Wednesday, April 23, 2008

American Singles Religion



AMERICAN SINGLES RELIGION
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Religion

The most prevalent faiths in the Americas are as follows:

1. Christianity (North America: 85 percent; South America: 93 percent)
Roman Catholicism (practiced mostly in Latin America; approximately 24 percent of the United States population and more than 40 percent of all of Canadians) american singles religion.
Protestantism (practiced mostly in United States, where half of the population are Protestant, and Canada, with slightly more than a quarter of the population; there is a growing contingent of Evangelical and Pentecostal movements in predominantly Catholic Latin America )
Eastern Orthodoxy (found mostly in the United States and Canada—0.5 percent of the US citizenry; this Christian group is growing faster than many other Christian groups in Canada and now represents roughly 3 percent of the population) .American Singles religion.
Other Christians and non-denominational Christians (some 1,000 different Christian denominations and sects practiced in the Americas) .American singles religion.

The Catholic Church traces its founding to Jesus and the Twelve Apostles and sees the bishops of the Church as the successors of the apostles, and the pope in particular as the successor of Peter, leader of the apostles. The Gospel of Matthew recounts Christ's consecration of Peter in these words "... you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven".According to church belief, the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles in an event Christians call Pentecost brought this promised "church" fully into the world.Scholars such as emeritus Fellow and former dean of Peterhouse, Cambridge, Edward Norman agree that the Church was founded by Jesus during his earthly life and believe the historical record reveals that it was considered a Christian doctrinal authority from the beginning.Others like University of Cambridge history professor Eamon Duffy, caution that the insufficient number of clear written records surviving from the early years of Christianity make such precision difficult to confirm. Dismissing a letter from Pope Clement I dated to the year 95 that other historians cite as evidence of a presiding cleric, Duffy questions the concept of apostolic succession and doubts that there was a ruling bishop in the Roman church in the first century. Calling "suspiciously tidy" the first historical document to list the Roman bishops back to Saint Peter which was supplied by Irenaeus in the second century, Duffy states, "there is no sure way to settle on a date by which the office of ruling bishop had emerged in Rome, and so to name the first pope, but the process was certainly complete by the time of Anicetus in the mid-150s, when Polycarp, the aged bishop of Smyrna, visited Rome, and he and Anicetus debated amicably the question of the date of Easter".The american singles religion.American Singles religion.
The Church believes that its mission is founded upon Christ's biblical command to his followers to spread the faith across the world: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you: and Lo, I am with you always, until the close of the age". The church believes that it follows these mandates by preaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments. As an organization, the Church also administers social programs throughout the world. Through Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities, Catholic schools, universities, hospitals, shelters, and ministries to the poor, as well as ministries to families, the elderly and the marginalized, the church applies the tenets of Catholic social teaching and tends to the corporal and spiritual needs of others.American Singles religion.


2. Atheism (mostly found in North America—atheists make up 16 percent of Canadians, 12 percent of the U.S. population, and less than 5 percent of Mexicans; only 4 percent of South Americans have no belief in a God).American singles religion.

Atheism, as an explicit position, either affirms the nonexistence of gods or rejects theism.When defined more broadly, atheism is the absence of belief in deities,[3] alternatively called nontheism.Although atheism is often equated with irreligion, some religious philosophies, such as secular theology and some varieties of Buddhism such as Theravada, either do not include belief in a personal god as a tenet of the religion, or actively teach nontheism.
Many self-described atheists are skeptical of all supernatural beings and cite a lack of empirical evidence for the existence of deities. Others argue for atheism on philosophical, social or historical grounds. Although many self-described atheists tend toward secular philosophies such as humanism and naturalism, there is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere.American Singles religion.
The term atheism originated as a pejorative epithet applied to any person or belief in conflict with established religion. With the spread of freethought, scientific skepticism, and criticism of religion, the term began to gather a more specific meaning and has been increasingly used as a self-description by atheists.American Singles religion.


3. Judaism (practiced by 2 percent of North Americans—approximately 2.5 percent of the U.S. population and 1.2 percent of Canadians ; 0.23 percent of Latin Americans—Argentina has the largest Jewish communities in Latin America with 200,000 members ) American Singles religion.

Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה, Yehudah, "Judah"; in Hebrew: יַהֲדוּת, Yahedut, the distinctive characteristics of the Judean eáqnov) is the religion of the Jewish people, based on principles and ethics embodied in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), as further explored and explained in the Talmud. In 2007, the world Jewish population was estimated at 13.2 million people—41% of whom live in Israel and 59% in the diaspora.American Singles religion.
According to Jewish tradition, the history of Judaism begins with the Covenant between God and Abraham (ca. 2000 BCE), the patriarch and progenitor of the Jewish people. Judaism is among the oldest religious traditions still in practice today. Jewish history and doctrines have influenced other religions such as Christianity, Islam and the Bahá'í Faith.American Singles religion.
Judaism differs from many religions in that in modern times, central authority is not vested in any single person or group, but in sacred texts, traditions, and learned Rabbis who interpret those texts and laws. Throughout the ages, Judaism has clung to a number of religious principles, the most important of which is the belief in a single, omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent, transcendet God, who created the universe and continues to govern it. According to traditional Jewish belief, the God who created the world established a covenant with the Israelites, and revealed his laws and commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of both the Written and Oral Torah, and the Jewish people are the descendants of the Israelites. The traditional practice of Judaism revolves around study and the observance of God's laws and commandments as written in the Torah and expounded in the Talmud.American Singles religion.


4. Islam (1.9 percent of Canadians (600,000 persons), 0.6% percent of Americans (1,820,000 persons), and 0.2% of Mexicans (<250,000 persons). Together, Islam constitutes approximately 0.5% of the North American population. North American cities with high concentrations of Muslims include Toronto, Philadelphia, Detroit, and New York City.; 0.3 percent of all Latin Americans) American Singles religion.
Other faiths include Sikhism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Bahá'í in small numbers, plus some native animists.American singles religion.

Islam (Arabic: الإسلام; al-'islām (help·info)) is a monotheistic Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. The word Islam means "submission", or the total surrender of oneself to God (Arabic: الله, Allāh). An adherent of Islam is known as a Muslim, meaning "one who submits (to God)" There are between 1 billion to 1.8 billion Muslims, making Islam the second-largest religion in the world after Christianity.American Singles religion.
Muslims believe that God revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad, God's final prophet, and regard the Qur'an and the Sunnah (words and deeds of Muhammad) as the fundamental sources of Islam.They do not regard Muhammad as the founder of a new religion, but as the restorer of the original monotheistic faith of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. Islamic tradition holds that Jews and Christians distorted the revelations God gave to these prophets by either altering the text, introducing a false interpretation, or both.American Single religion.
Islam includes many religious practices. Adherents are generally required to observe the Five Pillars of Islam, which are five duties that unite Muslims into a community. In addition to the Five Pillars, Islamic law (sharia) has developed a tradition of rulings that touch on virtually all aspects of life and society. This tradition encompasses everything from practical matters like dietary laws and banking to warfare.American single religion.
Almost all Muslims belong to one of two major denominations, the Sunni (85%) and Shi'a (15%). The schism developed in the late 7th century following disagreements over the religious and political leadership of the Muslim community. Islam is the predominant religion throughout the Middle East, as well as in parts of Africa and Asia. Large communities are also found in China, the Balkan Peninsula in Eastern Europe and Russia. There are also large Muslim immigrant communities in other parts of the world such as Western Europe. About 20% of Muslims live in Arab countries.That is the american singles religion.

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