Life After School

Up to this point I am still unsure on my future as a student, I have no clue on what to study. The main problem is that I want to be so sure on what I want to study that I have no regrets afterwards and I don't have to change my major after I have studied for say 2 years. That would be a waste of time.

I have been researching on different careers but none seem the right one for me. When I visualize myself studying or working in any specific career, I feel awkward and it feels just not right. This issue of not having a plan and not knowing what to study doesn't let me think much farther than university and college. At the beginning of this year, my senior year, I was relaxed about all of this but now that time is running short I am really worried.

After deciding what to study and focusing on a career I plan to apply to a university in the USA most likely. I would do my major over there and afterwards I am probably going to Germany to do a Master's degree and then open up my chances to study further or get a job that I find adequate.

After working for some years I would like to open up my own business and apply my acquired knowledge during my studying period to manage it and gradually if possible expand it and grow, all of this of course has to be if the circumstances are right and if it is possible. It is really hard to plan ahead so long from now, you never know what chances an doors will open for you and which ones will be slammed in your face.

Hopefully everything goes right, that is what scares me the most the fact that I don't know what is going to happen in the future and the fact that I don't know if I 'm going to be successful.

What are the main Belief Systems?

As time passes, new belief systems surge from others, new types of religion are created and people are challenging their beliefs more and more. In this blog I will try to make an analysis on the following four main belief systems:

Christianity
Judaism
Buddhism
Islam

Years ago people had a tendency to be more religious as the world was more of a mystery to them than it is to us today. The ignorance as to say, created the need to find an answer. Different groups of people started believing in something supernatural, different deities. It was the only way they could understand how the sun moved across the sky, why it rained, and so on. As time went on answers to many of this amazing natural mysteries were discovered. A clear example is that native tribes in the Americas, the Egyptians, the Romans and the Greeks were all polytheists as they believed in a separate god for everything. Now a days, Polytheism is not part of almost any main belief system. The world has been changing and not only a religion is what drives most people, but any belief system. It that can be any actual set of precepts from which you live your daily life, those which govern your thoughts, words, and actions; the beliefs that make you who you are that drives you.

In the following blog posts I will identify the main belief systems and discuss about them as well as any counter-belief systems and reasons for this as a general influencing subject on life and the communities we live in.

The Relation between the three Abrahamic religions

Of the four main belief systems to be analyzed, three of them are Abrahamic religions. Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. These three have some type of relation as they are all monotheistic and include Abraham in their history as well as Adam, Noah and Moses. These three religions have many similarities as well, partly because Christianity derived from Judaism and the fact that they all have some common aspects as they share the same roots.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam are Monotheistic religions, meaning they believe in one supreme being. They all have a prophetic tradition, that includes figures called prophets but their interpretation of the prophetic role varies a bit from one another. They have Semitic origins mainly referred to the Jewish and Arab origins. Their bases are around a divine revelation rather than philosophical speculation like Buddhism. The three religions propose an ethical orientation referring to good and evil. They also have a linear history, eschatology, beginning with Creation and then God's work through history. The three religions follow a different yet similar holy book (Torah (Hebrew Bible)-Jews, Bible-Christians, Quran-Muslims) with religious writings, scriptures and prophecies but mostly what they call revelations. They also share the same basic eschatology that includes God redeeming the world and a resurrection of the righteous.

In my opinion, it is very important to understand these relationships as it helps us understand more about the reason for the many religions in existence today. We see that different religions are not always totally contradictory or different but in essence amazingly similar. This will also help us understand the main belief systems in a more profound way.

What are the main Belief Systems? - Christianity and Judaism

Christianity and Judaism are two belief systems that are closely related to each other due to the fact that both are Abrahamic religions. Most of all because Christianity has a Jewish origin and background. Not long after its appearance as a Jewish sect around the first century, Christianity became a separate religion convened by apostles. The main difference and consequently the reason for Christianity compared to Judaism is that of Jesus Christ's role. Christians believe that Jesus is God's son and messenger as well as the world's savior while in Judaism, Jesus is merely seen as the false Messiah and a false prophet. In Judaism, people believe in Unity, that is one substance and one entity, while Christians believe in the Holy Trinity, one substance but conveyed by three entities. Although there are these significant differences, both religions believe in the same ultimate reality that of Jehovah, or the God of Abraham. Actually the Christian's old testament is composed by the Jewish bible, but the new testament is insignificant to Jews and the root of Christianity's separation from Judaism. There are quite substantial differences, this division of opinion led to the creation of Christianity from Judaism, and since then the two have grown significantly and separately but still have a relatively close relationship.

