How do belief systems affect a country's political system and culture?

Belief systems may affect a country's political system and culture because they have managed to grow incredibly. Today's mot powerful religions have made and represent very important changes or movements in countries. For example Osama Bin Laden a muslim terrorist who is deeply guided or inspired by Islam and the Qur'an has caused many political or diplomatic problems being the most important one the attack to the twin towers. We can also see how in the occidental countries religion has had a great impact on culture as we can clearly see it by the way women dress in those areas. The Talibans from Afghanistan have also caused and are causing a lot of tension in Aghanistan by tryng to implement this government with the islamic fundamentalism. 

In Bolivia we can see the power that religion has as we can realize how much importance is given to the cardenal when political or violent events are happening. The good thing about about a religion which is followed by a lot of believers is that the church can calm down people when violence is going to be generated but this is not comparable to the violence that extreme religion beliefs cause in the world.

The local and national believe systems perspectives of my country.

In Bolivia the majority is catholic which is also the official religion of the government. Based on the political constitution there are also religions of the Indian nations from the Andes and the Amazon region, which in many places still exist in it’s original form but generally it became a mixture of the catholic and former religions. By law in Bolivia there is religious freedom. The results of the national institute of statistics in the year 2001 were: Catholics 78%, Protestants 19.5%, none religious 2.5% and others 0.10%. The religions that coexist besides Roman Catholicism are Evangelical Methodists, Mennonites, Mormons, Jehovah’s witnesses, Seventh day Adventists, Jewish, Buddhists, Hinduists, Baha’i, Hare Krishna, and others. The Indian people maintain their cosmic view of the Andes religion which is different from the Catholicism that was brought and imposed by the conquerors. Some tribes in the Amazon lost their identity as well as their lifestyle due to the arrival of the conquerors and evangelization.

People relieve in Christ and Virgin Mary and the Saints in a pantheist way, not adoring them but speaking to them in a reciprocal way. This mixture of religions is called syncretism what means that the name of catholic saints replaced the names of the pre conquest gods. Pachamama, the mother earth is identified as the Virgin Mary. Cults to the earth are held very often with arrangements of colorful wools, sweets, shaped objects as the ones that the believer desires to obtain,  and the llama fetus. Sacrificing animals is a common ritual and spreading its blood on the surface of the earth in order to honor the Pachamama. Alcohol beverages are always used as an ingredient in begging the earth to be fertile and generous. 

Catholic saints are often protectors of the villages and cities and the Virgin Mary of Urkupina is the protector of Bolivia. There are sanctuaries of the Virgin, for example: Virgin Guadalupe in Sucre and Mamita of Cotoca. On certain dates, processions, big religious festivities, festivals and dances are held  to honor this popular people’s protector. Evangelic religion is against these rituals but there are slowly more members of this believe each year.

Most of the population is catholic and the people are tolerant with other beliefs. The population is deeply religious, they baptize their children, marry in a church, and deeply believe in gods help. Claiming in public that one is atheist might be strange or weird as the catholic religion is the official one.

The church is not supposed to be in politics but it often mediates conflicts between the government and the population. The opinion and the words of the high priests are often published in the news and people count on their point of view. The church helps al lot the poor because it has responsibility over many homes for orphans, handicapped, disabled, and old people. Many schools are owned by the church and that’s why the religion is an obliged subject in this type of schools.

The ruling socialist government tried to abolish religious holidays and forbid the obligated religious subject at schools but they didn’t prosper with this idea because most of the population is deeply catholic.

As the opinion of the Catholic Church is very strong, the laws and general behavior as well as people’s beliefs are dominated by the church's point of view. For example, homosexuality and abortion are considered a sin or even crime. 

Why do people have different belief systems? What are some of the different belief systems held in different countries?

People have different belief systems because of the area at which they live, family influence, society and culture. We can also proof how does a religion is affected by culture, history, or geographical position. Religion has been affected by history in many ways and we can see this when we see at how did catholicism started to emerge between battles or struggles with Romans and in a simillar way we can see how culture affects a religion. For example if we study the great empire of the Inca we can realize how important was this culture and how many people still believe in it even after the great invasion of the Spaniards. The geographical position can be easily proofed or understood by looking at a map which shows how the religions have spread around the world.

When two or more religions are followed in close geographical areas, problems might occur. The different ideologies confront and there are some which are very narrow minded and don't accept a different conception of being or behaviour. Most of religions want to dominate or increase the number of followers and this sometime leads to bloody confrontations. For example France suffered from a wave of violence when the Muslim citizens wanted their daughters to assist school with a veil but the french laws forbid it.  

What are counter-belief systems?

Counter belief systems are the type of beliefs that people who have not managed to adapt to any of the world known religions believe in. Examples of these type of believe systems are Voodoo, Anarchism, and Satanism.

