How to study belief systems

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How to study belief systems

• Dharmic Religions
• Natural order
• Hinduism
• Buddhism
• Thervada
• Mayayana
• Zen
• Janism
• Sikhism

• Abrahamic Religions
• From Abraham
• Christianity
• Catholic
• Orthodox
• Protestant
• Islam
• Sufi
• Shiite
• Sunni
• Judaism
• Orthodox
• Confucianism
• Daoism
• Shintoism
• Paganism
• Animistic
• Agnosticism

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Religions

• Latin for tie back or reconnect
• Theo mono, poly or pan
• Non-Theo mystic (no personal god)
• Secular is indifferent to religions
• Spirituality or Sacred

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Religions More than just a belief

• How do we define religion
• How do we classify religions
• What are their characteristics
• How do they evolve
• Cultural character
• Shrines, stupas, cathedrals, Grottos, monasteries
• What is their political/social appeal
• How do they interact
• How do they travel
• Conflict
• Syncreticism

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Terms

• Secular
• Outside of religion
• Asceticism
• abstinence from worldly pleasures
• Orthodox
• Adhering to the accepted and traditional faith
• Pious
• Strictly adhering to the tenets of a religion
• Tenets
• teachings

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Categorize them

• Universal
• adherents believe what they think is proper for
  ALL human kind
• have a means of transmission
• are not inextricably linked to a nation,
  ethnicity, or place
• are dominant somewhere
• Ethnic
• Simple
• Complex ethnicity and religion are joined such
  as Hinduism where you are born into the religion
  and it is your way of life
• Syncretic
• Blended together and forms a new religion
• Exclusive vs.Non-exclusive
• Im right and you are wrong vs. whatever you want
• Islam, Christianity, Judaism vs. Hinduism,
  Buddhism,
• Pantheon
• Polytheistic many gods
• Monotheistic one god
• Dualistic pits equally evil gods against good
  gods
• Schisms and divisions
• Sects (Shiite vs. Sunni Catholic vs.
  ProtestantTherevada vs. Mahayana)

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Classifying

• Universalizing
• Islam
• Christianity
• Buddhism
• Syncretic
• Janism
• Hinduism Buddhism
• Sikhism
• Islam Hinduism
• Neoconfucianism
• Santeria (Lukumi, Regla de Ocha)
• Vodoun (Voodoo)
• Macumba (sometimes Quimbanda) and it's branches
  Umbanda and Candomble
• Palo Mayombe

• Ethnic
• Hinduism
• Shintoism
• Judaism

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Tenets or teachings

• How are they collected
• Books of learning
• Books of Law
• Who does the teaching and where
• Role of Monks Monasteries
• Actual foundation of the religion

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How it spreads

• Pilgrims
• Trade routes
• Geographic conduits/crossroads/ obstacles
• Stages
• Conversion or forced acceptance
• Exclusive or dual acceptance
• Proselytizing trying to convert someone to a
  religion
• Mission (latin root is to send off) duty to
  conduct such as Hajj
• Diaspora

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The spread of universal religions from 300-1500 CE

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Nature of Religion

• Who are the leaders
• What kind of background do they have
• Degree of aggression
• How are they organized
• Hierarchy
• Religious Institutions and bureaucracies
• Connection with political authority

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Sacred sites and ceremonies

• Meetings/gatherings
• What types of structures
• How are they connected to these sites
  geographically
• Symbols of the religion

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Organization

• Secular vs. Sacred
• Denomination
• Sect
• Cult
• Orthodoxy
• Correct thought
• Heresy is violation of the correct thought
• Pious or Piety is to adhere or adhering to the
  tenets and orthodoxy of your religion

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Tolerance for other religions

• Methods used to keep the true nature of their
  religion
• Wars
• Ethnic cleansing
• Marriage
• How do they convert others
• Persecution

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Social roles

• Gender roles
• Exclusion or inclusion of others

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Details
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Paganism

• Gods as personification of nature
• all living things have a spirit
• Primal religion perceive and experience the
  cosmos as a sacred continuum in which nature is a
  ready and steady manifestation of spiritual
  realities

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Paganism

• Continued in areas that had not been evangelized
  by Christianity and Islam
• Shinto - Japanese spiritual presence or nature -
  worship of Kami (spirits)
• (syncretic with Buddhism and some Confucanism)
  see on chart
• Animism - worship of life forces
• Totemism - identification of self with various
  animal symbols
• Shamanism - belief in unseen spirit worlds
• Druidic - based on Ancient Celtic practices
• Wiccan - a creative force exists in the universe
• Dreamtime - Aboriginies in Australia
• Asatru - (Norse) Asatru- developed in Nordic
  countries and spread throughout northern Europe.
  Sweden had Asatru royality until around 1100.
  Re-established in the late 1800s. Corrupted by
  Nazi Party and continue use by Neo-Nazis.

