend considerable time praying so that she could reconnect with God. This was necessary as her prayer helped her to touch the heart of God. (Moore  Teresa, 1989).

Love
Mother Teresa left her first calling as a high school teacher and started working with the poor all over the world. She even forgot her family and dedicated all her life to God. When she went to Ireland, she never went beck to her family. She decided to leave her well to do family and led a very shy, quiet and lowly life. Several people described her as an ordinary woman. She worked with the Indian communities, where she even demonstrated her love for this community even in her dressing, as she wore a simple plain sandals and a white sari. Throughout her lifetime, she lived in a small hovel in Calcutta. Her love is further demonstrated by how she taught the children from the slums. Since she did not have the equipment that was needed in school, she devised creative methods of teaching, where she wrote in the dirt. The children as a result became literate. She also visited the ill and the poor in the slum families. She made frequent visits around the shacks, enquiring about the needs of the people (Guntzelman, 2010). 
    
These actions were guided by love, which is a very strong Catholic tradition, dictated by the holy bible. According to the Catholic tradition, love is a virtue which should be demonstrated by all. According to Moore  Teresa, (1989), all people are supposed to Love each other as God loves each one of you, with an intense particular love. Be kind to each other. It is better to commit faults with gentleness than to work miracles with unkindness. The bible states in John 1335, By this evidence, everyone will know that you are my disciples-if you have love for one another.

According to Mother Teresa, Jesus came into the world for one sole purpose, to bring the good news to the poor. He died for the sins of mankind. He came to teach the tender love of God. The greatest commandment is that of love. The first on is the love of God, where one should love God with all his heart, soul and mind .Love is a fruit which should be within the hands of everyone, and all people should gather without any limit. Therefore, people should always love each other in all their deeds (Moore  Teresa, 1989).

Forgiveness
One day, as mother Teresa was working in debris, she came across a woman who was suffering from a fever. She was ill, so much so that she was saying her last prayers. Mother Teresa realized that she kept on repeating these words It is my son who has done it Mother Teresa took the woman to her room so that she could nurse her. She tried to talk to the woman so that she could forgive her son. After a long talk, the woman finally agreed to forgive her son. Mother Teresa felt that this was indeed a genuine feeling of forgiveness. She passed away immediately after forgiving her son (Moore  Teresa, 1989).

Forgiveness is an act of love, as mother Teresa demonstrated by urging the woman to forgive her son. This is a strong Catholic tradition, which is followed by the religious faithful to the letter. The Catholics believe that Christ wants each and every one of us to love one another trough forgiveness, regardless of the pain that we have gone through. After all, Christ came into the world so as to rescue man from sin through getting the forgiveness that we deserved. This was a very great act of love, which should be followed by all Catholics (Moore  Teresa, 1989).

Faith
The holy bible has a lot to say in regard to faith. In order for all people to love, they have to be strong in their faith. Faith is demonstrated as love in action and love in action is service. There must be a way to show love through sight and touch. Faith in action is through service and prayer. The Catholics believe strongly that faith without action is dead. Therefore, one has to demonstrate acts of love so as to prove that he or she has faith in God (Moore  Teresa, 1989).

Mother Teresa gives an example of a young French girl who demonstrated faith. She went to work in a home for dying destitute and came back to Mother Teresa with a lot of joy in her heart. She stated that she had found Jesus, and even went for Holy Communion after she found Jesus. She meant that she had found a lot of satisfaction through serving the needy in the society. In this way, she had demonstrated her faith, and revealed that action is necessary for all people. It is only through the acts of love that faith is demonstrated, which is a basic virtue for the Catholics (Moore  Teresa, 1989).

Catholics major beliefs
All Catholics in the whole world believe and profess one common faith. They have seven sacraments, which are shared by all people. They believe that the presence of Jesus in any situation is brought by the Holy sacrifice of the Mass. Additionally they believe that saint peter was succeeded by the pope in Rome, and therefore respect him. Lastly, they believe deeply on the interpretation of scripture, and strictly following what the scripture states. All Catholics who follow these to the letter are considered as holy (Open Site, 2010).

