In a world where religions plays such a major role in people’s lives, it is not surprising why it is such a major focus in the way choices and decisions are made. There are many religions throughout the world. Some are faiths with a very concentrated following in specific geographic areas, while others span the entire globe and have enormous numbers of followers. Each of the world’s major religions has definite distinctions that set themselves apart from others and that make them unique. These religions, however, all follow the same basic morals and guidelines that are quite similar.

The most widely followed faith on the planet is Christianity. Followers of Christianity believe that God sent his own son Jesus to earth to save them from their own sinful ways. They believe that Jesus was killed for his teachings and was then resurrected after lying in a tomb for three days. The main Christian holy day is celebrated on the day Jesus rose from the dead. This day is known as Easter Sunday and is the center of the entire faith. The ultimate goal for Christians is to have their souls join God in heaven when they die where they will live forever in eternal happiness.

Christianity is broken up into three different groups that follow similar beliefs but do differ on some. Roman Catholics are the first type. They make up the largest single faith in Christianity. Catholics are united under their leader, the Pope who resides in Rome. They interpret meaning from the Bible to use in everyday life. Roman Catholic scholars, who spend their lives interpreting the Bible, do the interpreting. Protestants are another type of Christians. Although technically they make up the largest following, they are further broken up into other denominations that can have very different beliefs. This term is really a generalization for any group that broke apart from Roman Catholicism beginning with Martin Luther who later founded the Protestant religions of Lutheranism. The final type of Christians are Orthodox Christians who broke away from the Roman Catholic Church during the Great Schism in the early days of Christianity. They are almost identical with Catholics except that they do not recognize the Pope as their leader.

For years, Catholics and Protestants have argued over various issues of faith. It has led to much tension between them. The most striking of these tension is in Northern Ireland where the Protestant leaders are constantly at odds with one another. It has led to terrible violence, which continues even to this day.

Jews make up another of the world’s major religions. Jews feel that they are the Chosen People of Yahweh (God) because of the covenant that God made with the Jews through Abraham who was considered the founder of Judaism and later through The Ten Commandments that were handed down from God to Moses. Jews consider the area around Jerusalem to be their sacred land because it was given to them by God thousands of years ago. Jews lived in this land called Israel for thousands of years until it was overrun by Muslims. It was not until after World War I that land was returned to the Jews. This land in the Middle East is know again as Israel and is where the main concentration of Jews live. This was done so that Jews could have a homeland after all the persecution that they had endured throughout the world.

They believe in the teachings of Mohammed. Their main beliefs are that no God exists but Allah, each Muslim must pray five times a day, they must fast during the month of Ramadhan, and make a trip to Mecca at least once during their lives. It is believed by Muslims that if these rules are followed that they will be united with Allah when they die. Muslims are mainly concentrated in the Middle East and in northern Africa. This has led to tensions with the state of Israel because they also have claim to Israel as their holy land. Violence has plagued the Middle East for much of the 20th Century between the Muslims and Jews over this land.

Hinduism is the religions followed by most people in India. This religion believes in the art of reincarnation, which is being reborn into another creature. Each person begins as a lowly creature and through achieving karma, which is similar to a cause and affect principal; they progress through until they become humans. After which, they reach Nirvana, which is their name from heaven. This religion varies vastly from Christianity, Judaism, and Islam in that they believe in many gods and not just one. There has also been violence between the Hindus of India and a former part of India called Pakistan that is mainly Muslim. After years of fighting, Pakistan gained it independence but a terrible conflict still exists.

Buddhism is a belief followed by most people living in China and Southeast Asia. They believe in the teachings of Buddha, who was originally a Hindu until he became enlightened. His teachings say that all of life is suffering and that this suffering is caused by desire. He said that the only way to end suffering is to end desire and to end desire you must follow the Eight Paths of Enlightenment. There are other smaller groups of religious beliefs like Confucianism, which is basically a respect for elders. Most people in Japan follow this belief. Animism is a faith followed by more primitive cultures throughout Africa and Asia. This centers on the fact that spirits inhabit everything in nature and are thus worshipped for it.

Religion remains a crucial part of world politics. It is the driving force behind much of today’s biggest problems, and until everyone learns to respect one another’s differences this unnecessary violence will continue.