Comparison of Church of England, Sikhism, and Judaism

Church of England - History, beliefs, and customs

Church of England is the main Church of the Anglican Communion. This sect of Christianity is one of the most liberal as it allows the ordination of female and gay priests. The Anglican sect is followed in 165 countries and has a mixed custom. It follows some of the Roman Catholic customs as well as is a supporter of the Protestant Reformation. Church of England was formed after Henry VIII separated from the Pope in the 1530s because he was not being allowed to annul his marriage with Catherine of Aragon. The Church considers that Bible is the basis of all Christian thought and tradition (Ramsay, 2018).

The Bishops of the Church of England act as lawmakers in the United Kingdom. 26 Bishops are members of House of the Lords and are called Lords Spiritual. The activities of the Church are based on Scripture and reason. The traditions of the Church of England resemble to the Roman Catholics. Millions of people visit a cathedral of the Church of England every year. The Church is so progressive that it allows women and homosexuals to be in leadership roles. Most of the early colonists living in North America were Anglican Puritans. The Bishops and priests belonging to the Church of England lead wedding and funeral services of the state. The Church also holds services to mourn natural disasters and wars. The British Monarch takes the important decisions related to the Church of England. Baptism and Holy Communion both are observed in the Church. The jurisdiction is divided into Dioceses which has a Cathedral of its own (Village, 2018).

Sikhism is all about identity. Sikhs wear turbans and wear special religious clothes during ceremonies that take place in Gurudwaras. A Sikh is very concerned about his/her spiritual life and loves serving his/her community. There is a concept of Saint Soldier in the religion. Both the men and women can become Saint Soldiers. Sikhism was led by various

saints some of them were fierce warriors. That is why several Sikhs carry swords also known as kirpans as their sacred possession. Sikhism was started by Guru Nanak. The religion does not discriminate against anyone on the lines of race, religion, gender and skin colour (Aujla-Bhullar, 2020).

Jews are the followers of Judaism and they too have a very strong identity. Some traditional Jews wear hats and keep beards. They are proud of their history and heritage. The bad memories of Holocaust bring all the Jews together. Any person having a Jewish mother is a Jew. It shows that the Jewish culture is of matrilineal descent. In Judaism, the Jews believe that there is only one God like the Sikhs do. Judaism is the way of life for the Jews and it is full of traditions, theology and law. Maintaining the law is very important in Judaism because that is the way by which God’s reign can be brought back to the world. The followers of Judaism are ethical and ritualistic. Like Sikhism, Judaism too believes in rituals and serving the community. Another similarity is that both the religions have a good population of orthodox and conservative people (Illman, 2019).

Reference

Aujla-Bhullar, S. K. (2020). Crowns and Cages: A Sikh Woman's Reflections of the Sikh Community in Canada. Cultural and Pedagogical Inquiry, 12(1), 73-82 https://doi.org/10.18733/cpi29532

Illman, R. (2019). Researching vernacular Judaism: reflections on theory and method. Nordisk judaistik/Scandinavian Jewish Studies, 30(1), 91-108 https://doi.org/10.30752/nj.77287

Ramsay, L. M. (2018). The Church of England, homosexual law reform, and the shaping of the permissive society, 1957–1979. Journal of British Studies, 57(1), 108-137 10.1017/jbr.2017.180

Village, A. (2018). What does the Liberal-Conservative scale measure? A study among clergy and laity in the Church of England. Journal of Empirical Theology, 31(2), 194-216 https://doi.org/10.1163/15709256-12341371