Religion

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Religion

• Key Issues
• Where are religions distributed?
• Why do religions have different distributions?
• Why do religions organize space in distinctive
  patterns?
• Why do territorial conflicts arise among
  religious groups?

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• There has been more evil done in the name of god
  then ever good- Coach Mike Blackman Baptist
  Preacher

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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.
  These were the first people
• 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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Key Issue 1 Where are religions distributed?

• There are 2 types of religions
• Universalizing- religions that attempt to be
  global and appeal to all people.
• The 3 main universalizing religions are
• CHRISTIANITY- BUDDHISM-ISLAM
• The other two main universalizing religions other
  than the above three are
• Sikhism 24 million followers, 21 of which are
  clustered in the Punjab region of India.
• Baháí 7 million followers dispersed across the
  globe.

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• CHRISTIANITY- 2 billion followers in N. and S.
  America, Europe, Australia, and some Asian and
  African countries.
• 50 Roman Catholic,
• 25 Protestant,
• 10 Eastern Orthodox
• 15 miscellaneous.
• About 90 of the Western Hemisphere is Christian.
  
• 95 Roman Catholic in Latin American
• 50 Protestant in the U.S.

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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).
• (Apostle Paul)

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Christianity in the U.S.
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• ISLAM- 1.3 billion followers in Middle East,
  Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh.
• Core of beliefs is based on the 5 pillars of
  faith
• There is no god worthy of worship other than the
  one God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.
• A Muslim must pray 5 times daily facing the city
  of Mecca.
• A Muslim gives generously to charity, as an act
  of purification and growth.
• A Muslim fasts during the month of Ramadan, as an
  act of self-purification.
• If physically and financially able, a Muslim
  makes a pilgrimage to Mecca.
• The two main branches of Islam are Sunni (83)
  and Shiite (16).

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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)

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Prophet Muhammad
Holy Text Koran
Reading the Koran, Brunei

• 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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Hajj

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The 14x46 displays are located on I-26 at
mile-marker 125 and US 301N in Orangeburg
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• BUDDHISM- 365 million followers in China and S.E.
  Asia mainly.
• Based on the 4 Noble Truths
• All living beings must endure suffering.
• Suffering, which is caused by a desire to live,
  leads to reincarnation.
• The goal of all existence is to escape from
  suffering and the endless cycle of reincarnation
  into Nirvana (a state of complete redemption),
  which is achieved through mental and moral
  self-purification.
• Nirvana is attained through an Eightfold Path
  that stresses rightness of belief, resolve,
  speech, action, livelihood, effort, thought, and
  meditation.
• The branches of Buddhism are Mahayana (56),
  Theravada (38), and Tantrayana (6).

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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.
• Cool story on how this happens
• Spread originally in India and Sri Lanka by
  Magadhan Empire (250 BC).
• Widely accepted because of the Caste System
  practiced in India
• 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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Karma - your past bad or good actions determine
your progress toward Nirvana through
reincarnation. You are your own God.
Theravada - the older, more severe form which
requires the renouncing of all worldly goods and
desires. Buddha is a teacher Mahayana - focuses
on Buddhas teachings and compassion. Buddha is
a god

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• The second type religion
• Ethnic- religion that primarily appeals to one
  group of people living in one place. More
  closely tied to the physical geography of a
  particular region, especially with agriculture.

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Animism

• ANIMISM- traditional African religions that focus
  on the animate qualities of normally considered
  inanimate objects, like stones, water, etc.
• Animism is a sort of all-encompassing term
  rather than a specific religion

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are
but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the
web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound
together. All things connect. Chief Seattle
Bear Dance
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Hinduism

• HINDU- the worlds 3rd largest religion with 820
  million adherents. 97 live in India

• 900 million adherents, primarily in India (4th
  largest)
• Hinduism is an ancient term for the complex and
  diverse set of religious beliefs practiced around
  the Indus River.

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• The four sacred texts are ancient hymns called
  the Vedas, but few Hindus historically could
  read.
• Coastlines and river banks most sacred sites.
• Many, many festivals, often surrounding harvest
  or spring or the birth of Gods.

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Ganges River, Varanasi, India

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Brahman
In the Hindu religion, Brahman is the eternal,
unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent
reality which is the Divine Ground of all matter,
energy, time, space, and being.

• Brahman is the divine creator but is manifested
  in literally hundreds of gods, of which Brahma,
  Shiva, and Vishnu are most common.

The first principle of Indian thought, therefore,
is that the ultimate reality is beyond
description. It is something that can be
experienced only by bringing the mind to a stop
and once experienced, it cannot be described to
anyone in terms of the forms of this world.
- Joseph Campbell
Another important concept is that Hinduism
believes in the omnipresence of the Supreme God
in every individual. There is no "fall." Man is
not cut off from the divine. He requires only to
bring the spontaneous activity of his mind to a
state of stillness and he will experience that
divine principle within him.  - Joseph
Campbell
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• Hindu Beliefs and Practice

Reincarnation the soul is immortal but the body
endlessly cycles to higher or lower levels of
existence. Yoga the practices or tools used to
break from habits of past lives. Includes various
meditations and physical practices.

