Download Chapter 6 - Northside Middle School

Chapter 6: Religion
The Cultural Landscape:
An Introduction to Human Geography
Religion
• A set of beliefs
– existence of a higher power, spirits or god
– an explanation of the origins and purpose
of humans and their role on earth
– Which involves rituals, festivals, rites of
passage and space (religious landscapes)
The Geography of Religion
Ethnic Religions
Universalizing Religions(proselytic)
Polytheism
Monotheism
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
Key Terms
• Monotheism: existence of only one god.
• Polytheism: existence of many gods.
• Cosmogony: A set of religious beliefs
concerning the origin of the universe.
Religious Divisions
• Branch: A large and fundamental
division within a religion.
• Denomination: A division within a
branch of a religion.
• Sect: A relatively small denominational
group that has broken away from an
established church.
How do Universalizing and
Ethnic Religions Differ?
Universalizing
Ethnic
•Appeal to people everywhere •Has meaning in particular place
•Individual founder (prophet) only.
•Message diffused widely
(missionaries)
•Content focused on place and
landscape of origin.
•Followers distributed widely.
•Followers highly clustered.
•Holidays based on events in
founder’s life.
•Holidays based on local climate
and agricultural practice.
• Judaism excepted
World Distribution of Religions
Figure 6-3
Distribution of Christians in the
United States
Figure 6-2
Ethnic Religions
Buddhism
Hinduism
Figure 6-5
Figure 6-4
Religions of the United States
KEY ISSUE 2
Why Do Religions Have Different
Distributions?
• Origin of religions
– Universalizing: precise origins, tied to a
specific founder
• Christianity
– Founder: Jesus
– Location: Palestine
• Islam
– Prophet of Islam: Muhammad
– Location: Saudi Arabia
• Buddhism
– Founder: Siddhartha Gautama
– Locatio: Nepal/India
Why Do Religions Have Different
Distributions?
• Origin of religions
– Ethnic: unclear or unknown origins, not tied
to a specific founder
• Hinduism
– No clear founder
– Earliest use of Hinduism = sixth century B.C.
– Archaeological evidence dating from 2500 B.C.
Diffusion of Universalizing Religions
• Christianity
– Diffuses through relocation and expansion
diffusion
• Hierarchical and contagious [expansion]
– Initial diffusion is relocation diffusion through
missionaries
• Sea trade, Roman Roads
• Paul of Tarsus responsible for a lot of this
– Widespread, major diffusion through contagious
diffusion
• People come into direct contact with the
believers/disciples
Diffusion of Universalizing Religions
• Christianity
– After Rome recognizes Christianity as the official
religion, Hierarchical diffusion takes over
• Roman Emperor converts and demands everyone else
convert
– Relocation diffusion through missionaries and
Colonialism [remember chapter 8?] spread
Christianity world-wide after the 1500’s
– Where migrants originate from [their home country]
greatly determines the modern-day version of
Christianity that is found around the World
• US Cities: Catholicism [Ireland, E. Europe]
• Latin America: Spain/Portuguese colonization
Distribution of Christians in the USA
• South –
– Mainly Baptist
• North, West
– Mainly Catholic
• Midwestern/central USA
– Methodist, Lutheran
• Utah, Idaho, parts Arizona
– Mormon/Latter Day Saints
Diffusion of Universalizing Religions
• Islam
– Spread from Arabia (Saudi Arabia) to Asia,
Africa, Europe
– Spread through conquest [relocation] to
most of Middle East/Africa
– Missionaries and trade to Asia
[relocation/contagious]
– Direct contact with believers [contagious]
Diffusion of Universalizing Religions
• Buddhism
– Does not diffuse rapidly
– Main method of diffusion through the Magadhan
Empire [270’s – 230’s BCE]
– Hierarchical diffusion through conversion of
emperor
– Relocation/contagious diffusion through
missionaries
• Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Tibet all experienced
– Trade with China, Korea, Japan spreads further
Diffusion of Universalizing Religions
Figure 6-6
Critical Thinking
• What do all three universalizing religions
have in common regarding expansion
• What is unique about Buddhist expansion
compared to Islam? Christianity?
• What is similar about Buddhist and Christian
expansion?
• Do all three have hierarchical expansion?
Contagious?
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Why Do Religions Have Different
Distributions?
• Limited diffusion of ethnic religions
– Various reasons exist for ethnic religion not
diffusing:
1. They often compete with larger universalizing
religions
2. They usually do not have missionaries
3. They are usually fixed to a geographic area
– The religion is tied to that area only
– The goal of ethnic religions is not conversion,
opposite of universal religions
Why Do Religions Have Different
Distributions?
