RELIGION

DEFINITION

• Religion may be defined as a distinctive set of beliefs, symbols, rituals, doctrines, institutions, and practices that enables the members of the tradition to establish, maintain, and celebrate a meaningful world.

ANALYSIS OF RELIGIONS

• A religious tradition may be analyzed using the following factors:
  • History: This factor revolves around the question "When?" One of the simplest questions about a religion is when did it arise. History is concerned with how a religion develops, changes, and is transformed. It involves both continuity and discontinuity, unity and diversity. History also takes into account other social and cultural factors with which religion is intertwined. There is always a process of mutual influence between (and among) religion and other cultural forms.
  • System: It is concerned with structure or overall unity of a religious tradition. A religion has scriptures, myths, symbols, doctrines, and priests. All these different facets of a religion are within a framework that may the defined as the structure or system of the religion. A religion is a tradition moving through time. It is always in process, balancing continuity (preservation of the old) with discontinuity (acceptance of the new). System is the unity of the entity as it moves along and constitutes its continuity. It helps distinguish between the peripheral and central components of a religion; it also enables one to see the relationship of the parts as a unified whole.
  • Dynamics: The dynamics of a religion involves its practices. They are rooted in history and are the tangible expressions of the structure or system. Because of this reason, dynamics of a religion cannot be analyzed in isolation from either history or system. There are three broad categories of actions that are found in almost all religions:
    • Annual cycle: It is the circle of rituals and celebrations marked by a calendar year and usually repeated annually.
    • Life cycle: It is the round of rituals linked to the stages of a person's life, from birth to death, although may begin even before birth and continue long after death.
    • Personal experience.

MAJOR RELIGIONS

• Buddhism: Developed out of the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama who, in 535 BC, reached enlightenment and assumed the title Buddha. He promoted 'The Middle Way' as the path to enlightenment rather than the extremes of mortification of the flesh or hedonism. Long after his death the Buddha's teachings were written down. This collection is called the Tripitaka. Buddhists believe in reincarnation and that one must go through cycles of birth, life, and death. After many such cycles, if a person releases their attachment to desire and the self, they can attain Nirvana. Buddhists do not believe in any type of God, the need for a savior, prayer, or eternal life after death. Since the time of the Buddha, Buddhism has integrated many regional religious rituals, beliefs and customs into it as it has spread throughout Asia. This has occurred with little conflict due to the philosophical nature of Buddhism.
• Christianity: Christianity started  nearly 2000 years ago by  Jesus Christ. He was joined by twelve others who became his disciples and followed him in his journeys and learned from him. He related many of his teachings in the form of parables. Since Christianity and Judaism share the same history up to the time of Jesus Christ, they are very similar in many of their core beliefs. There are two primary differences. One is that Christians believe in original sin and that Jesus to save mankind from that sin. The other is that Jesus was the Son of God and part of the Holy Trinity: God the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. All Christians believe in heaven and that those who sincerely repent their sins before God will be saved and join Him in heaven. Belief in hell and Satan varies among groups and individuals.
• Hinduism: The origins of Hinduism can be traced to the Indus Valley civilization sometime between 4000 and 2500 BCE. Though believed by many to be a polytheistic religion, the basis of Hinduism is the belief in the unity of everything. This totality is called Brahman. The purpose of life is to realize that we are part of God and by doing so we can leave this plane of existence and rejoin with God. This enlightenment can only be achieved by going through cycles of birth, life and death known as samsara. One's progress toward enlightenment is measured by their karma. This is the accumulation of all one's good and bad deeds and this determines the person's next reincarnation. Selfless acts and thoughts as well as devotion to God help one to be reborn at a higher level. Bad acts and thoughts will cause one to be born at a lower level, as a person or even an animal.
  