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African Diasporic (Afro-Caribbean Syncretic)

• History/Founder
• The origins of the Afro-caribbean sects (Known
  variously as Vodoun, Santeria/Lukumi, Candomble,
  Ifa, Palo Mayombe, etc.) are shrouded in the
  ancient past. Most were brought to the Americas
  by Yoruban slaves, (except for Palo, which is
  Bantu) who blended their tribal beliefs with
  Catholicism, spiritism, and even native belief.
• Varieties of Yoruban descended religions are
  practiced in almost every country in the world.
  Most of the examples given in this guide conform
  mainly to Santeria/Lukumi beliefs, but there is a
  thread of commonality between all of them.
• The most common of the syncretic faiths are
• Santeria (Lukumi, Regla de Ocha)
• Vodoun (Voodoo)
• Macumba (sometimes Quimbanda) and it's branches
  Umbanda and Candomble
• Palo Mayombe
• Current leader/governing body
• No central governing bodies.
• Believers are largely autonomous, many consider
  themselves Catholic.

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Basic tenets

• The area where these faiths differ most from one
  another is in sexuality, race, and gender taboos
  and rank.
• In Santeria, women are forbidden from becoming
  Babalawos, and are sometimes restricted from
  practicing sacrifice, while in Candomble, women
  hold the highest positions in the faith, and are
  much more likely than men to head congregations.
• Homosexuality is also treated in very different
  ways- some sects of Palo, for example, prohibit
  homosexuals from membership, while most sects of
  Vodou are inclusive.
• Race is most often an issue in Vodou, where it
  has often been controversial.
• Many African sects will not initiate whites,
  while many Haitian and virtually all American
  sects are fully inclusive.
• Church/temple
• Varies, usually space is consecrated outdoors
  before a ritual.
• Permanent temples or compounds, known as
  Peristyles in Vodoun, are also found in other
  branches- in Candomble, they are known as
  Terreiros.
• Scripture
• None, most traditions are oral, and passed from
  teacher to initiate. Western books of ritual
  magick such as Goetia, or the seven books of
  Moses, are indispensable in some sects.
• Required observances, dietary restrictions
• Vary widely. Restrictions on dress and food
  consumption are common during rituals and while
  preparing for initiations. Many gatherings
  prohibit immodest dress, or the wearing of
  certain colors.
• For example, when one attends a terreiro, one
  must never wear red and black (unless, of course,
  one is attending an invocation of Exu).
• Some traditions require ritual sexual abstinence
  before initiation and on particular days.
• Basic teachings and Beliefs
• Beliefs and practices vary widely from sect to
  sect and tend to be very complex, but all share
  some or all of the following traits
• Syncretism or associations between traditional
  Yoruban or Bantu religion and Roman Catholicism,
  the practice of Animal sacrifice and trance
  possession, spirit mediumship, sympathetic magic,
  and elements of medieval Goetic magic and
  kabbalah.

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Dharmic

• Hinduism
• Ayrans
• Vedic Era
• Vedas
• Polytheistic
• Altman
• Soul
• Moksha
• Liberation (from the cycle of reincarnation)
• Scriptures
• Vedas
• Upanishads
• Ramayana
• Mahabharata
• Bhagavad Gita
• Dharma
• Artha
• Worldly gain

• Buddhism
• Karma
• Cause and effect
• Dharma
• Right behavior/true path
• Therevada
• Mahayana
• Samsara
• Suffering
• Nirvana
• Liberation
• Bodhisattvvas
• Humans who have reached Enlightenment and choose
  to stay in this world and not go to Nirvana
• Eightfold Path
• Zen
• Lotus sitting and meditation
• Temples of teaching and monks and monasteries in
  China, Korea, and Japan and less in South Asia
  and Southeast Asia

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Daoism
Wise men don't need to prove their pointmen who
need to prove their point aren't wise.The Master
has no possessions.The more he does for others,
the happier he is.The more he gives to others,
the wealthier he is.The Tao nourishes by not
forcing.By not dominating, the Master leads.

