Cultural Diversity - The Civil Service

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Land Registry Cultural DiversityPractices and symbolsUnlike the other two faiths of the Abrahamic tradition, Judaism and Islam, Christianityhas no special dietary laws, although some Christians abstain from alcohol andtobacco. Apart from the robes of church leaders (for those denominations withleaders), priests, monks and nuns, there are also no distinctive items of clothing. Thesymbol of the cross is, however, very significant for Christians, representing thecrucifixion of Jesus Christ. In recent years the symbol of the fish has also seen aresurgence. This is because the letters in the Greek word for fish can be related to thewords “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour”.The central ritual of the majority of Christian worship is the Eucharist or HolyCommunion, a sharing of bread and wine which commemorates the last supper ofChrist with the apostles. Baptism is also a feature of most Christian denominations,whether of infants or adults.The black-led churchesOne of the areas in which Christianity is currently growing most rapidly is in the blackledchurches of the UK. These churches represent 160 different denominations withover 100,000 members. Most of the churches are of African-Caribbean origin anddeveloped because some black people felt excluded in traditional English churches.The majority of African-Caribbean Christians now attend a black-led church, althoughnone of these churches exclude white members. Services are generally longer andmore exuberant than the traditional “English service” and the interpretation of the Bibleis often more literal and conservative. One of the largest black-led churches in the UKis the New Testament Church of God, which has its headquarters in Northampton; ithas 30,000 members in over 100 congregations throughout the UK.CalendarsThe date of Jesus’ birth was established after the actual event and there is notcomplete agreement about the actual date. The Gregorian calendar assumed thatfrom the moment of Jesus’ birth it became the Year of Our Lord 1 (AD). The OrthodoxChristian Churches celebrate the Christian festivals on different dates to the West. Thetime lag arose following the adoption in the West of the Gregorian calendar.8
Land Registry Cultural DiversityHinduismHinduism is the name of the religion of the majority of people living in India; the namederives from a word meaning “India”. It is an ancient religion, with such a wide varietyof practices and beliefs that the following information cannot do more than scratch thesurface and indicate some of its more common features. Worldwide there areestimated to be around 500 million Hindus, the majority in India. Hindus in Britainnumber about 400,000 with sizeable Hindu communities in London and Leicester.Key BeliefsHinduism is a religion personified by many gods, who are themselves regarded asmanifestations of different attributes of one supreme God. The three main gods areBrahma, creator of the world, Vishnu, preserver of the world and Shiva, the destroyer.Vishnu is often worshipped in the form of his incarnations, Krishna and Rama.At the heart of Hindu philosophy lie the concepts of:• reincarnation;• karma, or past action, and the belief that right living and good deeds in one lifelead to reincarnation in a higher form or salvation; and• dharma or duty, appropriate to an individual’s status and caste in the present life.Holy writingsThe most revered of the Hindu sacred writings are the Vedas. The Bhagavad-Gita isanother very popular Hindu sacred book and forms part of the Mahabharata epic,which recounts the deeds of the Hindu gods, thousands of years ago.Places of worshipIn India, Hindu temples are usually places where the priests serve the gods on behalfof the people. Only at festival times do they become the focal point of congregationalworship. Daily worship is offered in the home.Although Hindus in the UK still worship mainly at home, more emphasis is placed onregular congregational worship in the temple. Before entering the temple the handsare washed and shoes removed. The central ceremony includes lighting the sacredfire using ghee (clarified butter) as well as prayers and the singing of hymns.The river Ganges in India has a particular significance for Hindus; it is a holy river andHindus who bathe in it believe they are purified.9
Page 1 and 2: Cultural DiversityA resource bookle
Page 3 and 4: Land Registry Cultural DiversityInt
Page 5 and 6: Land Registry Cultural DiversityRel
Page 7 and 8: Land Registry Cultural DiversityBud
Page 9: Land Registry Cultural DiversityChr
Page 13 and 14: Land Registry Cultural Diversityimp
Page 15 and 16: Land Registry Cultural DiversityMos
Page 17 and 18: Land Registry Cultural DiversityOth
Page 19 and 20: Land Registry Cultural DiversityA l
Page 21 and 22: Land Registry Cultural DiversityJud
Page 23 and 24: Land Registry Cultural DiversityRas
Page 25: Land Registry Cultural DiversitySik
Page 28 and 29: Land Registry Cultural DiversityHin
Page 30 and 31: Land Registry Cultural DiversityAfr
Page 32 and 33: Land Registry Cultural DiversityThe
Page 34 and 35: Land Registry Cultural DiversityHin
Page 36 and 37: Land Registry Cultural DiversityFur
Page 38: DiversityValuing Inclusion

Cultural Diversity - The Civil Service

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?