| Many religions
classify the failure to perform particular prayers or rituals, or subscribe to certain
religious beliefs as on par with moral depravity-like the Catholic view that it is a
mortal sin not to go to church on Sunday, just as theft or murder are mortal sins, or the
general Christian view that those who don't believe in Jesus, however otherwise good
people they may be, must go to hell. Islamic views are generally of the same order.
Nor do all religions have the same view as to what
constitutes a religious person or religious order. For example, several religions, like
Judaism, Islam and Protestant Christianity, do not have monastic orders and have been
opposed to them or regarded them as unholy. While most religions have some form of prayer
or ritual, the yogic and meditation practices of Hinduism are rarely found in predominant
Western religions, except among mystics who were generally oppressed or heretics (except
in the case of Judaism wherein mysticism was generally part of the religion). |