About 2 billion people are Christians and only about 14 million people are Jewish that is of course of the world's population. Due to circumstances Christianity is now the largest religion while Judaism is the 12th largest. Christianity has grown and spread much more than Judaism and has become a true world power, people with faith are subject to the religion. This is one of the reasons why religion has been the cause of so many wars and conflict including the crusades, religious revolutions and conflicts or wars. We will discuss this later on in the blog.

In this blogspot I have only highlighted the main differences between Christianity and Judaism, not explained them thoroughly. If you want more details on specifically Christianity please click here and you will be guided from Christianity's principles to its history and much more.
If you would prefer to learn more about Judaism instead please click here and you will be sent to a crash course on Judaism.

What are the main Belief Systems? - Islam

Islam is an Abrahamic religion, it started on the seventh century and is based on Islam's holy book, the Qur'an written by Muhammad, the last prophet for the Islamic relgion, and his companions during a series of revelations from Allah to Muhammad himself. In Muslim eyes, Muhammad is only a restorer of an already existent monotheistic faith preached by Moses, Abraham, Jesus and other prophets.

Islam is currently the second largest religion with about 1 billion to 1.8 billion Islam believers.

Islam has two main branches, the Sunni and the Shi'a. Both are quite similar and require adherents to follow and observe the five pillars of Islam, which are practices essential for Sunni Islams and for the Shi'a there are eight rituals that overlap with these.

"He who submits to God" is the literal meaning of the word Muslim. They believe in Jesus as a mere prophet, and not as God's son. They see Judaism and Christianity as religions were the prophecies and revelations were distorted or misinterpreted by people during history and nothing else.


Islam is basically based on a few articles of faith. The main theological concept in Islam is Tawhid, the recognition that there is only one God. The Qur'an is the literal word of God, it is the central religious text by which Islam is denoted. In Islam the faith in angels is crucial, angels in Arabic translates to messenger; they convey the word of God and aid God in any way, that's their role. The belief in "the Day of Resurrection" is also vital for Islam, actually they believe that the judgment day is to come, and is accurately described in one of the Qur'an's passages. In the Islamic religion, life is predestined by God, God knows exactly what will happen and when.
This belief comes as part of the religion.

The Islamic religion has also grown significantly, it forms the belief system of many people and it is a very serious religion when speaking about norms and normal social, spiritual rules. A lot is expected by Muslims, as the religious laws are never to be broken. We will later go through conflicts and religious wars in which Islam was involved in, such as the Islamic civil war and the 1979 Iranian revolution.

What are the main belief systems? - Buddhism

Buddhism is a rather different religion, it's not like any of the religions we have gone through, for a start it is not an Abrahamic religion, it is a Dharmic religion meaning it has an Indian origin and it has a philosophical tendency rather than a blind faith one. (The word Dharma from where Dharmic comes from means natural law or reality.) Buddha himself believed in gods but he did not base his teachings on these but on the explanation of suffering and ways of attaining freedom from it. This is why it is said that Buddhism is non-theistic.

Buddhism is a non-theistic religion while Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are monotheistic. In Buddhism, there is no belief in a specific god, instead it is based more on trying to understand the ultimate truth. Buddhism started at around the fifth century BCE and it is based on teachings of Guatama Siddhattha also known as Buddha. He was son to a king and was born in Lumbini, Nepal; he was predestined by a wise man to be either a great king or a holy man depending if he ever got to see life outside his palace. At the age of 13, he realized he was unhappy with his life and had 4 visits outside his palace. This is when he came across the "four sights" and realized that life was not as he had seen it, there was a lot of suffering and poverty. He continued to live in his palace with a very troubled thought and intermittent depression. At the age of 29 he decided to leave his palace, wife and son in order to seek an end to suffering. For many years he meditated and tried different methods to end his depression and discover the ultimate truth. At the age of 35 after having meditated for 6 years, he sat down under a tree and decided to meditate until he was fully enlightened. Here he attained Bodhi or awakening and discovered the four noble truths thus the secret to complete internal peace and happiness. In order to get to Nirvana (the perfect peace of mind free from craving, anger and other afflictive states.) he taught the eight-fold noble path to enlightenment.

-Right understanding
-Right thoughts
-Right Speech
-Right conduct
-Right livelihood
-Right effort-Right mindfulness
-Right concentration

For more detail on the eight-fold path click here.

Buddhism as any other religion has developed many branches. Including two main branches Mahayana and Theravada. Buddhism is mostly concentrated in Asia although Buddhism is now followed in many other places as well. There are about 350 million followers situating Buddhism as the fourth largest religion behind Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.

