Gretchen Beilfuss Witt

May 12, 2008

Iwa ni csin*

A friend of mine recently became a member of the Baha’i faith and being a student of religions I was eager to find out a little more about what drew my friend in this direction. With the pluralism of religion in North America, it behooves us to become more familiar with the main tenets of many faiths in order to understand our fellow citizens. We know that it is easy to misunderstand and misinterpret the actions of followers of a particular doctrine when little is known about a belief system.

The library has on its new book shelf, a World Religions series of books by Facts on File worth considering. Each title in the series takes a look at the history of a particular faith, where it exists predominantly in the world illustrating its location with maps as well as pictures and writings. The African Religion book looks at how the over 6,000 native African faiths, how they differ from Christianity and Islam, the basic beliefs, rituals and current practices. Some of the beliefs include the idea that human society is communal encompassing the living, those who have yet to be born and those who have died (the living-dead). Most African practices include spirit guardians, spirits of the departed and the human need to interact with the spiritual world all around them. There are charts that indicate faiths geographically as well as whether they are obsolete or still in practice.

Other titles in the series include Sikhism, a religion chiefly practiced in India. Sikhism is said to one of the youngest religions of the world at only 500 years old. The Sikh’s are known for their distinctive turbans and their creed of unity. Name-giving ceremonies include reading of sacred texts and placing ritual sugar-water, Amrit, in a child’s mouth. Hinduism is another religion primarily observed in India and is the third-largest religion, ranking just after Christianity and Islam. The text describes the roots of Hinduism as well as the political aspects, social duties including Dharma or the responsibility of maintaining the cosmic harmony of the world and Hindus in the modern age. Descriptions and photographs of the fantastic art associated with Hindu places of worship are also incorporated within the text. Additional books in the series cover Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Bahai’i, Judaism and Protestantism.

Along with this series, other new offerings should be considered. Martin Marty, well-known scholar and faculty member of the University of Chicago, elucidates the global history of Christianity in “The Christian World”. He follows Christianity from historical and sociological perspectives as it has spread and how it has exerted influence throughout the world. It is a fascinating and “remarkable testament to the teachings of Christ”. And lastly, don’t miss “Bless the Space Between Us” a book of blessings by John O’Donohue, a lovely collection of poems and prose about life’s thresholds offering encouragement on the journey of life as we transition from the known to the unknown.*from the African Yoruba people of Nigeria, a proverb translated as “Character is Religion”.