• Lao zi
• Daoism focuses on wu wei or non action
• naturalness
• (vitality and peace) keeps universe balanced,
• Humanism
• emptiness is seen as refinement
• If work against this emptiness then you upset the
  balance
• The body coordinates with the elements
• Three Jewels - compassion, moderation and
  humility or kindness, simplicity and modesty
• Dieties
• Not really objects of worship
• Jade Emperor
• Three
• Although historic roots appear around 6th century
  BCE or 4th to 3rd , it is officially recognized
  in the Tang Dynasty after the 7th Century CE.
• IChing or Book of Changes or Tao Te Ching
• Daozong or Treasury of Tao published during Ming
  dynasty

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How do Universalizing and Ethnic Religions Differ?

• Ethnic
• Has meaning in particular place only.
• Unknown source.
• Content focused on place and landscape of origin.
• Followers highly clustered.
• Holidays based on local climate and agricultural
  practice.

• Universalizing
• Appeal to people everywhere
• Individual founder (prophet)
• Message diffused widely (missionaries)
• Followers distributed widely.
• Holidays based on events in founders life.

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Classification

• UNIVERSALIZING RELIGION -- one that attempts to
  appeal to all people, not only those at one
  location
• adapt to almost any society
• the religion itself sees no bounds to its
  eventual expansion over the entire landscape
• Christianity, Islam, Buddhism
•  ETHNIC RELIGION -- religion with a spatially
  (socially or ethnically) concentrated
  distribution principles of such a religion are
  likely to be based on physical characteristics of
  a particular location
• stong territorial and cultural group
  identification
• born into religion, religion and culture deeply
  intertwined
• Judaism, Indian Hinduism, Japanese Shinto
• Tribal or traditional religions
• small size, localized culture groups
• pre-modern societies
• close ties to nature
• animism, shamanism

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Role of Religion

• a symbol of group identity and a cultural
  rallying point (like language)
• both transmitters and identifiers of culture.
• can influence the spread of languages to new
  peoples and areas (Arabic, Latin)
• varies in its cultural role (unlike language)
  dominating to unimportant
• a value system that unites and differentiates
• religious when involving worship and faith in the
  sacred and divine
• may involve prescribed patterns of behavior
  prayer, special rites, obedience to doctrine

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Issues

• Not a simple thing
• Being Religious - Pious
• Adhering to the tenets and beliefs of ones
  religion
• Having a Pantheon or being monotheistic
• If monotheistic details of who/what single deity
  is and what that deity requires of humans

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1500BCE
660
1440
30CE
622
563
600
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Major Religions of the WorldRanked by Number of
Adherents

• Christianity 2 billion
• Islam 1.3 billion
• Hinduism 900 million
• Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist 850
  million
• Buddhism 360 million
• Chinese traditional religion 225 million
• African Traditional Diasporic 95 million
• Sikhism 23 million
• Judaism 14 million
• Jainism 4 million
• Shinto 4 million

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The Roots of Religion

• Animism (Shamanism) - the belief that all
  objects, animals, and beings are animated or
  possess a spirit and a conscious life. Also
  called shamanism because of the prominence of a
  Shaman.
• Such beliefs are common among hunter-gatherers.
• 10 of Africans follow such traditional ethnic
  religions.
• These beliefs are losing ground to Christianity
  and Islam throughout Africa.

Nigerian Shaman

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Animism

• Retained tribal ethnic religion of people around
  the world
• Today, adherents number at least 100 million
• Animists believe certain inanimate objects
  possess spirits or souls
• Spirits live in rocks, rivers, mountain peaks,
  and heavenly bodies
• Each tribe has its own characteristic form of
  animism
• A Shaman tribal religious figure usually serves
  as the intermediary between people and the
  spirits

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Spread of Religions

• imposed by conquest
• adopted by conversion
• defended and preserved in the face of surrounding
  hostility

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Cultural and Biological Exchanges Along the Silk
Roads

• The Spread of Buddhism and Hinduism

Insert map on page 257
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Religion and Fall of Classical Dynasties

• The Fall of the Han Dynasty
• Cultural Change in Post-Han China
• Sinicization of Nomadic People
• attempt to be influenced and assimilated by the
  Chinese culture (Korea, Japan later)
• Popularity of Buddhism
• Cultural Change in the Late Roman Empire
• Prominence of Christianity
• Formation of Institutional Church
• Emergence of Pope