What are the main Belief Systems? - Hinduism

After having discussed Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism; I thought it would be good to mention the third largest religion which happens to be another Dharmic religion: Hinduism.
Buddhism is to Hinduism as Christianity is to Judaism. They both derive from the other and are now completely separate religions within the same school as to say.

Hinduism is a religious tradition probably the oldest one that is currently active. It originated in the Indian subcontinent its name in Indian means "Eternal Law". Hinduism has about a billion followers but is an extremely diverse religion. Hinduism has five main themes by which it goes by.

Dharma (ethics and duties)
Samsara (Continuous cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth)
Karma (action and subsequent reaction)
Moksha (liberation from Samsara)
Yogas (Paths and practices)

Hindusim is generalized as henotheistic religion meaning believing in one god but accepting existence of others, but beliefs span from atheist to polytheist. The Hindu religion proposes that life has goals, four main ones.

1. kāma: Sensual pleasure and enjoyment
2. Artha: Material prosperity and success
3. Dharma: Correct action, in accordance with one's particular duty and scriptural laws
4. Moksha: Liberation from the cycle of samsara

Hinduism has many scriptures the main ones are Shruti and Smriti and have been passed on orally for many centuries before being written down. Hindusim is a very interesting religion and extremely extent, I have barely taken an overview of what Hinduism is.

For more detailed information about Hinduism please click here.

What are counter-belief systems?

We have already defined what belief systems are, but now we remain unsure on what a counter belief system really is. I myself have trouble grasping the total meaning of a counter-belief system but I came up with a book by Ronald Britton that helped me a lot.
If you want to see the extract click here please.

A counter-belief is the idea opposing and contradicting a belief, it can be either a belief system itself, a lifestyle, any type of practice that goes against a main belief, or belief system. It can also be any kind of distortion of a belief system. Some examples are:

• Voodoo
• Anarchism
• Satanism
• Atheism
• Sorcery
• Yoga

In order to help us understand more about counter belief systems lets analyze two of the above mentioned.

Atheism is a counter belief system with a very strongly explicit stance. Either the affirmation of the fact that gods do not exist, or the rejection to theism. Atheism is concurrently used along with non-theism and irreligion. Wait a minute if this is so, why is then Buddhism not a counter belief system? Buddhism is not considered an irreligion, the belief in a deity is not part of Buddhism but due to other characteristics of the system it is defined as a religion, and by being a religion that doesn't go against any other belief system it is not a counter belief system but preferably a belief system. Going back to Atheism, Atheists do not adhere to a specific ideology to answer the philosophical questions to which most religions aim to withhold an answer to. So it is a widespread term and is quite common in scientists as in many ways religion does not go with science due to conflict in reasoning as one holds on to faith and the other to specific answers with physical, mathematical proof.

Magic or Sorcery is referred to the counter belief system that is based on a conceptual system that states human ability to control the natural world by paranormal, mystical and supernatural means. It was widely believed in during the middle ages and in ancient civilizations or cultures.

Before finishing with counter belief systems, religious syncretism should be mentioned. It is the fusion of two or more belief systems to create another one, in other words a derivation or distortion of a belief system. Many times it is by syncretism that counter belief systems are created or strengthened.

Belief systems held in different countries

Here is a really useful map showing us the distribution of major religions of the world today.

Purple=Christianity
Green=Islam
Light Blue=Judaism
Red=Hinduism
Yellow=Buddhism
Gold=Chinese religions
Dark Purple=Tribal Religions
Gray=Non-religious

Religion has spread throughout the world. In many cases religion was imposed in different countries during colonizations, expansions and conquests. A clear example is America, it is mainly Christian but before the 1500's, America had no trace of Christianity, it was imposed by the Spanish and other "Conquistadores" who came to colonize America and convert polytheistic and tribal tribes to Christianity. The Roman Catholic Church has a history of violently imposing religion upon non-believers or people who followed other religions. The Crusades was probably one of human kind's most horrendous actions, all hidden under God's name. There is something completely ironic especially in Christianity. God's name has been widely used to kill during many Christian events or periods such as burning "witches" at the stake, and as mentioned before during the crusades the ironic factor is that for Christianity, killing is prohibited by the 10 commandments. The same happened for Africa and during the "Reconquista" of Spain from Muslims.

Here is a really nice video from mapsofwar.com and shows the history of religion since the beginning of the major religions today and how it has spread during history.

