Relevant Background: This documentary gives the history of buddhism, the scripture and

really was just an introduction to buddhism and its relativism to hinduism, as well as
cultivating a few relative concepts and traditions with islam. This paper will show you the
relationships that religion creates through its bringing together of people from many different
walks of life. Each religion captures this differently, and i hope that throughout you will be
able to understand how each relationship differs as well as which setting builds the strongest
bonds.

Observation I: Buddhism Documentary 32:16

6:00
At this point in the documentary, i have witnessed lots of chanting, people gathered in one big
room to meditate and, as said in video, gain theyre enlightenment. So far buddhism seems to
be a religion of extreme faith; people are devoting their entire lives to the cause and that is just
something you dont see as much nowadays. Buddhism is one of the only religions that still have
followers dedicating their lives to religion and devoting themselves 100% to buddha
15:00
This portion of the video has now directed itself to hinduism, which is similar to buddhism in
many ways, but not as intense. Hinduism has 4 books called the Vedas, which are the learning
instruments for the religion and how followers learn how to worship their gods. It is believed that
the vedas were transcribed over 6000 years ago which dates theyre beginnings at 4000 BC.The
Rig Veda is the earliest book was the beginnings of the Hindu faith. Hinduism is the world's 3rd
largest religion with over 300 million followers. Vedak Himes was one of the supporters and
innovators of the faith and expressed his feelings and worship towards hindu gods and
goddesses.
32:00
Islam was next topic on the list and was once considered one of the world's most peaceful
religions. Islam has been around for thousands of years and continues to grow throughout the
world today.
Relevant Background: This observation was set in a Buddhist temple based right here in
Charlotte. The head monk has been running this temple almost his entire life. He respects his
fellow monks just as they do him. By doing this Paul sacrificed everything to be one with his
religion, he says what keeps him going is the gravitating support of his fellow friends who
have somewhat become his really big family. They have a worshipping body of 500 people
regularly; this does not mean houses 500 monks, but rather has 500 people of attend
regularly. In Pauls spare time he visits his attendees to create a one on one relationship with

his fellow followers. This experience totally changed how I looked at Buddhism, and the
relationship that is created through it.
Observation II: Chua Lien Hoa (Buddhist Temple)
1. Beginning:
- In this observation I couldnt really reflect as it was going on, but rather I had to wait until the
end to show respect for the monks there. When I arrived I spoke to one of the head leaders of the
temple who told me to call him Paul because his name is so difficult. I told him about my
project and observation and that I kind of wanted to educate every one of my first hand
experiences with many different forms of religion, and how religion Is dwindling in the 21st
century due to the great technology adventures and how we as human beings are wanting to do
more with ourselves and losing track of the paths of spirituality. He allowed me to sit in on ritual
and worship, so I found a nice corner with pen and notebook in hand and began observing my
very first Buddhist ceremony.
2. Mid- Way (20 Mins):
- At this point of the service all attendees have now did theyre prayers, and are intertwined in
meditation with my new friend Paul. After, an intense, deep, and very spiritual meditation, all
other attendees stand up and walk to my friend Paul to pay their respects for his services, and as
in the Christian faith with offering and donation the same is done here but done as an offering to
the gods rather than a donation to the pastor. Paul says all donations are used to buy or repair any
broken pieces in his temple, as well as help families in his community that arent given
assistance.
3. End.(45mins):
- After everyone had packed up and this session of prayer was over I spoke to Paul more about
Buddhism, and asked kind of why he follows, and what he wants to do with it. This religion to a
temple leader such as Paul is his life, he says he has been running this same temple for almost 12
years, he has devoted himself to the religion in hopes that one day he can find peace with
himself, and pass smoothly into the afterlife. He has no wife, no children, he has a small home
that he occupies to himself but usually chooses to spend months at a time leader his fellow
followers down the right path. Paul was a very interesting man, and I was very happy I chose to
do this observation; it really opened my eyes to how serious people take religion and how much
they devote to the cause.
Observation III: (Church)
Introduction:
-

I must say it has been quite some time since I have been to church, my mothers side of the
family is very Christian and I have kind just tried to do the right thing treat others how I would
like to be treated and follow my own code, which is simply be the best human being I can be.
Well this experience was with my grandma, who is Baptist, I dressed up for our 9am service on
Sunday, and she was overjoyed that I would come with her. When we arrived her, Pastor was at
the door shaking everyones hand that walked in, greeting and giving blessing, as everyone piled

into this very big room with isles of pews, each pew had around 10 books of The Bible sitting on
the back. We sat down in the row closest to the front because my grandma was in the choir, and
she floated back in forth between the audience and the stage of to the side. Service started with
the pastor saying hello to everyone and a morning prayer.
Middle(30mins):
-

Again, this observation was strictly observation and all I was able to do was take small notes
when I could, but around halfway through, we had sung a few songs, and everyone had been
standing, clapping and making tons of noise. The pastor had now taking the stand and begins to
deliver his message for the day. Todays message consisted of the importance of his mission here,
god's mission for us and how we each need to find out missions and follow it; if I could compare
it to anything it was kind of a way to motivate the audience to better themselves and their
situations. It showed me that there was more to this religion than a rule book; The pastor in this
situation was a messenger, an interpreter, who relays gods message to the people, this lifts them
up, brings their spirit up when theyre down and gives them the motivation to conquer those
things that are standing in the way. What I disagree with is that, rather than be delivered a
message that has been interpreted by someone else, why not just interpret by ones self?
End (1hr 10min):

