Ethnographic Comparison Account - Essay Example

This paper highlights policy issues in religious practices and problems the mentioned societies face while practicing their religious beliefs. Classic and contemporary ethnographical accounts are used in this analysis. African Americans are citizens of United States of America and they have their ancestry in Sub-Saharan Africa. They are the single largest minority group in United States of America and most of them are offspring’s of Africans brought in America during the slave period. The Chinese are citizens of the People’s Republic of China.

There are 56 ethnic groups in China, and Han is the largest, constituting 91.5% (Berlatsky, 2010). The Han are the world’s largest single ethnic group and play a dominant role in Chinese politics and economic spheres.Lack of official data makes it difficult to know the accurate number of religious practices among the Chinese; however, Religion gained prominence among the Chinese in the late 1980s with the latest survey conducted in 2007, depicting 23% of the Chinese population being religious (Berlatsky, 2010).

The most dominant religious beliefs in China are the Chinese folk religion, Taoism and Buddhism. 50% of the Chinese population are Buddhists, while Taoist account for 30% of the population. These figures are estimations since it is difficult to get the exact number of Buddhists, Taoist and those practicing Chinese folk religion because they overlap with one another, and there is no public participation and congregational membership. Christianity is a minor religion among the Chinese and was introduced during the Tang dynasty, in 635 AD.

Many Christians in China belong to un-authorized house churches and therefore it is difficult to know the exact percentage of Chinese Christian (Cavali, 2002). The Government of China estimates the number of Chinese Christians to be around 25 million, an estimated 3% of the total population. The Chinese, practice Islam, though it is a minority and was introduced in the period 651 AD. Other religions such as Bon and Hinduism are also practiced in China although under regulation by the Chinese Government (Cavali, 2002).

Among the African Americans majority of them are Protestant Christians who follow the historical churches formed by fellow blacks, according to the 2007 Religious survey conducted in America. The largest Protestant group is the Baptists and is divided into four denominations (Gates et al, 1996). The second largest protestant group is the Methodists, whose largest church is Methodist Episcopal Church. African Americans are also members of white Pentecostal movement, and an estimated 16% of African Americans are believed to attend such denominations.

The Roman Catholic faith is also practiced among the African Americans, but it is a minority religion (Bankston, 2006). Islam is a religion among this group though in minority, and they constitute 20% of Muslims in United States of America, majority being Sunni Muslims. Religion among the Chinese and the African American is different. One difference emanates from the nature of the religious practice. The most dominant religion in China is Buddhism, while the most dominant religion among the African Americans is Christianity.

Buddhists worship Buddha as god, while Christians believe in Jesus Christ as the son of God, and redeemer of mankind from sin. A significant difference arises in the membership of