  Hindus follow a strict caste system which determines the standing of each person. The caste one is born into is the result of the karma from their previous life. Only members of the highest caste, the Brahmins, may perform the Hindu religious rituals and hold positions of authority within the temples.
• Islam: Islam was founded in 622 AD by Prophet Mohammed in Saudi Arabia. Though it is the youngest of the world's great religions many Muslims do not view it as a new religion. They believe that it is the same faith taught by the prophets, Abraham, David, Moses and Jesus. The role of Prophet Mohammed as the last prophet was to formalize and clarify the faith and purify it by removing ideas which were added in error. The two sacred texts of Islam are the Qu'ran, which are the words of Allah "the One True God" as given to Prophet Mohammed, and the Hadith, which is a collection of the Prophet's sayings. The duties of all Muslims are known as the Five Pillars of Islam and are:
  
  1.Recite the shahadah (the creed) at least once.
  2.Perform the salat (prayer) 5 times a day while facing Mecca.
  3.Donate regularly to charity via the zakat, a 2.5% charity tax, and through additional donations to the needy.
  4.Fast during the month of Ramadan, the month that Mohammed received the Qu'ran from Allah.
  5.Make at least one pilgrimage to Mecca if economically and physically possible.
  
  Muslims follow a strict monotheism with one creator who is just, omnipotent and merciful. They also believe in Satan who drives people to sin, and that all unbelievers and sinners will spend eternity in Hell. Muslims who sincerely repent and submit to God will return to a state of sinlessness and go to Paradise after death. Alcohol, drugs, and gambling should be avoided and they reject racism. They respect the earlier prophets, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.
• Judaism:  Originated with a divine covenant between the God of the ancient Israelites and Abraham around 2000 BC. The next leader of the Israelites, Moses, led his people out of captivity in Egypt and received the Law from God. Joshua later led them into the promised land where Samuel established the Israelite kingdom with Saul as its first king. King David established Jerusalem and King Solomon built the first temple there. In 70 AD the temple was destroyed and the Jews were scattered throughout the world until 1948 when the state of Israel was formed.
  
  Jews believe in one creator who alone is to be worshipped as absolute ruler of the universe. He monitors peoples activities and rewards good deeds and punishes evil. The Torah was revealed to Moses by God and can not be changed though God does communicate with the Jewish people through prophets. Jews believe in the inherent goodness of the world and its inhabitants as creations of God and do not require a savior to save them from original sin. They believe they are God's chosen people and that the Messiah will arrive in the future, gather them into Israel, there will be a general resurrection of the dead.
• Shintoism: Shintoism is an ancient Japanese religion, closely tied to nature, which recognizes the existence of various "Kamei", nature deities. The first two deities, Izanagi and Izanami, gave birth to the Japanese islands and their children became the deities of the various Japanese clans. One of their daughters, Amaterasu (Sun Goddess), is the ancestor of the Imperial Family and is regarded as the chief deity. All the Kamei are benign and serve only to sustain and protect. They are not seen as separate from humanity due to sin because humanity is "Kamei's Child." Followers of Shinto desire peace and believe all human life is sacred. They revere "musuhi", the Kamei's creative and harmonizing powers, and aspire to have "Makoto", sincerity or true heart. Morality is based upon that which is of benefit to the group. There are "Four Affirmations" in Shinto:
  
  1.Tradition and family: the family is the main mechanism by which traditions are preserved.
  2.Love of nature: nature is sacred and natural objects are to be worshipped as sacred spirits.
  3.Physical cleanliness: they must take baths, wash their hands, and rinse their mouth often.
  4."Matsuri": festival which honors the spirits.

POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

• Project personnel employed for international assignments must be informed on details of religious beliefs that specifically affect operations. Religious holidays may affect the production schedule. Other beliefs may affect the patterns of consumption.
• Religious figures or institutions can organize and spearhead social movements that may change a company's business activity in a country. Religious centralization in a country may be a factor leading political activism. Religious heterogeneity also may have an impact on the stability of international business operations. People intending to engage in international business should, therefore, consider the impact of religion as part of the analysis of political risk in the host country.
• There is no one religion that incites productivity better than another religion. As part of overall environmental assessment, it is a good idea to analyze how closely a particular religion is tied to the details of social life. The success depends on the understanding of the impacts of the specific codes for conduct of and priorities in business culture.