History of Religion

In this video we can clearly see how each different religion started in a country with its founder or prophet and gradually expanded until each country was covered by one. It is important to note that Christianity used many expansive methods and at the end they worked as Christianity is the most successful religion in expanding. It covered most regions of the world.

Currently most countries have chosen a single religion as their official religion, if you want to see a chart with percentages of religions in each country, please click here.

Why do people have different belief systems?

This question has a really extensive answer because it involves a lot of insight first and then the study of the origins of religions, the study of humanity and its tendencies, the study of human nature and many other factors that affect the tangibility of the human mind. Most important of all we need to understand first why we have a belief system and then we can go on to discuss why people have different belief systems.


Before we start we have to go back tracing history and study the time periods when religions surged and what factors could have affected this. We know for a fact that since the beginning of humanity, people have been curious because it is in human nature. People have always wanted to understand things, so since the beginning people have asked themselves questions about everything, the universe, earth, life, and so many other questions we have all asked ourselves during some point of our lives. This hasn't changed at all, the only difference is that thousands of years before, people had less technology and scientific as well as mathematic means to understand and answer many of these questions. As I said in my first blog entry, as years pass by, people are less religious and this is because each day we as humans gain more knowledge and understanding of tiny little things that in time sum up to form answers to those same questions we have been asking ourselves since the beginning of humanity, or should I say since Adam and Eve's time? well I don't really know. I have been raised as a Roman catholic so Adam and Eve would be the first people to have asked themselves these question. Well I can't really say that because I'm using two religious characters to defy the essence of religion itself.

As people couldn't understand the marvels of nature, they started believing in a supernatural power, something beyond that controlled everything. This was the beginning of religions. At first like in many Pre-Columbian civilizations and early European empires people believed in many gods, in a supernatural being that controlled something inexplicable to them. There was a god for the sun, a god for the rain, a god for the gods and many more. Any event that had no apparent explanation would be the foundation for a new god. As time went on and we learned and discovered more about the universe, life and nature; we got to answer many of those questions and that is how polytheism has been virtually narrowed down to monotheism, the belief of one single supernatural being or deity that controls everything, that created us among all that exists and that we are subject to its will. Most religions nowadays are monotheistic and the reason for believing in a god is that we still haven't answered every question, we are still relatively ignorant as we don't understand life, we don't understand the immensity of the universe among many other things about the beginning of time and many other questions. We apply the same basic principle as before, if we don't understand all of those physical and mental inquiries there has to be a god that controls it and we are subject to it, that is the best explanation there is. This is the basic principle of most theistic religions, most other religions surge in order to find a better way of living, but the truth is that humans seek to unveil the ultimate truth within their religions. That is basically why religions exist.

Separate belief systems have derived from the three major
schools of religions, the Abrahamic religions, the Dharmic religions, and the Taoic religions. These three are the main roots for every religion, the abrahamic religions include Christianity, Judaism, Islam and are based on prophets like Abraham, Moses and more. Dharmic religions include Buddhism, Hinduism and many more and are more philosophical. Taoic religions are religions of the far east that include Taoism and confucianism. They involve the concept of Tao, "The Way".

People are mostly born in their religions, and that is mostly depending on the family, and the country's main religion. Most people born in India for example will be Hindu, Muslim or Buddhist. On the other hand people born in the Bolivia will probably be Christian. Most people don't really choose their religion that is what I mean. If you grow up in a Catholic environment your whole moral and chain of thought will be guided by the foundations of catholicism. Although there are people that while growing up feel uncomfortable with their religion, some decide to follow other religions or simply apply their own changes and modify their beliefs to what they think is more appropriate or right. All of this is of course personal and unique to each person.

Most religions accept the existence of the other religions, basically religions from the same school or branch have basically the same history but with some differences in them, the essential though is conserved. I read that for example the Baha'i see all religions as one, with the same ultimate goal. People grow up and their characters are formed by their history, each person believes in what they truly think is right. Sometimes this is totally narrow minded as they were taught it was just this one way since the beginning. At the end religions are just means to have internal peace and live without so much intrigue and accept that the truth is never to be revealed to us at least during our lifetime. Obviously its not this simple, religions are extremely complex and are based on subjectivity, none of us can prove that any religion actually exists as they say, religion is based on blind faith most times and if not total devotion to it, doubts are seen as negative ways to confront religion.

People with serious problems also tend towards religions or stronger belief systems, their suffering and problems drive them to reach out for something that will keep them together in most cases believing in god or holding a firm thought that there is something greater beyond our understanding is comforting and many people become religious this way. Depending on their problems they tend towards different religions the ones that address their issues with more focus or precision. A quick example, Buddhism addresses the issue of ending suffering and living in peace, while Christianity addresses the fact that you just need complete faith and whatever it is that troubles you is there for a reason, and you have to learn from it.



