PLEASE look at this and tell me what you think! It is my first one! I had to compare and contrast Hinduism and Judaism</p>
Two of the most fundemental religions in history and in the world today are Hinduism and Judaism. Hinduism being predominant in India, and Judaism being mainly in Israel, have many complex differences as well as similarities. These two ancient religions differ on their belief of God, their afterlife, and their place in social life and hierarchy.
One of the biggest differences between Hinduism and Judaism is in their belief of God. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion, meaning that there is a belief in mutliple Gods. Some people debate, however, if there is one God or many, because the Gods are in many different forms of one God. The three main Gods are Shiva- the destroyer, Vishnu- sustainer of life, and Bhrama- destroyer. Judaism, on the other hand, was started by Abraham and is a monothesitic religion, meaning that there is a belief in only one God. This fundamental difference is a basic contrast between both religions, though some can argue that they are similar in their belief of one God, just that Hinduism has different forms of that one God.
The views also diverge of the belief of their afterlife. Though both believe that somethings happens to a person after one is dead, the view of what exactly happens is different. In Judaism, one believes that after one dies, one goes to a heaven of sorts. The person is not reborn into another life; one just goes into an afterworld. Hinduism, by contrast believes in a complicated system called reincarnation. They believe in three basic terms: dharma, samsara, and kharma. Dharma means duty, and is what one is required and bound to do in life. Samsara is the movement up through the levels to get to the top. If one gets to the top, one reaches attains nirvana, which is the desired highest level. Lasty, kharma is one’s fortune. So to make it simple, if you have follow the dharma, you will have good karma, and then can achieve nirvana.
These veiws in religion played an important role in soceity, especially for Hinduism. For Hindus, Hinduism was a social structure, and was somewhat like their book of laws. It governed the population. People had to behave well and follow the rules, or they would have bad kharma and move down a level. The Hindus believed that one was born in a certain caste, and to get out of that caste and go to a higher level, one would have to be reincarnated after death. This allowed for a strict social hierarchy. Judaism, in contrast, had a much simpler role in society. Though it told people how to behave, it did not form a government for the people to follow, nor did it form a social hierarchy. It mainly just governed people in terms of behavior.
In conclusion, these two main relgions diverged on beliefs of God, afterlife, and the role it had in governing social life. Both religions were dominant in history, and still have many followers today. Their rich history and culture has led to differences in their beliefs, thus, to differences in the beliefs of their followers.</p>