• The Purusharthas or The Four Aims of Human Life
• Dharma (righteousness)
• Artha (wealth)
• Kama (desire)
• Moksha (salvation or liberation) release from
  the endless cycles.

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The Trinity of Brahman
Brahma (The Creator) - depicted with four
faces each continually reciting one of the
Vedas. The force of creation and birth. Shiva
(The Destroyer) - Shakti or power the
dissolving force in life centrifugal force
entropy. Vishnu (The Preserver) - peace
balance Sustainer of life.
A hint of monotheism- How does Christianity stack
up?
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Judaism

• JUDAISM- 6 million followers in U.S., 4 million
  in Israel, 2 million in Russia, 2 million
  elsewhere. First religion to support monotheism-
  the belief in only 1 god, as opposed to
  polytheism- the belief in many gods.
• 14 million adherents
• Monotheistic
• Pentateuch
• First five books of the Old Testament
• Sects
• Orthodox, Conservative, Reform
• Israel
• Homeland for Jewish people
• Created 1948
• Conflict between Israel and Palestine

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The Geography of Religion
Ethnic Religions versus Universalizing
Religions (proselytic) Polytheism versus
Monotheism
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Other Religions

• Eastern Religions
• Confucianism (China)
• Taoism (China)
• Shinto (Japan)
• CONFUCIANISM- mainly in China, stresses ethical
  lifestyles More of a philosophy then a religion
• TAOISM- mainly in China also, followers seek the
  dao (tao) meaning the way or path.
• SHINTO- mainly in Japan, before WWII was the
  state religion and emperor was regarded as
  divine.

14th Century Chinese painting depicting Lao-tze
and Confucius protecting Sakayumi, the future
Buddha.
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• Branch- a large fundamental division within a
  religion.
• Denomination- a division of a branch that unites
  a number of local congregations in a single legal
  and administrative body.
• Sect- a relatively small group that has broken
  away from an established denomination.
• Pilgrimage- a sacred religious journey.

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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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• Which type religion has more bearing on the
  global landscape?
• How does ethnic religions try and hold their
  identity

• Give three examples of positive influences and
  three negative
• How is this either unsuccessful or successful in
  todays culture

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Key Issue 2 Why do religions have different
distributions?

• As a general rule, universalizing religions have
  origins based on a specific individuals life in
  the past, ethnic religions typically have either
  no origin or an unclear one at best.
• Some religious origins
• Christianity- based on the life of Jesus
• Islam-trace lineage back through Abrahams other
  son Ishmael based on the life of Muhammad, the
  Prophet of Islam.
• Buddhism- based on the life of Siddhartha
  Gautama, who later became Buddha (the enlightened
  one)
• Sikhism- founded by Guru Nanak about 500 years
  ago.
• Hindu- did not originate with a specific
  founder. Beginnings of Hindu date back to before
  recorded history. It is the oldest living
  religion

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• Missionaries- individuals who help to transmit a
  universalizing religion through relocation
  diffusion.
• Pagan- followers of polytheistic religions in
  ancient times.
• Ghetto- city slum designated for Jew habitation.
• Cosmogony- creation story.
• Solstice- day when sun is at highest or lowest
  point in the sky.

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• Diffusion of Religions
• Christianity spread mainly through the work of
  missionaries, and also by some conquest and
  colonization.
• Islam spread mainly through conquest.
• Buddhism spread mainly through missionaries and
  trade merchants.
• Buddhism and Islam are the universalizing
  religions that place the most emphasis on
  identifying shrines/holy places.
• In universalizing religions, the holy places are
  generally locations at which memorable events
  happened in the founders life
• Mecca is in Islam because it is Muhammads
  birthplace.
• Holy places in ethnic religions are often
  physical features that are closely tied to the
  religion.
• Hindu one of the most important rituals is the
  bathing of oneself in the Ganges River.

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Diffusion of Christianity

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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.
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Diffusion of Buddhism
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• Ethnic religions rarely diffuse, and when they
  do, it is to a small extent.
• universalizing religions diffuse mainly at the
  expense of the smaller ethnic religions, and
  often a semi-hybrid religion will result with
  concepts from both the ethnic religion and the
  universalizing religion intertwined.
• Judaism is an exception in that it has diffused
  widely throughout the years, mainly because its
  people have had to flee persecution from many
  areas in the world.

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• Cosmogony and calendars also differ betwixt
  universalizing religions and ethnic religions.
• Ethnic religious creation stories tend to deal
  with the physical environment and natural events
• Ethnic religions typically organize their
  calendars around the seasons, other natural
  events, or the physical geography.
• universalizing religion stories often attempt to
  explain the mystical.
• Universalizing religions main purpose in
  calendars is to commemorate events in the
  founders life, thus the seasons or weather are
  not central to the structure.

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• 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
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Syncretism - the mixing of two or more religions
that creates unique rituals, artwork, and beliefs.
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Key Issue 3 Why do religions organize space in
distinctive patterns?