In Conclusion we can't really give a reason for the different religions and belief systems there are and why people believe in different ones. The best we can do is speculate why every time there are more derivatives of religions, and what is that bases people's mind to believe in something, what is it that drives people into believing in something they can't see, feel or really understand. And finally why have hundreds of religions been created if in reality the end of each is almost the same.

How do Belief Systems affect a country's political system and culture?

Religion has been closely linked with political events throughout history. As Religion is such a powerful force that drives so many people, politicians have used it to control society. There have been so many revolutions and wars that have been linked with religion that we can easily say that belief systems affect a country's political and cultural systems. People's actions are basically controlled by what they believe in. It is their actions that define their political leaders. A clear example is the Iranian revolution of 1978-1979 it is also referred to as the Islamic revolution. It started because the Iranian people began to feel a western influence that controlled their leader. They felt that the Iranian principles were being left behind, so the revolution started and at the end Iran became a theocratic constitution. Theocratic means that a God is recognized as the supreme civil ruler. We clearly see that religion influences the politic system especially in these types of governments.

There is a movie that shows how religion affects a country in this case Iran, "Persepolis" shows the life of an Iranian family during the Islamic revolution, it is very interesting to see how the protagonist, Marjane, expresses her feelings blatantly since the beginning and that is what causes her to be sent abroad in order not to be arrested. We see how the Islamic fundamentalists kill people, torture, and do what they want with the country. This movie also helps us see how religion has been used by people, in many cases politicians, to do whatever they want under the name of their religion. We observe in the movie that most people start having many doubts about their beliefs because these religious fundamentalists mud the name of their religion.

Religion has a history of having been bound to politics. During Adolph Hitler's regime, Jews were greatly persecuted and mass massacred, during the crusades this was true as well. Religion is a power and has the consequences of being one, we have two ways of seeing religion, as something spiritual and something more profound, the right concept, or a mean of controlling people and having a lot of power.

In Bolivia for example, Catholicism is the official religion, and the government asks the church for support many times. The government can't go against the church, they know that religion has a lot of power so they don't take that risk. When they do, they have to take it back or change their opinion, if not the government might fail. Each country also follows the calendar of their religion, for example Christian countries have Christian holidays while other countries with other official religions follow other holidays. Religion is part of life, and it goes together with everything else. It is a really strong influencing subject, our main decisions are controlled by our beliefs, and as everyone is different, we might not always agree. We see the influence of religion not only in political and cultural issues but in everything in our lifes.

Religion in Bolivia

Bolivia according to statistics is mostly Christian with 97% of its population, the other 3% follow other religions such as Andean-folk catholicism. Especially in rural areas where there are no churches and no religious influences Catholicism has been mixed with tribal traditions and other polytheism and spirituality. Many indigenous people who have native ancestors still believe in the Pachamama and Inti, as well as many gods for the sky, mountains and others. The Pachamama is mother earth, a goddess for fertility and presides over harvesting and planting. Inti is Pachamama's husband, the sun. Many Catholic influences are seen in modern Quechua and Aymara religions, the fact that they know have included heaven and hell in their beliefs and the concept of time and space has changed from the perception of it as independent cycles to spiral cycles.


Now a days their religions have been adapted and modified by catholicism but they mainly consisted on polytheisms very similar or descending from Inca beliefs and religions. In Bolivia there is still a lot of Inca descending traditions, and are still practiced by many descendants from native Americans, the culture in Bolivia is based around our ancestors, the Inca empire one of the main ones. Cults to earth and many beliefs like the "Challa" for good luck have remained, many times people with problems resort to native gurus who use ancient religions and prepare herbal medicines and rituals to cure you. If you want you can find a lot of tradition from these religions hidden in between the dominant catholicism. Most Bolivians are Catholics now but we still respect ancient traditions, most people have no problem unless its something extremely radical like sacrificing a llama for example. It is not only ancient traditions we see, an example of the Catholic tendency in Bolivia is that of praising "La Virgen de Cotoca" and "La Virgen de Copacabana". We have grown into a very cultural country and people respect the Aymara, Quechua, and Guarani derivatives of religions as well as Catholicism.

There is obviously a lot of controversy between strong believers of each religion, as there is with any two religions, but most people have no option but to accept the fact that Bolivia's history obliges any Bolivian to face the truth and live among our differences in culture.