An Insight OF World Religions

Worldwide, tremendous diversity exists in religious beliefs and practices. Overall, about 85 percent of the world's population adheres to some religion; only about 15 percent is nonreligious. This level of adherence changes over time, and also varies by country age group. In the United States today, those by country and age group. In the United States today, those who are nonreligious account less than 10 percent of the population; in 1900, however, they constituted a mere 1.3 percent of all Americans. And in 2004, 25 percent of incoming U.S. college students said, they either were not interested in spiritual or religious matters of had significant doubts (Barrett et al. 2005; Higher Education Research Institute 2005; Sax et al. 2005).

Christianity is the largest single faith in the world; the second largest is Islam. Although global news events often suggest an inherent conflict between Christians and Muslims, the two faiths are similar in many ways. Both are monotheistic (that is, based on a single deity); both include a belief in prophets, an afterlife, and a judgment day. In fact, Islam recognize Jesus as a prophet, thought not the son of God. Both faiths impose a moral code on believers, which varies from fairly rigid proscriptions for fundamentalists to relatively relaxed guidelines for liberals

The followers of Islam, called Muslims, believe that Islam's holy scriptures were received from Allah (God) by the prophet Muhammad nearly 1,400 years ago. They see Muhammad as the last long line of prophets, preceded by Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Islam is more communal in its expression than Christianity, particularly the more individualistic Protestant denominations. Consequently, in countries that are predominantly Muslim, the separation of religion and the state is not considered necessary or even desirable. In fact, Muslim governments often reinforce Islamic practices through their laws. Muslims do vary sharply in their interpretation of several traditions, some of which ---- such as the wearing of veils by women --- are, more cultural than religious in origin.

Like Christianity and Islam, Judaism in monotheistic. Jews believe that God's true nature is revealed in the Torah, which Christians know as the first five books of the Old Testament. According to these scriptures, God formed a covenant, or pact, with Abraham and Sarah, the ancestors of the tribes of Israel. Even Today, Jews believes, this covenant holds them accountable to God's will. If they follow both the letter and spirit of the Torah , a long - awaited Messiah will one day bring paradise to earth.