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POSTCLASSICAL ERA, 500 TO 1000 C.EArabic to Islam
Insert Chronology Chart on page 325
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The Medinan Caliphate

• The Problem of Succession
• Abu Bakr (leader of prayers- companion and fourth
  convert) and Companions
• Ali (cousin and adopted son of Muhammad, husband
  of Fatima, second convert) and Abbas (uncle of
  Ali and the Prophet)
• The Medinan Caliphate (successor/representative)
• Abu Bakr (r. 632-634)
• Umar (Omar ibn al-Khattab) (r. 634-644)
• Uthman (Ummayyad clan) (r. 644-656)
• Ali (r. 656-661)
• The Sunni-Shiite split

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Dar al-Islam

• The Expansion of Islam
• The Early Caliphs and the Umayyad Dynasty

Insert map on page 310
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States and Societies of Sub-Saharan Africa

• Islamic Kingdoms and Empires
• The Indian Ocean Trade and Islamic States in East
  Africa

Insert map on page 436
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India and the Indian Ocean Basin

• Islamic and Hindu Kingdoms
• The Quest for Centralized Imperial Rule

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India and the Indian Ocean Basin

• Islamic and Hindu Kingdoms
• The Introduction of Islam to Northern Southern
  India
• The conquest of the Sind (711)
• Merging of cultures
• Sultanate of Delhi (1206)
• The Chola Kingdom (850-1267)

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India and the Indian Ocean Basin

• The Influence of Indian Society in Southeast Asia
  
• The Indianized States of Southeast Asia

Insert map on page 372
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Hinduism, Buddhism and Janism

• Dharmic religions

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Common Elements

• Liberation is the central goal of all three of
  the Dharmic religions
• Wheel of Life

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Comparisons

• Of the regions most religiously active, India had
  by far the most activity.
• While the Chinese philosophers focused more on
  how to live and left the hereafter for others to
  sketch in, the Indians covered both the seen and
  unseen worlds with their religious thought.
• The times were prosperous, so that people could
  afford to turn their minds to otherworldly ideas.
  
• None of these faiths form in response to
  something around them that is wrong but come
  into being out of contemplation, study, and
  realization.
• They speak of harmonious relationships, not
  struggles they have a tolerant, open message.
• The Indian and Chinese ways are just that,
  ways.
• They can be lived alongside other ways, or they
  can stand alone.
• No pressure.
• They do not exclude or feel a need to convince.

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Comparisons

• By contrast, the Near Eastern and European
  religious movements arise out of seeing a wrong
  situation and wanting to correct it.
• Moses, Zoroaster, Jesus, Muhammad, and others
  like them preach a message at odds with their
  surroundings and contain within their teachings a
  call to prostelyzation.
• They develop out of times presenting a stark
  contrast and have a message asking people to
  choose the right side.

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Classical Hinduism

• Focused on figuring out ways to break the
  continual cycle of rebirth, samsara
• The particulars of an individuals wanderings in
  samsara are determined by karma
• Brahman perfection, ultimate reality eternal
  life force only thing that really exists is
  in all things, and is all things, is above all
  things. All gods are manifestations (forms) of
  Brahman.
• Maya magical spella part of Brahman the
  world we experience is an illusion (see, hear,
  feel, taste, smell, joy, pain all maya)

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Hindu Temples
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Hinduism

• Hinduism has splintered into diverse religious,
  some regarded as separate religions
• Jainism ancient outgrowth, claiming perhaps 5
  million adherents
• Traces its roots back over twenty-five centuries
• Reject Hindu scriptures, rituals, and priesthood
• Share Hindu belief in ahinisa and reincarnation
• Adhere to a stern asceticism
• Sikhism arose in the 1500s, in an attempt to
  unify Hinduism and Islam
• Centered in the Punjab state of northwestern
  India
• Has about 19 million followers
• Sikhs practice monotheism and have their own holy
  book, the Adi Granth

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Buddhism

• Derived from Hinduism began 25 centuries ago
• Reform movement grounded in the teaching of
  Prince Siddhartha the Buddha
• He promoted the four noble truths
• Life is full of suffering
• Desire is the cause of this suffering
• Cessation of suffering comes with the quelling of
  desire
• An eight-fold path of proper personal conduct
  and meditation permits the individual to overcome
  desire
• Nirvana reached when one has achieved a state
  of escape and peace, which is attained by very few