At the end of service everyone left the big common room where we had prayer and passed
through a door to a lobby where there was food, drink, and tables for everyone to sit and speak.
Rather than collect the offering during service, the church set aside these big with a slot in the
top, and as people passed from place of worship, to the room to eat they would slip money into
the containers and my grandma said that they are picked up at the end. She said that her Pastor
would rather not interrupt service, but give people a little more of a choice to do the right thing
and donate to the community, this statement was a little more complex than she had said, but this
was the basis of what she had said. Once everyone had food in hand, we all sat down and said
prayer, and then everyone at together, it seemed like a really big extended family, lots of
laughing, joy, and very interesting conversations about each other personal lives, jobs, and things
that had happened since last time. What I found most different from this form of religion versus
that of the Buddhist is that the Buddhist kind of a one on one relationship with their god, whereas
Christianity has both a one on one relationship as well as a group relationship that brings total
and complete strangers, of different races and backgrounds together as a family they would have
never had. This was empowering, and showed me that religion not only fixes relationships, but
creates them as well.
IV: Interview Questions
1. What is religion to you?
2.How does religion impact your everyday life?
3.If i said religion is a guidebook to being a good human being would you agree or disagree with
this statement?
4.Do you think religion is more or less prominent in the 21st

Interview Answers: Moe Alagharzi (Business Partner and Mentor)

1. What is religion to you?
- Religion to me, is abiding by a strict rule that one should follow in their everyday lives to be able
to proclaim themselves as religious. You cant be Christian and do something that is totally
against the faith and this is the same for all of the other religions as well.
2. How does religion impact your everyday life?
- As a follower of Islam, I must pray twice a day, so around lunch time each day, no matter where I
am, work, school, or home. I go to my usual locations that I have designated over the years for
this situation, and pray for around 20 minutes to show Allah that I am still here and serving him.
3. If I said, religion is the guidebook to being a good human being, would you agree or disagree?
- When you first asked this I must say your standpoint of this situation is definitely a few more
steps back than I had first thought, but after more thinking it seems that this is quite right. If you
followed all of the rules of our religions, we would be a peaceful planet, one without wars, one
without corruption, but as my Quran speaks of things called mistakes, or sin in Christian culture
which is what makes us human beings. We do not follow the rules all of the time but when we
do, life is really great.
4. Do you think religion is more or less prominent in the 21st century?
- I believe that religion is less prominent in than it was say 30 years ago; religion has taken a
backseat to desire and greed, it has become something to go to when things go wrong rather than
a code to live by. The youth of our society is definitely more attached to their new iPhone 6
rather than the book which they choose to follow. One would rather have fun for themselves than
appease their god.
V: Analyze
Throughout my observations I have seen many things. It seems that in religion most use
their religious practice as reasoning for doing things, both good, or bad. The convention of god
as family is prominent in the Christian faith, as well as a common trend that is recurring
throughout the many other religious groups such as Buddhism and Hinduism and could be a
theme throughout many more. It seems that religion is constantly bringing people from different
races, and social classes together and giving them a bond as deep as a bond one would share with
that of a close family member. For example, when I went to church I noticed that after Sunday
service, everyone would sit down and eat dinner together, talk about the kids, the work and life.
They would gossip and give advice when needed, and mourn when someone had passed or was
sad. Another common convention Ive found is each group has a day of worship, or at least a
time, Buddhist like to meditate and important points in the day such as sunrise, noon, or sunset.
Christians meet on Sundays, sometimes more, and Hindus worship once a week as well, not
special day, but the frequency of once weekly is definitely there. I asked myself this question

over and over many times, and then I came up with this idea that the frequency in which one
worships, affects the bonds that are created between the people that are involved. In Buddhism
one may only go to temple once a month, but worships once a day alone, where as a Christian
may only truly worship once a week but, due to the fact that they meet the same people each
week they bond more deeply. So, the common trend I want to research is going to be, does the
frequency that one worships affects the amount of connection they build with fellow worshipers
or is the factor of where they worship that matters most.
VI: Chart
Denike, Margaret. 2007. Religion, Rights, and Relationships: The Dream of Relational
Equality. Hypatia 22 (1). [Hypatia, Inc., Wiley]: 7191.
http://www.jstor.org.librarylink.uncc.edu/stable/4640045.
Petersen, Larry R., and K. Peter Takayama. 1984. Religious Commitment and Conservatism:
Toward Understanding an Elusive Relationship.Sociological Analysis 45 (4). [Oxford
University Press, Association for the Sociology of Religion, Inc.]: 35571. doi:10.2307/3711299.
Mahoney, Annette, Kenneth I. Pargament, Aaron Murray-Swank, and Nichole Murray-Swank.
2003. Religion and the Sanctification of Family Relationships. Review of Religious
Research 44 (3). [Religious Research Association, Inc., Springer]: 22036.
doi:10.2307/3512384.
Bainbridge, William Sims, and Rodney Stark. 1981. Friendship, Religion, and the Occult: A
Network Study. Review of Religious Research 22 (4). [Religious Research Association, Inc.,
Springer]: 31327. doi:10.2307/3509765.

VII: Propose
Based on my observations and sources, I have found a common trend of different family
and home relationships from religion to religion. For example, in Buddhism, the followers seem
to have a more one on one relationship with god. On the other hand, in Christianity, it seems that
everyone is interconnected, it more of a family and friends way to worship; Church becomes
family, and that is something Buddhism did not show me during my observations, or find in my
sources. Im interested in seeing just how diverse family life is from one religion to the next, I do
not follow a religious group, but find religion very interesting and believe that we are too
complex as human beings to be created by accident. This is another reason religion interest me

because I am a very literal minded person, I like to be able to make since of our existence. This
compilation of my findings will discuss the differences each major religion has on their family
life and well as argue that religious association can affect relationships that you will have
throughout everyday life.