Diversity Work Paper

Donnie Ulmer

University of Phoenix

Ethics 125

Winter 2013 Week 4

Asians and the Hindu religion

Throughout mankind’s history, many cultures have come and gone but Hinduism has withstood the challenges posed by time. India is the country of origin and there is substantial evidence that Hinduism has spread all over the world including Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, USA, Italy, and many other parts of the globe.

Despite the fact that Hinduism is the world’s oldest living religion, (history of Hinduism can be traced back to 5000 -10,000 B.C.) and third largest after Christianity and Islam, with more than 1 billion followers. However, there are a number of misconceptions about Hinduism which still exist. By selecting “Asian Hindu” from the list of ethnic/racial and religious groups provided for this assignment that I do not identify with, I will explore the required concepts and put forth comprehensive answers to the best of my ability.

Some of the ways in which Hinduism differs from other religious groups is that it is formed from a conglomeration of distinct philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid common set of beliefs and, it is formed of diverse traditions with no single founder. Differences among the beliefs, worship practices and values include the belief that Hindus earn a human body their soul passes through 8,400,000 species. Hindus believe in one God named as “Brahman” but view other Gods and Goddesses as manifestations of Him. Therefore, in practice, they worship more than one God. Most Hindus worship God in the form of an idol.

Natural things which are useful for human beings, such as mountains, trees, animals, (cows are the most revered of...