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Buddhism

• Today the most widespread religion in Asia
• Dominates a culture region from Sri Lanka to
  Japan and from Mongolia to Vietnam
• Proselytic religion
• Formed composite faiths as it fused with ethnic
  faiths especially in China and Japan
• Fused with Confucianism, Taoism, and Shintoism
• Southern Buddhism dominant in Sri Lanka and
  mainland Southeast Asia retains greatest
  similarity to original form
• Special variation known as Lamaism prevails in
  Tibet and Mongolia

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Buddhism

• Theravada Buddhism
• Mahayana Buddhism

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Sects of Buddhism

• Theravada
• Traditionalreligious life is a solitary
  individual journey (monk)
• Reaching Nirvana is simply ceasing to be
• Focus on meditation and personal perfection
• Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka (Ceylon)

• Mahayana
• China, Japan, Korea, Tibet
• Belief in enlightened beings (bodhisattvas) who
  have perfected themselves to the point they are
  capable of leaving the cycle of death and rebirth
  because they have reached nirvana
• Bodhisattvas remain in human form to help others
  reach nirvana (perfect contentment, release of
  attachments, and release from cycle of death
  rebirth)

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The Buddha Image
The Buddha is the enlightened person, a role
model to emulate not a god to try to please or
placate
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Buddhist Temples
Temple in Bhutan
Wat or Temple in Thailand
Gelugpa Temple, Mongolia
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Sacred space

• Includes areas and sites recognized as worthy of
  devotion, loyalty, fear, or esteem
• Notion occurs in many different cultures, past
  and present the world over
• B.C. Lane saysan ordinary place made
  extraordinary through ritual
• May be sought out by pilgrims or barred to
  members of other religions
• Often contain the site of supposed supernatural
  events or viewed as abode of gods

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Sacred Space

• Jerusalem is sacred space to Christians, Jews,
  and Muslims. It contains the Via Dolorosa (Way
  of the Cross) leading to the site of Christs
  crucifixion.
• According to Jewish tradition, the sealed Golden
  Gate (far right) is where the Messiah will enter
  the city and bring redemption. Ruins of the City
  of David are at the southwest corner of the wall.

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Sacred space

• Conflict can result of two religions venerate the
  same space
• Example of conflict in Jerusalem
• Muslim Dome of the Rock site of Muhammads
  ascent to heaven
• Wailing Wall remnant of greatest Jewish temple
• Cemeteries also generally regarded as type of
  sacred space

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Religious pilgrimage

• Pilgrimages can have an economic impact, as a
  form of tourism
• In some favored localities, pilgrim trade
  provides the only significant source of revenue
• Lourdes attracts between 4 and 5 million
  pilgrims each year
• Many seek miraculous cures at its famous grotto
  where the Virgin Mary supposedly appeared
• Ranks second only to Paris in number of hotel,
  and most are small
• Mecca attracts hundreds of thousand of Muslims
• Come from every corner of the Islamic culture
  region
• Closed to all non-Muslims

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Religion and lifestyle

• This man is a Hindu sadhu or holy man. He has
  elected to remove himself from ordinary society
  to seek moksha or release from the cycle of
  birth, death, and rebirth. A devotee of Shiva,
  he hopes to achieve this ultimate state of bliss
  through a lengthy process of devotion, ritual,
  meditation and several rebirths.

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Mecca
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Mosque

• Mosques differ widely in style yet their elements
  are constant. They include consecrated space for
  ritual prayer a mihrab, or wall-niche indicating
  the direction (qiblah) of Mecca and, to the
  right of the mihrab, a pulpit (minbar) for the
  Friday sermon.

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Mosques
Mombasa
Medina, Saudi Arabia
India
England
Sudan
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Religious structures

• In Islam, mosques are normally the most imposing
  items in the landscape
• Jewish synagogues vary greatly in visibility
• Hinduism has produced large numbers of visually
  striking temples, but many worship in private
  households

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Taj Mahal
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Landscapes of the dead

• Christian cemeteries vary from modest, to places
  of color and elaborate decoration depending on
  the religious denomination
• Cemeteries often preserve truly ancient cultural
  traits
• Example of rural traditional cemeteries of the
  southern United States
• Rose bushes planted atop the grave may derive
  from worship of an ancient, pre-Christian mother
  goddess of Mediterranean lands
• Cedars planted on graves is an age-old pagan
  symbol of death and eternal life
• Shell decoration derives from an animistic custom
  in West Africa

