Christianity VS. Islam

Christianity and Islam were two fairly new religions growing and branching out in the world. Although Islam had a late start (600 Years) it quickly spread through out the middle east due to the good missionaries. Soon both religions would gain more and more territory getting closer and closer setting themselves up for a collision course with each other.
When each religion heard of the other they basically had the same reaction. Both Islam and Christianity immediately started to dislike each other. They had diluted and warped images of the religion and thought they were savages or insane. Ironically both religions had a lot in common. Both were monotheistic religions. They each worshiped one individual God. Also both religions had a goal to convert other people. This was what basically caused them to have their conflict as well.

The Foundation of Islam

Before islam was founded the Middle east was fraught with tribal warfare. With most of the inhabitants in the middle east living in a desert lots of people were fighting over water, food, and farming land people separated into factions or tribes. The scarcity of these resources made people desperate. Then Muhammed Ibn Abdullah surfaced. When he was just a small child both his parents had died. He was soon adopted by his uncle, the leader of his tribe. When he was older he became a trader and a merchant. He soon became well known as an honest and good trader. People listened to him. Then he had a vision. According to Muhammed an angel visited him in a cave and told him to spread the word of God. He soon became a prophet and spread the word. At first people did not believe him. He was victimized. But he soon gained support. The more support he gained the more the middle east became united.

Agriculture in India

Agriculture is very important in India within the country and outside the country. Agriculture takes up 2/3 of the labor force in India. Than means it employs 2/3 of the Indian population. Without the agriculture industry India would be in a lot of trouble economically. Lots of people would not have jobs which would put the economy to a stand still. Agriculture in India is also important around the world. India is the number one exporter of Tea, Jute, Sugar cane and Cashews. This means other countries depend on it for food.
Agriculture in India could not be complete without its use of the monsoons. Farmers in India mostly depend on monsoons to farm and they stand on the edge of a knife when it comes to wether there is too much water which will drown the plants or too little which will kill the plants. Using innovations in irrigation technology though they have softened the blow that extreme monsoons have on plants.

The Ganges River

The Ganges is India's largest river. It flows from its origins in the ice capped Himalayas eastward until it flows into the bay of bengal. It is about 1,554 miles long. During its long journeys it passes through several cities which believe it to be sacred. Actually eighty percent of the Hindus who live in India think its sacred.  They believe that it is the home of the Godess Ganga. It has been considered important for centuries. It is believed that if you drink it good things will become of you. You can also throw the ashes of the dead into the river which will give you better karma for the next life. Bathing yourself in the river is also helpful. It is believed that when you bathe in the river you wash away all your sins. The Ganges river is a symbol of Indias spirituality and without it hinduism would not be the same.

Taoism and Confucianism

People act usually act differently according to what religion they believe in. Different religions create different kinds of behaviors. In this post I am going to write about the difference in the ways people acted according to wether they believed in Taoism or Confucianism.
For both religions, people would behave non violently. In both religions violence is frowned upon. There is a universal message in both religions that one should only do good and never harm anything.
In confucianism, one always is supposed to try and help others. You are supposed to be a force of good. Unlike Taoism where instead of helping people you should try and become one with nature and have peace with yourself. So if a person believes in Confucianism, they would probably be feeding the poor or sheltering them. They would be very community oriented. Now if a person was a Taoist they would act a little differently. Instead of being so pro community they would be pro nature. One would expect that they would be the more hermit type. Living in forest becoming one with nature instead of becoming one with the community.

Constantine and Christianity

Before Constantine, Christianity was a fairly underground religion. It had much less followers then other religions in the area and it was fairly new. This made it look like a cult. If you were Christian it was mostly frowned upon. Especially in Rome. Soon news of this cult had reached Constantine. He probably knew a little bit about it but he probably did not care. Until that fateful day. He was leading an army into a battle but he wasn't sure he should pull through and fight. Then he looked into the sun and apparently saw a cross. He ordered all his men to nail crosses to their shields and start attacking. He won the battle and took it as a sign from God. He made Christianity the official religion of rome. 

There is some controversy though if Constantine was fully behind Christianity. He did not attempt to wipe out the old religion. He said that if people wanted to worship old Gods then they could. Also he did not convert until he died. This could mean a few things. He did not fully believe in Christianity or he wanted to remain neutral until he died so he could prolong his rule. 

Religion: A tool of the powerful?

In some areas around the world, religion was used as a way for the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. For example, in India, the rich used hinduism, to separate themselves from the poor. Over time they developed a caste system. A caste system is a social grouping system where the rich are on the very top of the system while the poorer or less important you are the lower you stand. Then there are the untouchables. These people were unfortunately born into a group which is so unimportant and so, well, "untouchable" that they don't even have a cast. This system developed over a long period of time. During the birth of this social structure people were fairly divided already. Everyone wanted to be rich but in the end only the rich stayed rich. People on the bottom just struggled. Soon the rich had enough power to convince people that staying in there place was the right thing to do. They used hinduism as an argument, and said that if you were the best person you could possibly be at your cast level then when you died, you would be reincarnated as someone rich or important.