Week 3 Assignment: Hinduism Paper

Week 3 Assignment: Hinduism Paper Hinduism is a religion that lacks a uniting belief system like many other religions possess. Cultural and societal influences have made Hinduism vital to India, the region in which it originated. India is one of the last places holding onto its ancient cultures. Hinduism is able to bring together different beliefs, customs, and traditions, which helps each maintain their historical traditions. The dharmic traditions that are found in India are all a mixture to some degree of each other. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism have all shared characteristics between one another. Hinduism is at its core monotheistic, although the Supreme God or Brahman may be worshipped in many different forms. Hindus believe in one Supreme Being who created the earth. India has a long history and many varieties of religion have developed over time. There are some unified religions like Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. The various other religions have been grouped together and labeled as “Hinduism” like they are a single religious practice. This grouping and categorization of Indian religions was began by the Colonial British during their rule in the nineteenth century (Fisher, 2014). There is much debate surrounding the classification and labeling of Indian religions by non-Indian people. The argument is made that these outside people use their own religious concepts and ideas as means to judge, understand, and label these religions. There is also concern that many of the people who have done the labeling and analyzing of the Indian religions were and are biased against the Indian culture. Many argue that grouping many religious practices together and labeling them is misleading and a misrepresentation of what they actually are. The Hindu word “dharma” is usually just translated into