The Hotel industry is affected by different religious groups including Judaism, Catholics, Muslims and Christians in their service provision. Each unit has its own beliefs and therefore it is difficult for the hotel industry to serve the needs of all its clients without considering their religious affiliation. Some of the religions despise the others, and therefore it is difficult for the hotel management to develop standardized services that are targeted to its customers. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of terrorist activities targeting the hotel industry. With the new developments, Muslims are discriminated against for fear of attacks with the hotel industry introducing a raft of measures to protect its customers and the infrastructure. Most Muslims undergo stringent checks to ensure that they are not armed hence posing a threat to the rest of the customers and the employees.
Judaism
Judaism is a set of ideas on the world and a way of life. It is a religion with the Torah as its foundation. It includes the cultural, religious and philosophical issues of the Jews. According to the religious people who abide by it, it is an expression of a covenant established by God with the children of Israel. It includes a wide array of texts, practices, forms of organization and theological positions. It is among the top ten religions with close to seventeen million followers throughout the world. Several movements within Judaism emerged from Rabbinic which holds that God gave his ten commandments to Moses at Mt Sinai in a written and oral Torah (Becchio & Schadé, 2006; Campo, 2008).
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Orthodox Judaism
They include such movements as chard, modern orthodox and ultra-orthodox. They subscribed to the mass revelation while adhering to the interpretations and applied ethics and laws as demanded by Torah. The group broke away from the rest in the twentieth century and took a stricter approach. This team believes in monotheism, i.e., they believe in one God who is indivisible and preceding all creations that he made. To the group, God is eternal, omnipotent, omniscient and incorporeal. He is also beyond any human reason. The society recognizes God as the sole creator of the universe and is impalpable, and the first and the last. It is only God that should be worshiped and no one else(Becchio & Schadé, 2006; Campo, 2008).
The group recognizes salvation and afterlife and believe in divine reward for those who keep the commandments. The transgressors will be met with punishment. They also believe in heaven and hell upon the end of the world. Humankind shall be resuscitated, and each will be given their just due. The Orthodox maintain a historical understanding of the Jewish entity. To recognize a Jew, they must be born to a Jew mother or have converted by the tradition and law. They condemn interreligious marriage as it is perceived to be a rejection of Judaism. An individual who has intermarried is cut off from the rest of the community (Becchio & Schadé, 2006; Campo, 2008).
Conservative Judaism
It is a Jewish denomination that recognizes the laws as binding and related to historical development. They employ the current historical research that criticizes their historical event rather than depending only on traditional methods. Much weight is placed at its constituency to determine its stance on issues of law. They consider their approach as the most appropriate and authentic continuation of the religious course. They lack a consensus on matters of faith and allows greater pluralism. They institutionalized as a denomination in the U.S. in the mid-twentieth century where it has its most significant center. Globally, the community is united under the umbrella Masorti Olami organization. It is believed to have a following of over one million people (Becchio & Schadé, 2006; Campo, 2008).
The group was marked with ambiguity and ambivalence from its earliest stage in theological matters. There are instances where the team moves away from its principles and often express conflicting views. The diversity of the group makes it difficult to create a theological vision that can be shared by all (Becchio & Schadé, 2006; Campo, 2008).
The group upholds the notion of a personal God. To them, God is the creator as well as governor of the universe. Through his power, the world was born, and his wisdom guides its destiny. They believe in an immortal soul and the resurrection of the dead. Their mainstay was to adopt a historical-critical method of understanding Judaism and determining its future course. They differentiated from the traditional sources by incorporating new developments into their beliefs to reflect the influences of the external environment (Becchio & Schadé, 2006; Campo, 2008).
Jehovah Witness
Jehova witness is a new Christian denomination that has its own beliefs that are different from the mainstream Christianity. Its participants are involved in global evangelism and usually have an annual memorial attendance. The denomination is redirected by a governing body which is constituted from a group of elders in New York that establishes the doctrines by its interpretation of the bible. They employ their translation although their scripture quotes the Bible. They believe in the destruction of the current world system, and therefore, the establishment of a kingdom of God on earth is the only solution to all the problems faced by the world (Becchio & Schadé, 2006; Campo, 2008).
The origin of Jehovah Witness was a bible student movement in the 1870s. Its current name was adopted in 1931 to help in differentiating them from other bible groups. They are active in doo to door preaching and distribution of literature. To them, the use of God's name is vital for their proper worship. They are against the observation of customs and holidays that they consider to include the pagan origin and which against Christian beliefs. The group strives to adhere to Christianity as taught by Jesus and practiced by the apostles. They worship God and recognize the Bible as an inspiration from God. Similarly, they follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and believe in the existence of a kingdom of God in heaven. To them, deliverance from sin is possible, and there is heaven. They also believed that the earth was created by God to be an eternal home for humanity (Becchio & Schadé, 2006; Campo, 2008).
Catholics
They are one of the branches of Christianity that trace its origin to Jesus Christ and the apostles. The church has developed a sophisticated theology and an organizational structure that is headed by the pope. It controls the most significant number of attendants in the world more than the rest of the religions combined. It is a complex institution that has sacred congregations dioceses, provinces, religious orders, seminaries and societies, colleges among other organizations make up the Catholic Church (McKenzie et al., 2017).
Atheist
They are a group that does not believe in anything. They reject any religious beliefs. To them, there are no deities. The team emerged in the 5th century before Christ from ancient Greeks. They reject the God that is worshiped by the majority. It includes all individuals who do not commit to believing in God. The term emerged in the 16th century as religious criticism increased. Their argument range from social to philosophical issues and to them, there is no empirical evidence or inconsistent revelations or problems of evils to motivate them to believe in a deity (Becchio & Schadé, 2006; Campo, 2008).