• The combining of religion:
• Christianity with African ethnic religions
– Created distinct versions of Christianity
• Buddhism with Confucianism in China
• Buddhism with Shinto in Japan
– Shintoism took on many of the ‘gods’ of buddhism
• Ethnic religions can diffuse with migration
• Only applies to voluntary migration, not forced
• Only applies when migrating to an area with freedom
to practice religion
The Jewish Exception
• Judaism is practiced almost everywhere due to
the diaspora of Jews since the 70’s CE
• Creation of Israel in 1948 [nation-state] have the jews
been back in their original hearth
• Most Jews lived in Eastern Europe and Southern Europe
– Jews have often been persecuted throughout
history [through association with crucifixion]
– Were forced to live in ghettos, or area where Jews
only were to live by law.
– Many Jews killed during 30’s-40’s during holocaust
• Most Jews live in USA or Israel
Holy Places
• Universal and Ethnic religions are different on
what is considered holy:
1. Ethnic is less widespread, many holy places are
a part of the physical environment [mt. Sinai in
Judaism]
2. Universal religions usually make/call holy places
associated with the life of the founder,
[Jerusalem with Christians and Muslims]
1. Holy places not related to environment
• People often make religious journeys,
pilgrimages, to these places
Holy Places
• Holy places
– In universalizing religions
• Buddhist shrines
– Where sermons preached, reached wisdom, attained
nirvana
• Holy places in Islam = associated with the life
of Muhammad
– Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem [in order]
• Christianity
– In ethnic religions
• Holy places in Hinduism = closely tied to the
physical geography of India
Cosmogony of Religion
• The Abrahamic religions:
– Jewish and Christian both believe the
same thing
• Six days, 7th day of rest, all origins of Universe
created
• Debate on whether it is literal or figurative,
given the large amount of evidence against six
literal days
• Christians believe we are to “finish” creation by
living our life off the Earth.
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Cosmogony of Religion
• Islam
– Differences
• Six days /= six literal days, but “periods” of time
• 7th day Allah does not “rest” because he is not able to
be tired, but merely overseas
• Creation is not over, but always ongoing
• Islam does not discount evolution, because it believes
Allah is behind everything, so what/how it happens is
irrelevant because HE did it/is doing it
• Muslims believe humans represent God on Earth
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Cosmogony of Religion
• All believe that using the earth’s
resources is part of being religious
• This is because the “creation” is a gift
from God/Allah/YAWH
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Cosmogony of Religion
• Confucianism, Daoism
– Two forces, yin and yang, makeup the world
– Yin is typically passive, evil, women, death
– Yang is light, heaven, good
– Yin/Yang try to balance each other
• Disorder and chaos are because of unbalancing
• Other Ethnic religions:
– Most believe we are not to totally transform the
world to our needs; we should attempt harmony
– Only a few people have the ability/right to
harness the power
of the Earth [resources]
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Diffusion of Universalizing Religions
Figure 6-17
Why Do Religions Have Different
Distributions?
• The calendar
– In ethnic religions = celebration of the
seasons
• The Jewish calendar
• The solstice
– In universalizing religions = celebration of
the founder’s life
Why Do Religions Organize Space in
Distinctive Ways?
• Places of worship
– Many types:
Christian churches,
Muslim mosques,
Hindu temples,
Buddhist and Shinto
pagodas, Bahá’í
houses of worship
Figure 6-19
Why Do Religions Organize Space in
Distinctive Ways?
• Sacred space
– Disposing of the dead
• Burial
• Other ways of disposing of the dead
– Religious settlements
– Religious place names
Religious Toponyms
Figure 6-21
Why Do Religions Organize Space in
Distinctive Ways?
• Administration of space
– Hierarchical religions
• Latter-day Saints
• Roman Catholics
– Locally autonomous religions
• Islam
• Protestant denominations
Roman Catholic Hierarchy in the
United States
Figure 6-22
Why Do Territorial Conflicts Arise?
• Religions versus government policies
– Religion versus social change
• Taliban and Western values
• Hinduism and social inequality
– Caste system
– Religion versus communism
• Eastern Orthodoxy and Islam in the Soviet
Union
• Buddhism in Southeast Asia
Why Do Territorial Conflicts Arise?
• Religion versus religion
– Fundamentalism
– Religious wars in Ireland
– Religious wars in the Middle East
• Crusades (Christians in Muslim lands)
• Jews and Muslims in Palestine
Distribution of Protestants in Ireland
Figure 6-23
Two Perspectives on Palestine/Israel
Figure 6-26
Israel’s “Separation Fence”
Figure 6-27
The End.
Up next: Ethnicity