Voodoo was practiced in west Africa as a spiritual tradition and arrived the New World due to the importation of slaves. West African Vodun is the real form of the religion. People from the southeastern Ghana, southern and central Togo, southern and central Benin, and southwestern Nigeria, such as the Ewe, Kabye, Mina, Fon , and the Yoruba practice this monotheistic religion. The divine creator of Vodun is Mawu and he embodies a dual cosmogenic principle which represents Mawu as the moon and Lisa as the sun. The moon represents the male aspects and the moon, Lisa, the female aspects.

Anarchism is a political belief that has as a base that there should be no government and ordinary people should work together to improve society. This system differs from the rest of belief systems because we have been talking about religious beliefs which concerns the supernatural, sacred, or divine. Religious beliefs tend to worship a deity (monotheists) or deities (polytheists) and their involvement in the universe or human life. Many religious belief are based on the teachings of a leader.

Satanist, also known as "reverse christians" are the people who worship Satan and their church is called the Church of Satan. The church was founded in 1969 by Anton LaVey and they follow the satanic bible which was also written by this man. 

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion which is extended in the southeast of Asia, in a big part of China, and in Japan. The name of the religion is held in honor of it's creator who wanted to call himself Buddha which means the illuminated or the awaken one. 

Buddha's real name was Siddhartha and was born in Nepal near the border with India more than 2500 year ago. He was the son of a king and married a princess called Yasodhara. His father king Suddhodana gave him everything he wanted or needed but then he realized that material wealth was not the ultimate goal of life.

As the legend says, when he was 29 years old, he decided to abandon the comfortable life he had. He said goodbye to his family and went away riding a white horse. During six months he wondered and lived a life with absolutely no luxury with his hair cut to the skin and dressed with orange-red clothes. During those six months he also practiced meditation and yoga which is a practice that comes from Hinduism. One day after finishing meditating, he had a disclosure which determined him to go around the world to radiate his ideas. To make this work easier he formed a group of monks.

Something that makes Buddhism very different from other important religions is that it does not have any god. According to Buddhists every person has a specific Karma that explains how we are, for example beauty, intelligence, cleverness, etc. Buddhists also believe in the four truths and think that the pains that accompany life are caused by the multiple wishes that invade us and make us suffer. To get rid of the pain or suffering we must first get rid or these harmful wishes.

Islam

Islam is the second largest religion of the world. People who believe in this religion are called Muslims. The founder of Islam was a prophet called Muhammad. This man was born in the Arabian city of Mecca more than 1400 years ago in a very poor family. His father died when he was young and then he was adopted by his uncle. He married a woman called Khadija. Muhammad saw Allah in a profound cave called Hira near Mecca. In the cave, Allah (God of the Muslims) showed him a sacred book, the  Qur'an and ordered him that he must preach the religion.

Christianity and Judaism

Christianity forms a part of the monotheistic religions and represents the world´s largest religion. It's followers are called Christians and they believe in the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth also known as Jesus Christ as described in the New Testament. Christians believe that Jesus is the son of God and see him as a teacher which is the example for a devotional life. Jesus Christ is the revealer of God and the saviour of humanity as he was crucifixed in order to bring salvation from sin.

Jesus of Nazareth was born in Palestine about 2000 years ago. The things we know about him have reached ourselves by the gospels written by his disciples. 

Jesus says to the people of Palestine that he is the son of God and many people believe him. The Jewish authorities saw his statement as a blasphemy and handed him over to the Romans who condemned him to die on the cross. Then the apostles (Jesus closest disciples) said that Jesus resurrected and elevated towards the sky. The resurrection of Jesus confirmed the apostles' belief in Jesus's divinity and decided to expand his doctrine, giving birth to Christianism.

Jews believe in Judaism and it is based on the writings in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the Talmud. Judaism is one of the oldest religions of the world. The Jew community which lived in Palestine 2000 years ago was the origin of Christianism and due to this fact Judaism has much more influence than the actual number of believers shows.

Judaism was born around 4000 years ago in the region of Canaan, a zone which now correspond to Israel and Palestine. This was the religion which was practiced by the Hebrews, a nomad tribe which lived in these territories. Today's known Jews are the descendants of this people and their lives are explained in the Bible.

Abraham, according to the book of Genesis, tells us that he was born in Ur, region which is known today as Iraq and was the first leader of the Hebrews. It is said that he made an alliance with God in which he promised that he was going to adore him and as return God would give him protection and descendants. God also promised that the Hebrews were going to become strong. Isaac and Jacob continued to adore God in belief to be protected by this divine authority. 

 

Judaism is a monotheist religion just as Christianism. Jews believe in Yahve. Jews say that pronouncing his name is disrespectful and therefore they call him Adonay which means "my lord". Jews the same as Christians say that God created the world and everything that exists.

Jews think that one day the Messiah will come and give the world peace and reconstruct it's the peoples' power.

The Torá of the Jews or the 10 commandments for Christians are exactly the same. This is a list of rules which a Jew or Christian has to be loyal to in order to maintain his faith. This list as the Bible tells was given to Moses by God on the mountain of Sinai.