Religion and Civil Rights Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Religion and Civil Rights - Research Paper Example â€Å"Jains believe that the universe and everything in it is eternal. Nothing that exists now was ever created, nor will it be destroyed† . On the other hand, Confucianism gives more importance to ethical practices in human life even though it keeps silence about life after death or God. â€Å"Each day I examine myself on three counts: whether or not I am loyal to those in whose behalf I act; whether or not I am trustworthy in my dealings with friends; whether or not I practice what is imparted† . Different religions have different beliefs, customs, rituals and Gods. Based on this diverse belief system, religions control the civil rights of people. The rights of one religion need not be the rights of other religion. Same way the wrongs of one religion need not be the wrongs of another religion. This paper analyses the civil rights based on the belief system in different religions. Hindu Religion and civil rights â€Å"According to historians, the origin of Hinduism da tes back to 5,000 or more years. The word "Hindu" is derived from the name of River Indus, which flows through northern India†3 â€Å"The foundations of this oldest surviving religion were laid by ancient rishis (sages), who taught their disciples the eternal principles of life they had discovered through their meditations†4. Hindu religion is often referred as the religion of Vedas and Dharma. (Dharma is the code of conduct of life principles). Anyone who practices Dharma can be considered as a Hindu. Different class system is prevailing in Hindu religion like Brahman, Kshathriya, Vaisya and Shudra etc. Brahman people got the rights to do the rituals in the temple whereas Kshathriya got the right to rule the country. Vaisya and Shudra belong to the working class. In short, civil rights of people in Hindu religion were not even earlier even though at present such classifications are meaningless. The greatest strength of Hindu religion is its respect to other religions. It believes in the doctrine of, â€Å"Sanatana Dharma† or Universal Truth. India is a secular democratic country even though of majority of the people in India is Hindus, because of the above Hindu doctrine. No religion is prohibited in India and people have the right to believe and spread their own religion. Buddhism and civil rights â€Å"The religion of Buddha began in 563 B.C. Buddhists believe in karma and rebirth. Karma determines in which form a person is reborn and rebirth is a second birth†5. The beliefs of Buddhism are slightly different from that of other religions. Most of the other religions believe in single God or multi God theory whereas Buddhists are more interested in karma and rebirth. According to their belief, human life consists of so many rebirths which will be ended once a person attains Nirvana. Karma or the activities of a person in his present life will determine the nature of his rebirth. Buddhists do not have belief in soul. For them, soul will be changing from one form to another based on the rebirths. â€Å"They called soul as "self† which is just a bunch of changing characteristics†6 . The belief of Buddhism is based on the four noble truths; â€Å"Life means suffering, the origin of suffering is attachment, the cessation of suffering is attainable and the path to the cessation of suffering†7. According to Buddhism, â€Å"If there were a creator of the world, he would be regarded as responsible for the suffering8. In other words, Buddhists see no chances of happiness in earthly life. All the human activities in this material world will ultimately end up in sufferings. Even if a person did nothing wrong in his present life, his activities in previous life may affect him in his present