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Religion thread?So I
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Religion thread?So I
Religion thread?
So I had this idea, 'cause I don't really know much about other religions. Pretty much all I know is from the books I read (and reread and rereread and so on). I mean, I've gone to 4 schools in my life, and 3 out of 4 are Jewish schools (well, one was from my shul, but it still counts...) (the other is a French school, if anyone's wondering). I don't know about the rest of you, but I would like to learn more about other religions. (Just get to the point already, Rainbow!) ANYWAYS, I made this thread as a place to talk and learn about religions? Like, what are the traditions and holidays and stuff. Yeah? :) *ends awkwardly*
submitted by Rainbow, age Guess. , Mystical Fog, She/they
(September 11, 2022 - 11:27 am)
(September 11, 2022 - 11:27 am)
A thread about religions is a wonderful idea... you can learn a lot about other cultures by finding out what their religions are.
I'll start by talking about Mexico, where I used to live... In Mexico most people are Catholic, which isn't that exotic, but still interesting. There are lots of traditions associated with it which are really important to daily life. For instance, there's always a baptism or a wedding or a first communion or something going on, which provides a great excuse for the whole family to get together. (In MExico people have huge families.) And everyone worships the saints and the "virgenes," or the different manifestations of the Virgin, Christ's mother.One of the most popular is Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Of course the different holidays are very important, like Christmas, and "Semana Santa" or Holy Week, which is Easter Week. People tend to think that one of the most important celebrations in Mexico is the Day of the Dead, but no way. All the Catholic celebrations are much more meaningful and fundamental.
Anyway, I'll stop there so i don't exhaust the poor Admins, but feel free to ask any questions!
(September 12, 2022 - 3:45 pm)
Cool! Learning stuff about other cultures is great! :D I definetly learned quite a bit there. I do have a quick question: What's communion/first communion? I remember it mentioned in some book or another, but it didn't really explain much about it..... I think the author just assumed people would know or something, and I forgot to look it up.... :)
That's cool that you lived in Mexico. I don't know anyone who lived there, I think.... Brazil, sure, but not Mexico....
Oh! Another question for you. You said that you used to live in Mexico (therefore by using past tense, you re saying you don't now). Did the way you are [wording, ugh] practicing religion change when you moved, and if so, how?
(Proof of my [little] knowledge of Christianity/stuff other than Judaism, not that anyone was doubting it, ofc.)
(September 12, 2022 - 7:21 pm)
Communion is a practice based on the last supper, where Jesus gave his disciples bread and wine, telling them the bread and wine were his body and blood. During communion Christians have a small amount of bread and wine (or juice) and usually pray or read a bible passage about the last supper. It's viewed as a time of fellowship and a reminder of Jesus's sacrifice. There are slightly differing beliefs about it, so someone else might be able to explain it better than I can.
(September 13, 2022 - 8:37 am)
In Catholic practice, communion is always wine; Roman Catholics traditionally use unleavened bread, and Eastern Catholics and Orthodox Christians use leavened. Like Sterling says, it's a time of fellowship/community (communion - community) and remembrance.
Catholics (and Orthodox Christians) also believe that the bread and wine is literally changed into the body and blood of Christ during a special prayer, retaining its physical characteristics but taking on the spiritual reality of Jesus. Within Catholicism, communion is accepted as a Sacrament/Holy Mystery - something not fully understood, or even something you can understand, but very real and very important for life as a Catholic.
Anyway, like everyone says, this is a cool idea, and I like learning about other cultures and religions as well! :)
(September 13, 2022 - 1:16 pm)
Oh, cool idea! I mean, I'm a protestant/trinitarian/congregational* (confusing I know), and everybody knows about Christmas and Easter and stuff, but maybe you don't know about Lent or Advent?
Advent is basically the season before Christmas, and it's where we get all happy and excited cause Jesus is coming! There's an Advent wreath with five candles: Three purple, one pink, and one white. We light one candle per week, and each candle stands for Hope, Faith, Joy, and Love. Then on Christmas day, we light the white one to represent Jesus.
Lent is basically the season before Easter, and it's where we get all sad and depressed cause Jesus is gonna die :( There's six purple candles, and it's like the opposite of Advent- the wreath starts out fully lit, and each week we extinguish one more candle to represent the coming gloom. I believe each candle also represents something, like in Advent, though that may just have been something Carrie the Crazy Church Lady made up.
And then there's a holiday where they give you your own palm leaf(!) to take home but I forget when it happens or why we do it, the only memorable part about it is the palm leaf :)
And, I mean there's also a lot more to Christianity than candles but it's just the thing that my family focuses on most.
*technically I'm an athiest but whatever- I'm a secret athiest! *evil chuckle*
(September 12, 2022 - 8:03 pm)
I'm an atheist, but I'm learning about religions in history right now, and they're facinating! Something I find really interesting is how religions evolve and adapt to different cultures. Looking at the similarities and differences of Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and philosophies such as Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism is really, really interesting! There's so much rich history surrounding each one and how they interact with each other, and also understanding someone's religion can help me understand their actions or the way that they view certain events.
(September 13, 2022 - 7:44 am)
@Rainbow: Here are the answers to your questions :) Sterling is right about what "communion" means, although I'm not quite sure whether you always pray or read about the Last Supper. First communion, of course, is when you do it for the first time. In Mexico it usually happens when you're about ten years old.
And for your second question, the way I practice religion didn't really change when I moved, because... I myself am not actually a strict Catholic, so I didn't go to church every week or anything like that. However, moving did mean that I couldn't go and attend other people's baptisms, weddings, etc, because all the people I knew who did that were in Mexico. Also, we used to drop into the local church, sometimes, which ws always really nice because it was so peaceful and relaxing, but we couldn't do that when we left Mexico. Anyway, I hope that helps answer your questions!
(September 13, 2022 - 2:50 pm)
My family and I are firmly Christians (pretty sure) we haven't actually gone to a church in a couple years, due to Covid and not finding a reliable church. :( we still pray when things get hard, and we read Bible passages and set up a Nativity carving on Christmas.
(September 13, 2022 - 10:27 pm)
My family and I set up "nacimientos" on Christmas. Nacimientos are a Mexican tradition. They're recreations of the scene of the birth of Christ, made with beautiful, tiny clay figures, real moss and stones, and anything else you like. Some are much bigger - I saw one once that was almost life-size and it had real fish in it. I was younger then, so you can imagine I was mesmerized. :)
(September 19, 2022 - 8:27 pm)
Come along, dear thread, please - top!
(September 23, 2022 - 2:44 pm)