consider: what is the relationship between belief and practice, and how is this
ID: 3443916 • Letter: C
Question
consider: what is the relationship between belief and practice, and how is this important to the study of religion in Japan and China? Consider, for instance, this claim made by some scholars: The average Japanese will claim to be atheist, but in the morning will stop at a Shinto shrine to perform a Buddhist ritual on the way to work, and on the way home in the evening will stop at a Buddhist shrine to perform a Shinto ritual. Another claim made by some scholars: In religious surveys of China based around questions about belief, it is often 'shown' that China is around 80% atheist. However, in religious surveys of China based around questions of practice, it is often 'shown' that China is around 2% atheist. What are we to make of this distinction?
Explanation / Answer
Relationship between belief and practises
Belief :Belief is the state of mind in which a person thinks something to be the case with or without there being empirical evidence to prove that something is the case with factual certainty.
it is also a state of mind in which a person believes something to be true and have no two ways about a person opinion .
Practice: The actual application or use of an idea.
Belief and practice go hand in hand , if we start believing in something only then we put things in practise . So we must first believe to put things into practice .
Eg : if we do believe in religious practises like going to church every sunday . We must first believe in a thought of going to the church and believ in god . Then we can practise to going to the church every sunday . But firstly we do not believe in such practices we cannot inculcate those activities as our routine . Hence beliefs and practises have a close relationship with each other .
Religion in china :
Importance of study religion in china
Freedom and Regulation:
the Chinese constitution says that Chinese citizens “enjoy freedom of religious belief.” It bans discrimination based on religion and it forbids state organs, public organizations, or individuals from compelling citizens to believe in or not to believe in any particular faith.But religious freedom is still not universal in China.
Atheism :The CCP (chinese comminist party) is officially atheist. The party prohibits its nearly ninety million party members from religious beliefs and it has demanded the expulsion of party members who belong to religious organizations. Officials have said that party membership and religious beliefs are incompatible, and they discourage the family of CCP members from publicly participating in religious ceremonies.
Chinese Buddhism and Folk Religions:
China has the world’s largest Buddhist population, with an estimated 244 million practitioners (around 18 percent of the population) . Though Buddhism originated in India, it has a long history and tradition in China.
Another 2012 Pew Research Center report found that more than 294 million people (21 percent of China’s population) practice folk religion. Chinese folk religions have no rigid organizational structure, mix practices from Buddhism and Daoism, and are recognizable in the worship of ancestors, spirits, or other local deities.
Religion in japan
Shinto and Buddhism are Japan's two major religions. Shinto is as old as the Japanese culture, while Buddhism was introduced from the 6th century. Most Japanese consider themselves Buddhist, Shintoist or both.
Religion does not play a big role in the everyday life of most Japanese people today. The average person typically follows the religious rituals at ceremonies like birth, weddings and funerals, may visit a temple on New Year and participates at local festivals (matsuri), most of which have a religious background.
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