Mother Teresa demonstrated all these characters in her life of service. She made sure that she had participated in all the sacraments of the Catholic Church. Additionally, her love to the poor and all the services she gave was a symbol of love. She also respected the Pope and all those who served under him. In fact, before she left the Convent Sisters, she first had to seek for permission from her Archbishop. All in all, all what she did was a real demonstration of the scriptures, which revolve around the greatest commandment as stated by the bible, love one another with ones heart, soul and mind (Open Site,2010).

Conclusion
Clearly, mother Teresa is a public figure who was unique, and will forever be remembered, more so by the followers of the Catholic beliefs and traditions. She is one of the people who demonstrated real Catholicism, which is purely based on the biblical scriptures, and considered works as very important in any individuals lives. Majority of the Catholics adore her, and that explains why so many convents and homes are named after her. She not only demonstrated the real catholic tradition, but also found a lot of joy in following it. The same way she was faithful to her God and His teachings, all the Catholics are supposed to follow suit so as to live self-fulfilling lives.

The Guardian is a 2006 actiondrama film which stars Kevin Costner in the lead role.  Ben Randall is a highly-qualified rescue swimmer who is usually called upon every time there is a victim to be rescued at sea.  While on a rescue mission, he loses his entire crew at sea in a fatal chopper crash, which included his best friend.  The pain of being the lone survivor from that occurrence became the most vivid nightmare of his life.  Because of this unpleasant incident, his commander temporarily re-assigns him to teach at A school to train students to become rescue swimmers.  This is where he gets to meet Jake Fischer (portrayed by Ashton Kutcher), who, like him, was not only a gifted swimmer but also had his own nightmare -- a car accident which killed his 3 friends.  This common factor between them is what bonds their friendship until Fischer eventually graduates.  Returning to the rescue team after his stint at the A school, Fischer and Randall get to be partners in Fischers first rescue mission, which the latter passes with flying colors.  Randall, unfortunately, gets to discover that he hasnt been able to move on after the incident so he decides to retire.  In one of Fischers missions, of which Randall was still informed about, Randall felt uneasy and thought that his former student might need some help.  He went to their base and found that indeed, a swimmer was needed to help Fischer.  Randall helped Fischer but while being pulled up to their safety, they learned that the cable holding them was getting loose due to a cut in it.  Randall detaches himself from the cable to save Fischer, but Fischer grabs his hand and wouldnt let him go.  Randall unfastens his gloves to let his hands free and he finally lets go of Fischers hand.  Randall drops into the raging waters and his body was never found.

The movie has religious overtures and themes beginning with the welcoming remarks of the head of the A school where he states that  And when the Holy Lord himself reaches down from heaven and destroys his good work with winds that rip houses off the ground, we go out (The Guardian).  The head of the school emphasized that the life of a rescue swimmer is a demanding, risky yet fulfilling career because one gets a chance to save lives  and there is no greater calling than that (The Guardian) he goes on to say.  The terms save and calling are terms both used in religion and theology.  When we say save it means rescuing or assisting a person.  The Lord Jesus was known as The Savior, and the act of coming down to the earth to become man and to die for mans sins was Jesus way of saving the world  he saved us from the consequences of sin (Study of Basic Christian Beliefs).  On the other hand calling usually refers to a vocation or career which a person takes.  In most cases, it refers to the entry to the secular life like being a nun or becoming a priest.  In this movie, the calling referred to is that of being a rescue swimmer  a career which aimed to save peoples lives endangered at sea.

One more religious premise which was depicted in this movie is the initiation of the new students.  On their supposed first day of class, Randall instructs the students to jump into the pool and to tread the water for one hour without touching the floor or its sides.  This initiation was their baptism of fire and at the same time their baptism to the rescue swimmers world.  The Sacraments of the Catholic Church are the means by which Christ dispenses his salvific grace to the members of the Church (Catholic Beliefs).  The sacrament of baptism is the first of the seven sacraments, and symbolizes the removal or the washing away of original sin.  Randall taught the swimmers the value of endurance and the value of being determined by washing away their pride, illusions, idiosyncracies and preconceived notions on the life of a rescue guard. 

