can you do this?
Your textbook points out that when we first look at other religions, we often compare them to our own religious preunderstanding. A better way to compare religions is by categories. The textbook provides six categories on p. 10 but these are vague. For simplicity, let’s use the six categories listed below. Not all religions will fit the categories. For example, a category of “God” might have a variety of terms used for “God” such as deity, gods and goddesses, Spirit, or spirits, but other religions like Buddhism and Confucianism, may also have no gods at all.
For this activity compare Indigenous religions with Hinduism using the categories listed in the chart. Describe specific details from both religions including relevant, specific comments on the comparisons. Be sure to cite where you obtained your details. Write a substantive conclusion with specific details about your comparison of the two religions at the bottom. We have completed one category for you.
| Categories (Complete the 5 comparisons below the example) | Indigenous religions | Hinduism | Comments/notes |
| Founder/ venerated ancestor | Indigenous religions have no founders (Van Voorst, p. 41) | Hinduism has no founder (Van Voorst, p. 62) | For Hinduism, while there were no founders there have been several leaders of reform movements in the 1800s AD and the most revered leader of Hinduism today is Mohandas Gandhi (Van Voorst, p.70) better known as Mahatma Gandhi. |
| God/Deities/ Spirit | |||
| Sacred texts/ stories | |||
| Salvation/ enlightenment/afterlife | |||
| Ethical systems | |||
| Rituals | |||
| Conclusion | |||
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