Comments: Assignment 2

We established in Assignment 1 that "religion" is the organized system by which we express our worship. "Religion" is the set of habits and practices that conveys our sense that some people and forces are on a higher plane than we are, and are worthy of our reverence.

In the world today, there are at least 7 major faith systems, or religions. They share certain characteristics, such as piety, fervor, fidelity, and of course also feature great differences in areas of understanding and worship.

Generally speaking, religions can be divided into groups the correspond to the being at the center of their worship. These general divisions include:

Monotheism: Religions that honor a single, external being
Examples: Christianity, Judaism, Islam

Polytheism: Religions that observe multiple external beings
Examples: Hinduism, Buddhism (some forms), Animism

Non-theism: Religions that honor no particular external spiritual beings
Examples: Daoism, Buddhism (some forms), Shinto

Self-theism: Religions that consider humans or "self" as supreme
Example: New age spirituality

For this assignment, please develop a short "worship profile" for the following religions:
Christianity
Judaism
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism
Shinto
Scientology
One religion or sect you consider "animist" (worships nature)
One religion you have not previously encountered or studied (use the Resources page)
One religion deeply different from your own belief system (use the Resources page)

Your "worship profile" of each religion should focus on the acts or habits related to worship. Be sure to provide the following:

Short introduction (2-5 paragraphs of history, key figures, dates, etc.)
Required worship (forms required by historic writings or contemporary practice)
Variations on worship (alternative practices or methods of worship)
Object of worship (being or force that is elevated in worship)
Motivation for worship (that which makes people desire to worship)
Essence worship (result or expectation that derives from worship)