Worldwide Religions

1.What issues and concerns of Christian groups are most prevalent in the media and public discourse today? How do they compare to the attitudes of the early Christian communities, or to the teachings of Jesus as conveyed in the Gospels?
As a religion that uses conversion to acquire members, what elements of traditional Christianity might make it of interest to people in search of spirituality? What elements of traditional Christianity might discourage such people?
2.One of the Five Pillars of Islam includes going on the Hajj. Watch the documentary video provided this week that shows one person's experience doing this. On this forum, discuss the challenges one may face doing this activity (discuss in reference to economic, social, and political difficulties for a pilgrim), then discuss the reward one gets from this experience.
Many people feel transformed by pilgrimmages. Post another example of a pilgrimmage here and the
purpose of doing one (the pilgrimmage may be either secular or sacred for the purposes of this example).
3.Sikhs and Muslims are often mistaken for each other by outsiders. In the US, hate crimes against Muslims and as a result, Sikhs have been on the rise since 9/11, the most recent being the Temple shootings in Wisconsin (Reference the links below for a widely publicized incident in Wisconsin). Read the article on the first link and second link below -- be sure to watch the short embedded videos in the Propublica article as well as reading).
http://www(dot)democracynow(dot)org/2012/8/6/wisconsin_sikh_temple_shooting_latest_tragedy
https://www(dot)propublica(dot)org/article/sikhs-in-america-hate-crime-victims-and-bias
What is it about Sikhs that lead them to be targeted by some as practitioners of Islam? Why the mistaken identity? How does this shape how Americans who practice Sikhism are treated as well as how they interact with others who are non-Sikhs?
As a corollary, what IS a hate crime and what distinguishes it from other types of violence or criminal activity? Ultimately, what are the causes of religious-based hate crimes and how can these be addressed in US society? In your opinion, how can religious tolerance be advanced or even should it?