Islam
Islam is one of the world religions that have attained the historical, cultural as well as civilization stature and diversity. From its emergence in the seventh century Arabian Peninsula it has continued to grow into new territories as the Muslim try to conquer new places where the religion has not reached. The interaction between Muslims and none Muslims has contributed to the spread of Islam to other regions including Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, America and New Zealand. The different cultural practices of the adherents have had a strong influence on the growth of Islam. Their methods have evolved over the centuries, and the rate of change in the human also affected their arts, philosophies, and sciences including the language spoken and food eaten. In the middle ages, European scholars in the middle ages tried to acquire the cultural practices of the Muslim including their astronomy, philosophy, mathematics, and medicine. The architectural styles also developed throughout the territories inhabited by the Muslims (Copley, 2012).
The social and religious life of the Muslims reflects the differences in the culinary culture. The Muslims believe that God sends rainwater to nourish the vegetation of the world. To them, nature offers food to the human kind including fruits grains. They believe that the growth of food and rearing of animals is a system of sign that is designed to remind the followers to submit and worship God. The Muslims, therefore, eat only what is permitted in the wholly Quran. They are to abstain from consuming swine, blood, wine, and carrion. The meat must be slaughtered according to their belief. Muslims can consume foods prepared by pure people of the book, i.e., Jews and Christians. The Muslims, however, must adhere to the dietary laws to express their relationship with God and establish their identity as a unique religious group (Copley, 2012).
The Quran calls upon the Muslims not to be wasteful and to consume just what is sufficient. Muslims associate good food with good health, therefore, maintaining bodily health required that one consume a balanced diet and to avoid excessive consumption. Food should be taken from the nearest dish, and the right hand must be used for eating and drinking. Similarly, food should be passed from the left to the right believes Mohammad would eat food if they like it and if they do not they keep quiet and leave it on the plate. Mohamed loved milk, meat, and bread stew and used vinegar as an addition to bread. He also liked sweets, fruits, and honey. The culinary practices played an essential role in the feasting and ritual life (Campo, 2008; Copley, 2012).
The Muslim observe the month of Ramadan where they are to abstain from any food and drink throughout the day. Dates, water, and other Ramadan dishes are favorite for breaking the fasting. Muslims also observe other festivals where they feast. Muslim culinary has evolved, and there are immense changes i9n the foods that they consume with American beverages finding their way into the festivities and cuisines of the Muslims. New foods that adhere to Islamic laws on a diet have become a favorite of Muslims living in western countries. The eateries use some local flavoring and adapt to the original recipes. In the 1990s and 2000, opposition to the Middle East policies led to the boycott of established food chains from the US and the locals returned to the traditional (Campo, 2008; Copley, 2012).
Christianity
It is a popular Abrahamic religion in the western world where its members are referred to as Christians and believe in one God. It is the largest religion on earth and believes in the teachings of Jesus Christ. To a Christian Jesus was a preacher, teacher, prophet, and healer. The disciples knew Jesus as God's only son. The Christian bible mentions God the father, God the son and God the whole spirit. It started as a Jewish sect and quickly in its size becoming the dominant religion in the Roman Empire in the 4th century (Becchio & Schadé, 2006; Campo, 2008).
Hotel policies and laws
Hotels have policies and guidelines for different religious groups. Each client is required to adhere to the established policies and follow the established guidelines. Employees should not be discriminated against their religion. Hotels have security policies that are developed to ensure the safety of all its participants. The industry is guided by a concern for fairness and justice to all its customers irrespective of their religious affiliation. Muslims are against some of the policies arguing that they are being discriminated for their association with Islam (Radzi et al., 2016).
Laws against discrimination require that an entity must not discriminate against religion, color or race. The hotel industry is expected to apply its policies and procedures in a just manner without favoring or discriminating some groups. It is a requirement that all entities should develop standardized measures that can be applied to all individuals irrespective of their affiliation (Radzi et al., 2016).
Current Global Issues
Many Americans are suspicious about the motives and believe of Muslims who feel they are unfairly being mistreated by their counterparts. Muslims assume a widespread hostility from the locals and perceive that there is a significant bias against them. The hijab a typical outfit for the Muslims attracts unwanted attention causing unfair discrimination. Muslims are being profiled as terrorist and are usually searcher for weapons in all installations that they visit. Many hotels, for instance, execute thorough checks which can be humiliating and offend the privacy of the subject (Radzi et al., 2016).
The hotel industry faces an uphill task of trying to balance between ensuring the security of its customers and avoiding any form of discrimination. With the changing in the global environment, it is difficult to assume the dangers posed by terrorism yet it is inappropriate to use safety and security as an excuse to profile and discriminate against an individual. The hotel industry should devise a raft of measures that are applicable across the board and which are widely accepted by its clients. They can institute policies that require that the security checks and employees include participants from different religions (Radzi et al., 2016).
References
Becchio, B., & Schadé, J. P. (2006). Encyclopedia of world religions . Franklin Park, NJ: Concord Pub.
Campo, J. E. (2008). Encyclopedia of world religions . New York, NY: Facts On File
Copley, T. (2012). History of world religions: islam . Place of publication not identified: Hodder ChildrenS Books.
McKenzie, J. L., Knowles, M. D., Oakley, F. C., Pelikan, J. J., Cunningham, L., & Frassetto, M. (2017, July 19). Roman Catholicism. Retrieved November 10, 2017, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism
Radzi, S. M., Hanafiah, M. H., Sumarjan, N., Mohi, Z., Sukyadi, D., Suryadi, K., & Purnawarman, P. (2016). Heritage, Culture and Society: research agenda and best practices in the hospitality and tourism industry . Boca Raton: CRC Press.
What Do Jehovah's Witnesses Believe? (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2017, from https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/jehovah-witness-beliefs/