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Diffusion

• Expansion
• Hierarchical
• Contagion
• Relocation

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Religions of the Middle East Trace To A Common
Ancestor Abrahamic
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The Semitic religious hearth

• Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all arose among
  Semitic-speaking people
• All three arose from the margins of the
  southwestern Asian deserts
• Judaism, the oldest, originated about 4,000 years
  ago probably along the southern edge of the
  Fertile Crescent
• Later, Judaism acquired dominion over lands
  between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River
  territorial base of modern Israel

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The Semitic religious hearth

• About 2,000 years later, Christianity arose as a
  child of Judaism from this same area
• Islam arose about seven centuries later in
  western Arabia, partly from Jewish and Christian
  roots
• Religions spread by both relocation and expansion
  diffusion
• Expansion diffusion can be divided into
  hierarchical and contagious subtypes
• Hierarchical diffusion ideas are implanted at
  top of a society, leapfrogging across the map
  taking root in cities
• Use of missionaries involves relocation diffusion

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Jewish Temple
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The Semitic religious hearth

• Christianity spread through the Roman Empire
  using the existing splendid road system
• Clearly reflected hierarchical expansion
  diffusion
• Early congregations were established in cities
  and towns
• Temporarily established a pattern of
  Christianized urban centers and pagan rural areas

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The Semitic religious hearth

• Scattered urban clusters of early Christianity
  were created by relocation diffusion
• Missionaries moved from town to town bearing news
  of the emerging faith
• Missionaries often used the technique of
  converting kings or tribal leaders
• Some expansion was militaristic reconquest of
  Iberia, invasion of Latin America
• Christianity spread farther by contagious
  diffusion, also called contact conversion

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Diffusion of Christianity

• Tamils were brought to Malaya as indentured labor
  to work in mines and plantations during the
  colonial era. Many Hindu Tamils were of a low
  caste or even untouchables in India.
  Christianity, without proclaimed social
  divisions, was and remains attractive to
  downtrodden peoples.

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The Semitic religious hearth

• Islamic faith spread in a militaristic manner
• Followed the command in the Koran
• Arabs exploded westward across North Africa in a
  wave of religious and linguistic conquest
• Turks, once converted, carried out similar
  Islamic conquests
• Muslim missionaries followed trade routes
  eastward to implant Islam hierarchically in the
  Philippines, Indonesia, and interior China

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Semitic religious hearth

• Tropical Africa is the current major area of
  Islamic expansion
• Diffusion successes in Sub-Saharan Africa and
  high birthrates in the older sphere of dominance
  has made Islam the worlds fastest-growing
  religion

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The lndus-Ganges Hearth

• Second great religious hearth lies on the plains
  fringing the northern edge of the Indian
  subcontinent
• Lowland, drained by the Ganges and Indus rivers
• Gave birth to Hinduism and Buddhism

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The lndus-Ganges Hearth

• Hinduism is at least 4,000 years old
• Originated in the Punjab, from where it diffused
  to dominate the subcontinent
• Missionaries later carried the faith in its
  proselytic phase, to overseas areas
• Most converted regions were subsequently lost

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The lndus-Ganges Hearth

• Buddhism began in the foothills bordering the
  Ganges Plain about 500 B.C.
• For centuries remained confined to the Indian
  subcontinent
• Missionaries later carried it to other countries
  and regions
• China between 100 B.C. and A.D. 200
• Korea and Japan between A.D. 300 and 500
• Southeast Asia between A.D. 400 and 600
• Tibet A.D. 700
• Mongolia A.D. 1500
• Developed many regional forms and died out in its
  area of origin

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Diffusion of Buddhism

• Buddhism arrived with Asian migrants in the early
  19th century and has become increasingly
  important with each subsequent immigrant group.
• This is the Fo Kuang Shan Hsi Lai Temple in
  Hacienda Heights, an emerging Asian Suburban area
  near Los Angeles.

