.... through the sub-continent the name Shindu . Hindu is only a corrupt form of Sindhu given to the Aryans by the Greeks. A way of life that is all things to Hindus, the religion encompasses a vast, uncoordinated complex of sects, doctrines, beliefs and practices set in a social framework. It has the unique distinction of having no single founder, no centralized organized hierarchy and no fixed dogmas. It represents instead countless sages and the truths revealed to them over thousands of years in the Vedas. The sanctity of the four Vedas—Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda—is the ultimate authority for all Hindus. While the Vedas is a very important aspect ....

.... abrupt halt during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (Lewis 9). In 1641, the Norman-Irish, who were worried that their lands would be lost, and the native Irish, who were forced to accept an unfamiliar culture, rebelled (Lewis 9). In 1649, Oliver Cromwell, leader of the Parliamentarians in the English Civil war, lead the Puritans into a bloodbath against the Catholics (Lewis 9). "He did it brutally, massacring the Irish without mercy and called the large scale killing ‘the righteous judgements and mighty works of God'" (Meyer 78). Thousands of Catholics preferred to suffer and die than deny their faith (Firth 10). By the middle of the seventeenth century, the P ....

.... of being incarnated human are the same as that of the turtle putting his head through the yoke (which also floats around the ocean) on one of his trips to the top. It follows, therefore, that to waste it is to waste numberless lives spent trying to gain this precious rebirth and also the chance of enlightenment. The law of Karma says: All actions will entail consequences in the next life, so a Buddhist's freedom could be said to be somewhat compromised. This law means that, to be reincarnated human, you must live a near-perfect life. Any wrong doing on our part is foolish, because the condition experienced in present existence is regarded as having been caused by past deeds ....

.... followed the ten commandments, and followed the good life taught to us by Jesus, he was enrolled for heaven. If the deceased had never went to church, broke some of the ten commandments, and did not follow the good life, he was consigned to hell. Myself as a six-year- old I never wanted to go to hell. I remember what my Sunday school teachers told of this place where you live in a a fiery pit always in pain. I'm sorry, but that just doesn't sound like fun to me. I began from then on being the best person I could, I never missed church on Sundays, and to the best of my ability tried to live the life Jesus has paved for us. This is by far the most religious experience ....

.... piece of cloth for women) that is draped over the body. Ihrams symbolize the equality between men and women. It also represents being in the state of becoming muhrim. A muhrim is a Muslim who has entered the state of consecration appropriate to entering the sacred precincts of Mecca for the purpose of pilgrimage. After becoming a muhrim, fingernails and hair cannot be cut, perfume and cologne are not allowed to be worn and sexual activities are not allowed to be performed. Those are just some minute processes of many, which enable a person to achieve purification during the pilgrimage. On the first day of the pilgrimage, thousands of Muslims join each other by walking ....

.... Pogroms (Glatzer). Many people believe that these early references and cases of anti-Semitism were the root for the Holocaust. From misconceptions of the Bible, the Great Crusades, to the early 20Th century Pogroms, they all helped build up a hate for the Jews . One of the first major anti-Semitic massacres took place during the Crusades. It was a period in which much of the civilized world lived under a feudalistic government. In such a system priests, bishops, and most of all, dukes, had power over the people (Rosenthal). In this time, many Christian authorities blamed Jews for killing Jesus and took the opportunity to use that allegation to gather money for t ....

.... the bounds of Gaul, in Auvergne, in the city which is called Clermont. Over this Pope Urban II presided, with the Roman bishops and cardinals. This council was a famous one on account of the concourse of both French and German bishops, and of princes as well. Having arranged the matters relating to the Church, the lord pope went forth into a certain spacious plain, for no building was large enough to hold all the people. The pope then, with sweet and persuasive eloquence, addressed those present in words something like the following saying: "Oh, race of Franks, race from across the mountains, race beloved and chosen by God, as is clear from many of your works, set apart f ....

.... membership in Protestant churches increased. In recent years, the Catholic Church has become politically active and more vociferous concerning its views on moral issues such as war, abortion, and euthanasia. It is my feeling that many Catholics are searching for sects that will allow them to retain their faith in Christ without a central body (i.e., the Vatican) speaking on behalf of them on issues that they are capable of rationalizing for themselves. Among Catholics and Protestants, there is a trend toward less rigid attendance of religious services. If we examine the figures from Stark and Glock's 1968 survey, 54% of Americans surveyed at the time attended church ....