Article-"Does Psychology of Religion Exist?" by Kenneth Brown

There may be a biological relationship with the belief in God. Once again, the question that arises is "Does God Exist? I came to the conclusion that there is not much information on Religion in Psychology, yet it is one of the fastest growing aspects of life. Although Psychology of Religion is not taught formally, there are a lot of journals and books that are devoted to Religion. As stated in the article, scientists believe that people believe in God, not because of his existence, but because they can blame their bad outcomes on him. There is a distinct relationship between religious practices and their impact on society. For example, when people get married in a religious setting, it is against the church rules to get remarried in the church. This is one example that may affect your everyday life. Despite the terrorist attacks that were said to be in the name of God, The science of behavior is still reticent to study the subject.

Movie- It's a Wonderful Life

The moral of the fable-no man is a failure. He has friends-is thus a deeper one than it might appear to be . The movie itself explores Religion/spirituality, morality by conformity to the rules of right conduct, moral or virtuoso . Moral quality of character, virtue in sexual matters;chastity. A doctrine or system of morals. Inspiration by a sense of community, values, and belief systems. Ethically has the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture,etc. Moral principles as an individual. George's ethics in the movie forbade betrayal of a confidence. Branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions. A loss, significant change,or moral dilemma can create an awareness of Life's uncertainties, ambiguities and impermanence. It evoked a sense of insecurity, alienation, loneliness, emptiness,or a questioning about the meaning or purpose of our lives.

Religious Ritual

Last Friday night I went to dinner at a friend's house and asked her to make me a real Sabbath dinner. I thought it would be a nice semi-formal dinner. Boy was I surprised. When I entered the home, my friend asked me to come over to the calender with her. It was a pretty calender, but I never realized the importance. I was told to look-this date and tell her the time below the date . This is the time of the start of the Sabbath. I observed the clock and was told we only had 10 minutes to get the table ready. I didn't understand this because all the plates and silverware were in place. From the kitchen a Chala was removed from a bag and put on a plate with an ornate cotton cover. This was placed in the middle of the table. A bottle of red wine was taken from the cabinet and a beautiful Silver Chalice was placed next to the bottle. I was corrected when I called it a Chalice, it's called a Kiddish Cup,that was filled with wine. Two Silver candle sticks were placed on the table and two small white candles were placed in them. My friend, her husband, myself, and my husband stood around the table. She proceeded to put a white shawl around her head, it looked so awesome. She told me a married person is expected to keep her head covered. With a match she lit the candles, her hands were motioning towards her(moving in circles) as if bringing the light directly to her. She started to sing a lovely melody. The candles are now lit. This is the blessing of the start of the Sabbath. Her Husband grabbed the Kiddish Cup and held it in the air for a few moments and also sang a song. It was similar, but different. I was told this is called the Kiddish. He then took a sip and tore a piece from the Chala and handed us all a piece. He ate his piece and drank some wine. Handing the cup to each of us to eat our Chala and take a sip of the wine. The dinner was quite good. Consisting of : Salad, Chicken Stew, Chicken Soup, and Dessert. I was told that this is a typical Jewish Friday night dinner. When the dinner was over my friend said another prayer and we all sat together and had a lovely evening with only the light of the candle sticks. I was told that religious Jews do not use electric from sundown Friday to when the sunsets on Saturday. I was so surprised to see the similarities between Judaism and Roman Catholicism. They do their communion type service every Friday night at home. We do it every Sunday at church. I guess this is why I felt so comfortable there. It truly was an enlightening and enjoyable evening.

George Bernard Shaw

I agree with George Shaw that there is one religion , but there are a hundred versions of it. I've read that their are about 50 religions in the world today. Some emphasize on personal experiences, beliefs, and structures.What does seem certain,however, is that all people, regardless of caste,creed, or nationally, require and often seek some kind of belief system to sustain themselves in their daily lives giving them comfort and hope.

Belief-O-matic Survey

1. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (100%) 2. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (90%) 3. Jehovah's Witness (88%) 4. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (87%) 5. Orthodox Quaker (82%) 6. Liberal Quakers (82%) 7. Bahá'í Faith (79%) 8. Orthodox Judaism (79%) 9. Sikhism (72%) 10. Islam (72%) 11. Unitarian Universalism (71%) 12. Eastern Orthodox (67%) 13. Reform Judaism (67%) 14. Roman Catholic (67%) 15. Seventh Day Adventist (61%) 16. Mahayana Buddhism (54%) 17. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (53%) 18. Theravada Buddhism (52%) 19. Jainism (47%) 20. Neo-Pagan (47%) 21. Hinduism (46%) 22. New Age (40%) 23. New Thought (40%) 24. Secular Humanism (35%) 25. Taoism (29%) 26. Scientology (27%) 27. Nontheist (19%)