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Pilgrimage

• Pilgrimages are journeys to especially sacred
  sites such as this monastery in the Himalaya
  mountains of Nepal such pilgrimages often result
  from a vow and allow laypeople to reach a higher
  spiritual status

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Barriers and time-distance decay

• Religious ideas weaken with distance from places
  of origin and time
• Most religious barriers are permeable, but weaken
  and retard religious spread
• Partial acceptance of Christianity by various
  Indian groups in Latin America and the western
  United States
• Served as a camouflage under which many aspects
  of tribal religions survived
• Permeable barriers are normally present in
  expansion diffusion

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Barriers and time-distance decay

• Most religions become modified by older local
  beliefs as they diffuse spatially
• Absorbing barriers example of China
• Christian missionaries to China expected to find
  fertile ground for conversion
• Chinese had long settled the question of what is
  basic human nature
• Believed humans were inherently good and evil
  desires represented merely a deviation from that
  state

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Barriers and time-distance decay

• Evil desires could be shrugged off and people
  would return to the basic nature they shared with
  heaven
• Christian idea of original sin left the Chinese
  baffled
• Chinese could not understand the concept of
  humankind being flawed or their impossibility to
  return to godhood
• Many concepts of Christianity fell on rocky soil
  in China
• In the early twentieth century some Chinese
  became Christians in exchange for the rice
  missionaries gave them

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Barriers and time-distance decay

• Religion can act as a barrier to the spread of
  nonreligious innovations
• Religious taboos can function as absorbing
  barriers
• Can prevent diffusion of foods and drinks
• Mormons are forbidden to consume products
  containing caffeine
• Some Pennsylvania Dutch churches prohibit
  cigarette smoking, but not the raising of tobacco
  by member farmers for commercial markets

89
Religion and economy

• Religion can also often explain the absence of
  crops or domestic animals in an area
• Spain and Morocco show the impact of food taboos
• On the Spanish, Roman Catholic side pigs are
  common
• In Muslim Morocco only about 12,000 swine can be
  found in the entire country
• Islamic avoidance of pork underlies this contrast
  
• Judaism imposes restrictions against pork and
  other meats as stated in the Book of Leviticus

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Religion and economy

• Other explanations for Islamic and Judaic pork
  taboos
• Concern with the danger of intestinal parasites
  (trichinosis)
• Considered pigs unclean
• Unlikely relationship between poorly cooked pork
  and intestinal parasites would have been detected
  before modern medical technology
• As some groups lost access to irrigation waters
  they became nomadic herders

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diffusion of Buddhism along the Silk Route

• trade partly prospered because of the elaborate
  rites introduced into the practice of Buddhism in
  Central Asia.
• The Stupas (icons) were wrapped with reams of
  silk on festive occasions thereby giving impetus
  to the silk trade in China.
• The interlocking dome of the Stupas was to be the
  prototype for the domes over Mosques and churches
  that were built later by Romans and Arabs
• The Dome of the Mosques in Islamic architecture
  is derived from the stupas
• The hemispherical construction of Byzantine such
  as Haja Sophia of Byzantine has domes which
  reseble the Buddhist Stupa

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Relic Worships at Stupas

• Relics are parts of the Buddhas body (hair,
  nails, bones, teeth, etc.) that have great power
  and can bless those who worship them
• Stupas are Buddhist temples that house a relic of
  the Buddha

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Asokas sponsorship of stupas
95
Schisms or divisions
96
Origin and Diffusion of Islam
97
Taj Mahal

• tomb mosques
• built by Shah Jahan
• 5th Mughal Emperor
• completed 1653

98
The Sacred Cow

• Nearly 200 million cattle in India
• Cow sacred and its slaughter forbidden
• 15 of world total
• Cows provide work, milk, ghee, dung, fertilizer
• Hinduism forbids slaughter of cows
• Goshalas old age homes for old cows

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Lord Brahma creator, continually making new
realities
100
Vishnu Protector/Preserver
AVATARS
Krishna
Rama
Buddha
101
the Caste System

• 4 Social Castes (Varna, subdivided into 1000s of
  jati) outcastes
• Brahmin (5 priestly academic)
• Kshatriyas (20 rulers, military, warrior)
• Vaishya (farmers, merchants, landlords)
• Sudras (laborers artisans)
• Untouchables (26 -- menial labor slaughtering,
  cleaning)

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Dalit Low-caste untouchables

• 250 million out-castes
• 1949 caste system outlawed
• Oppression continues (rural areas)
• no rights for owning land or home
• no access to worship at the local temple
• no right to walk on certain roads
• segregated living
• severely impoverished
• suffer high levels of illiteracy
• Since 1950s affirmative action

103
Sikhism

• Symbols of the faith The Five K's Clothing
  practices of stricter Sikhs symbolize unity,
  truthfulness, faith, identity, justice
• Kesa (long hair, never cut)
• Kangah (comb)
• Kacha (short pants)
• Kara (metal bangle)
• Kirpan (a ceremonial dagger)

104
The Geography of Religion
Ethnic Religions Polytheism Universalizing
Religions(proselytic) Monotheism
105
Christianity

• 2 billion adherents make it most practiced in
  the world.
• Originated in Bethlehem (8-4 BC) and Jerusalem
  (AD 30) with Jesus Christ.
• Spread by missionaries and the Roman Empire
  (Constantine A.D. 313).
• It is the most practiced religion in Africa
  today.