Another relevant Catholic teaching which was tackled in this movie is the divine characteristic of rescue swimmers, where at certain times they are given the option to choose the people who will live and the ones who will be left behind.  It is a difficult decision to make, and an equally arduous task of carrying the guilt of not being able to save everyone.  It is still part of the goal of saving lives, and yet sometimes, the options are just too limited and not everyone can be accommodated in the rescue chopper.  Similarly, in religion, the same thing happens although this is not because Jesus or Catholicism cannot accept anymore of the sinners, but rather it is because the sinners themselves do not want to leave their old ways and just prefer to stay where they are.  In Catholic teachings, Jesus Christ came down to earth to suffer for all of mans transgressions so that there will still be a link between God and man.  The goal of Jesus Christ is to save all of mankind but with the existence of evil in the world, some are just overpowered by it, become misled, and eventually, become followers of Satan and his works. 

In doing their rescue operations, the rescue swimmers were also trained to practice prudence, or knowing when to do the right thing at the right time, which is another religious insight this film puts forward.  The rescue team is expected to save people whose lives are put in danger while they are at sea, and they have to practice keen judgment, superior discernment and utmost precision in assessing perilous situations.  This was accentuated in the training of the students when Randall told them that the victims were expecting the rescuers to be the miracle in their lives.  As such, they had to keep their focus and try their best to save as many as they possibly can.  Prudence is part of the four cardinal virtues or the four primary moral virtues of the Catholic Church.  This virtue can be practiced by anyone and is definitely a positive characteristic which any person should aspire to imbibe.  Applying prudence to the vocation of rescuing at sea is a desirable factor which will aid greatly in accomplishing the mission set.

Fortitude is another relevant teaching which this movie asserts.  Fortitude is also part of the Four Cardinal Virtues, and the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit, which means courage or steadfastness in doing good.  The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death (Catechism of the Catholic Church), which is one trait that rescue swimmers are supposed to possess.  This was evident in the character of both Randall and Fischer as they went about carrying out their rescue missions.  Both of them did not show any signs of anxiety or fear in rescuing the victims, which helped a lot in making their missions victorious. 

In addition, guilt is a common factor between Randall and Fischer, and they both knew that they were not the ones who did the act, yet somehow they questioned the reason why they were the ones who survived the tragedies in their respective lives.  Coming to terms with the realization that your friends are no longer around, or that the families of your friends are suspecting you of foul play, are both grueling tasks which need much time, effort and acceptance.  The sufferings they felt may be construed as part of the evil in the world and it is said that Evil is allowed in order to provide the possibility of a higher order of goodness (Catholic Beliefs).  The higher order of goodness was somehow realized when Fischer was able to finally accept that he was not directly responsible for the deaths of his friends, and he finally became a full-fledged rescue swimmer.  In like manner, for Randall, this was realized when he took the initiative of sacrificing himself in order to let Fischer live. 

Related to the previous paragraph is the virtue of Faith, which is one of the three theological virtues  together with Hope and Charity -- and are all gifts of grace from God.  Since both Randall and Fischer did not have the answers to their question as to why they were the ones who survived, still, they moved along with their respective lives, built on the faith that they will eventually be enlightened at the right time.  At first, they both encountered great difficulty in accepting things.  Outwardly, Fischer even showed conceit, arrogance and pride which Randall somehow found hard to peel away, but which later on he realized was only part of a mask to hide Fischers weakness.  Conversely, Randall showed to his A class that he was a stern, strict and ruthless instructor, when, in actuality, he was a soft-hearted man who only wanted to rescue people and train his students to be good rescuers in the future too.  Later on, when they became good friends, they learned to have faith in each other, and faith that things will get better in Gods time.   

The film also touched lightly on the concept of monogamy as Randall was a devoted husband who never looked at another woman in his entire life.  It was just unfortunate that his wife did not empathize with him or his profession to be able to fully understand his career.  Marriage is the 5th of the seven sacraments.  It means the union of a man and a woman in a committed, life-long relationship.  Randall was bent on making his marriage work but his career was just too demanding for his wife, hence her decision to live independently, and later on, divorce him.  Ideally, since marriage is a lifetime vow to another person, it means being faithful to the sacrament and making the relationship work.  It has to work both ways, otherwise, the partnership will not succeed -- just how Randalls marriage ended.

Lastly, when the movie climaxed and had its denouement, Randall is shown sacrificing himself for the sake of Fischer.  Sacrifice is another Catholic teaching which is in consonance with the sufferings which Jesus Christ endured just to be able to save man from the life of sin.  Jesus Christ sacrificed himself so that man may live Randall sacrificed himself so that Fischer may live, and thus, be able to save more lives.  In essence, Randall still chose the option where more lives will be saved.