Hey, thanks for coming!

Okay.  So, there are basically two types of religion -- organized and the other kind.  [ha,ha!]
Some might say there are really three -- the other being religions that are no longer practiced and that may only be described under the heading of Mythology.  (But all religions can be included under that rubric [banner.])

The Western world -- that is, places like Europe and the Americas -- is described as Judeo-Christian in culture.  [Culture= way of life.]  That's because the main view of how things are, and/or should be, comes from a scripture known as The Bible which itself comprises [is made up of ] the Jewish scriptures plus the Christian scriptures.

The Jewish part is referred to as the Old Testament and the other is the New Testament.  As one volume, it is a Christian book because people of that religion think that the New part is a continuation of the Old.

Jews have little interest in the second part and so it would not be correct to call the Bible a Jewish text.
Jews call their scriptures Tanakh which is an acronym for the Hebrew words meaning: Law, Prophecies and other Writings.  When it is in the special scroll form in which it is hand-written on vellum or parchment, it is called a torah. Then it usually contains the law part, and the other bits can be on separate scrolls.

However, Christianity would not exist without the Jewish part since the Jewish teacher, Jesus, derived his doctrines from it and the actual founder of Christianity known as Saint Paul also used it.

The Christian view of the first and older part, the Old Testament, is also different from that of Jews. That is because Christians think that the Old Testament predicts the New Testament.  Therefore, its meaning has changed because of that.

I think that does not makes sense, but what do I know?  I am only a dog.
That would be something like saying that I had a dream.  Then something interesting happens, and then I conclude that the long ago dream was really a prediction.  How can you prove such a thing?
Christian teachers usually respond, "It is a matter of faith." 

Some beings can go a long way on faith.

Anyway.

Organized religion is almost the only kind you ever hear about.  That is because people who think alike -- or almost alike (whatever that means) tend to want to get together and talk about their beliefs.  Before you know it, there is a boss and underlings.  The boss either knows more than the others, or else can do bad things to the others to keep them in or kick then out of the group.

The other kind is more like a party.  Some people have their party all alone.  People today like to use the word spirituality when they talk of individual religious beliefs that do not seem to fit into an established religious group.  I say, seem, because few people realize that their personal religious views are not likely to be original ones.

Me and Dahlia (Dahlia and I?) will list some kinds of religious views.
 
 

No Absolute or God	Greater Consciousness, Soul, God	Divine Principles, gods, deities
Atheist Agnostic (is unsure) Buddhist	Hinduism - but not all members Judaism Christianity Islam Jainism	Taoism Zoroastrian "shamanism" Wicca a.k.a. neo-paganism animism Vaudun (most of the beings on this planet at one time or another)

More to come!
 

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