106
Diffusion of Christianity

107
Islam

• 1 billion adherents
• Originated in Saudi Arabia (Mecca and Medina)
  around AD 600.
• Spread originally by Muslim armies to N. Africa,
  and the Near East.
• Sunni (83) - throughout the Muslim world.
• Shiite - Iran (40), Pakistan (15), Iraq (10)

108
Holy Text Koran Prophet Muhammad

• Five Pillars of Islam
• There is one God and Muhammad is his messenger.
• Prayer five times daily, facing Mecca.
• The giving of alms(charity) to the poor.
• Fasting during Ramadan for purification and
  submission.
• If body and income allow, a Muslim must make a
  pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca in his lifetime.

• Islamic Calender
• Begins in AD 622 when Muhammad was commanded to
  Mecca from Medina (Hijra).
• Lunar calendar makes Ramadan move through the
  seasons (30 year cycle - 19 years with 354 days
  and 11 with 355).

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Sacred Site of Islam
110
Diffusion of Islam

Islam is considered the fastest growing religion
in America. Only a small part of this growth is
from black Muslims and the Nation of Islam.
111
Buddhism

• 300 million adherents primarily in China and
  S.E. Asia
• Originated near modern Nepal around 530 BC by
  prince Siddhartha Guatama.
• Spread originally in India and Sri Lanka by
  Magadhan Empire (250 BC).
• Indian traders brought it to China in 1st
  century AD.
• By 6th century it had lost its hold on India,
  but was now in Korea and Japan.

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Buddhism
Four Noble Truths 1. All living beings must
endure suffering.2. Suffering, which is caused
by desires (for life), leads to reincarnation.3.
The goal of existence is an escape from suffering
and the endless cycle of reincarnation by means
of Nirvana.4. Nirvana is achieved by the
Eightfold Path, which includes rightness of
understanding, mindfulness, speech, action,
livelihood, effort, thought, and concentration.

Theravada - the older, more severe form which
requires the renouncing of all worldly goods and
desires. Mahayana - focuses on Buddhas teachings
and compassion.
Karma - your past bad or good actions determine
your progress toward Nirvana through
reincarnation. You are your own God.
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Buddhism

• 300 million adherents primarily in China and
  S.E. Asia
• Originated near modern Nepal around 530 BC by
  prince Siddhartha Guatama.
• Spread originally in India and Sri Lanka by
  Magadhan Empire (250 BC).
• Indian traders brought it to China in 1st
  century AD.
• By 6th century it had lost its hold on India,
  but was now in Korea and Japan.

114

115
Hinduism

• 900 million adherents primarily in India
• Hinduism is an ancient term for the complex and
  diverse set of religious beliefs practiced around
  the Indus River.
• Reincarnation - endless cycles. Karma and Yoga.
• Coastlines and river banks most sacred sites.
• Vishnu and Shiva most common of hundreds of
  deities.

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Key Terms

• Syncretism - the mixing of two or more religions
  that creates unique rituals, artwork, and
  beliefs.
• Examples include syncretism of Christianity and
  indigenous beliefs in the Americas, Africa, and
  Asia.
• Caribbean Voodoo (Haiti, Louisiana)
• Christianity in Indigenous Latin American

Voodoo Dolls, Haiti
Shrine, Bangalore, India
117
Syncretism - the mixing of two or more religions
that creates unique rituals, artwork, and beliefs.
118
Religious Conflict

• The Big Question Can secular society exist
  alongside traditional and fundamentalist
  religious sects and states?
• We are quick to notice fundamentalism abroad
  (i.e. Salman Rushdies death sentence by Shia
  clerics) and not so quick to recognize it at home
  (abortion clinic bombings Southern Baptist
  Conventions calls for women to submit to their
  husbands authority).
• American evangelical Christianity and Islamic
  fundamentalism are the two most influential
  fundamentalist movements in the world.
• Fewer and fewer states are governed by an
  official church.

119
Role of Religion

• How does it function in the society
• Who and what does it serve
• Can it be spread
• Does it promote the spread
• How does it impact change and stability in the
  society and in the world