• The distribution of religious elements on the
  landscape reflects the importance of religion in
  peoples values.
• In Christianity, the landscape is dominated by a
  high density of churches. They are critical
  because of the emphasis placed on regularly
  attending worship.
• In Islam, mosques are the places for general
  assembly. They are not viewed as a sanctified
  place but rather a convening point for the
  community. A mosque normally has a central
  courtyard surrounded by classrooms.
• In Hinduism, temples are built within the home or
  individual community. They have a central room
  to house a spirit, with rooms for rituals, and
  outer purifying pools. In both Buddhism and
  Shinto, pagodas are the common architecture.
  They are typically built to enshrine sacred
  religious artifacts.
• In Baháí, the church officials decided to open
  seven Houses of Worship on multiple continents to
  stress the universality of their religion.

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Religion and Environment

• Burial practices
• Judeo-Christians bury.
• Hindus and Buddhists cremate.
• Relationship with nature
• Sacred Spaces
• Sacred architecture
• Role of religion in domination of earth?

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• The disposing of the dead differs from religion
  to religion. Some prefer to bury while others
  choose to cremate.
• Religion often influences the place-names of
  certain regions.
• Ex. The vast amount of places named for saints
  in predominantly Roman Catholic Quebec.
• Hierarchical religion- well-defined geographic
  structure with a high degree of organization.
• Ex. The Roman Catholic Church
• Diocese- the basic geographic unit of the R.C.C.
• Autonomous religions- self-sufficient religions
  with little organization.
• Ex. Islam prefers to unify by faith rather than
  specific boundaries.
• Most ethnic religions are autonomous. Protestant
  faiths vary.

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Key Issue 4 Why do territorial conflicts arise
among religious groups?

• RELIGION IS ARGUABLY THE MOST VOLITALE OF ALL
  HUMAN RELATIONS AND THE SOURCE OF MOST VIOLENCE
  THROUGHOUT HISTORY.
• Fundamentalism- the literal interpretation and
  strict intense adherence to ones religious
  principles.
• Fundamentalists try to return society to its
  religious ways. The most obvious example is the
  Taliban in Afghanistan.
• Caste- the class or distinct hereditary order
  into which a Hindu was assigned according to
  religious law.

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• Religion is nearly always suppressed in communist
  countries.
• Leaders believe that religion has a tendency to
  upset stability and therefore ban it altogether,
  though often they just concrete the peoples
  religious adherence instead of destroying it.
• Other times, when people of different religions
  live in close proximity to one another, engage in
  contact often, or share interests in a particular
  location, especially violent interaction will
  occur.
• Ex. The Middle East. Jews, Christians, and
  Muslims have fought for over 2,000 years to
  control the same small strip of land in the East
  Mediterranean.
• Historically the Crusades between Christians and
  Muslims played out as each fought to control the
  Holy Lands.
• Hostilities continue in the modern era over these
  same lands.

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Social Impact of Religion

• Gender roles
• Womens rights
• Diet
• Vegetarians
• Pork, beef
• Alcohol
• Ethics and morals
• Schools and institutions

World Distribution of Hogs
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Economic Impact

• Banking and lending- Biblical prohibition
  against usury (lending at interest). Still
  followed in Muslim world (only fees are charged).
• Protestantism and capitalism Max Weber and the
  Protestant Ethic argues that individualism of
  Protestantism leads to acquisitiveness.
• Catholic Church and capitalism Pope John Paul
  II praised free markets but with the caution that
  they cannot meet all needs and salaries must be
  just.
• Confucianism versus individualism- Confucius
  elevated the status of noble bureaucrats and
  commitment to societal good. This allows Asian
  nations to attract top talent to government jobs.
  Also, diligence with regard to savings and
  spending may be a consequence of Confucian ideas.

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• The controversy in Ireland occurred when
  predominantly Catholic South Ireland wished to
  secede from predominantly Protestant Great
  Britain.
• However, the northernmost six counties of
  Ireland are overwhelmingly Protestant and wished
  to remain part of the U.K.
• When the split occurred a small number of Roman
  Catholics in both N. Ireland and the Republic of
  Ireland joined the Irish Republican Army (IRA), a
  militant organization devoted to achieving Irish
  unity by whatever means necessary.
• A Protestant organization has formed in return.
• Violence continues as extremists from both
  sides disrupt the lives of peaceful civilians.
• Bloody Sunday U2

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• Secularization - a process that is leading to
  increasingly large groups of people who claim no
  allegiance to any church.
• Some of these people are atheists. Others simply
  do not practice. Still others call themselves
  spiritual, but not religious.
• Common in Europe and the cities of the U.S.
• Common in former Soviet Union and China.

• Fundamentalism - a process that is leading to
  increasingly large groups of people who claim
  there is only one way to interpret worship.
• Fundamentalists generally envision a return to a
  more perfect religion and ethics they imagine
  existed in the past.
• Common in the U.S. and in some Islamic nations.

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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.

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• Rubenstein, James- Cultural Landscape An
  Introduction to Human Geography
• http//www.glendale.edu/geo/reed/cultural/cultural
  _lectures.htm
• http//www.quia.com/pages/mrsbellaphg.html
• Google