Download Religions - Doral Academy Preparatory

A. What is the purpose of
religion?

 Religions are value systems
 Involve formal or informal worship
 Faith in the sacred/divine
 Religions teach followers proper ethical
behavior

B. STATE RELIGIONS

Roman Catholicism
Protestantism (incl. Anglicanism)
Sunni Islam
Buddhism
Islam
Eastern Orthodoxy
Shia Islam
Conflicts along Religious Borders

Interfaith Boundaries
 Boundaries between the world’s major faiths.
Intrafaith Boundaries
 Boundaries within a single major faith.
Interfaith Boundary in Africa


Israel and
Palestine
C. SACRED SITES

 Lakes
 Trees
 Caves
 Rivers
 Ganges
 Jordan
 Mountains
 Ararat
 Fuji
 Sinai
Sacred Sites and
Pilgrimage

1. Jerusalem is sacred to 3 religions:
Judaism (Western Wall)
Christianity (Church of the Holy Sepulchre)
Islam (Dome of the Rock)

D. CLASSIFICATION:

 Monotheism:
 Christianity
 Islam
 Judaism
 Polytheism:
 Hinduism
 Japanese Shinto
1. Universalizing Religions:
 Proselytizing/conversion
 Christianity
 Islam
 Buddhism
2. “Ethnic” Religions:
 Territorial/cultural identification
 Judaism
 Hinduism
 Japanese Shinto
3. “Tribal” Religions (shamanism & animism)
Religions of the World
Where are universalizing religions located?
Where are ethnic religions located?
SECULARISM

 an indifference to or rejection of religion
 Agnostic: Not sure
 Atheist: Sure there isn’t!
Government Impact on Religion
The Soviet Union:
-
Had an official
policy of atheism
Discouraged
religious practice
Drew boundaries
for political
control that
separated ethnic
groups in small
areas

E. DISPOSAL OF THE
DEAD

 Burial:
Christians, Jews, Muslims
 Cremation:
Hinduism, Buddhism
HINDUISM

 Oldest major world religion
(over 4,000 years old)
 Religion +
 Philosophical/social/economic
/artistic elements
 Caste system
 Dharma: Law and duty
 Ahimsa: do not harm a living
being
 Goal is union with Brahman,
the universal soul
BUDDHISM

 Started as a Hindu reform
movement (2,600 years old)
 Rejects the caste system
 Founded by Prince Siddhartha Gautama
 “Buddha” means enlightened one
 About 300-400 million followers (India,
China, Japan, Tibet, Nepal, S.E. Asia)
 Goal: Nirvana, and end to samsara
(cycle of death and rebirth)
Mahayana: Buddha is divine, emphasis on meditation
Theravada: Salvation through four noble truths, portion of life as a monk/nun
• There’s suffering, it comes from desire, you can end it, through the eightfold path
Vajrayana: Dalai Lama as reincarnated Buddha
JUDAISM
 Judaism was founded about 4,000 years ago (Abraham)
 over 20 million followers
 Ethical Teachings: Torah and Talmud (basis for all codes for Jewish
law)
 word of god (Yahweh) said to be revealed in the Torah (Old
Testament of the Bible)
 Sephardim (20%)
 Iberian Peninsula – expelled 15th c.
 ties to North Africa & Babylonian Jews
 Ashkenazim (80%)
 W. & C. Europe (Poland, Lithuania, Russia)
 most Jewish migrants to U.S.
 Jesus
 was Jewish
CHRISTIANITY

 spread through the Roman Empire by
hierarchical and contagious diffusion, then to
the Americas through relocation diffusion.
 Ethical system: Ten Commandments
 over 1 billion Christians worldwide (most are
Roman Catholic)
 denominations: Greek Orthodox, Russian
Orthodox, Protestants, Baptists, Jehovah’s
Witnesses, Methodists, Born Again, Mormons
Mormonism

 Founded by Joseph Smith in 1820
 Forced migrations throughout the US
 Book of Mormon as literal account
 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
 Nontrinitarian (Father, Son, Holy Ghost are all separate
beings)
 Ordinances (includes baptism after death)
 No alcohol/coffee/tea/tobacco
 Missionary service
 Polygamy (formally banned)
ISLAM

 Islam: submission to the will of Allah
 over 1 billion followers
 World’s fastest growing religion
 the prophet Mohammed said to receive the holy book of the
Q’uran from Allah (god) in about A.D. 610
 Shahadah: declaring there is no god except God, Muhammad is
God's Messenger
 Salat: ritual prayer five times a day
 Zakat: giving 2.5% of one’s savings to the poor and needy
 Sawm: fasting and self-control during the holy month of Ramadan
 Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime if one is able
Islam: Sunnis and Shiites

 Born of schism over Muhammad’s succession
 Sunni: 75-80% of adherents
 Mahdi: Muhammad’s successor yet to come
 Shia: 11-12% of adherents
 Mahdi: Already came but is hidden until judgment day
 Separate literature (hadith-traditions)

CONFUCIANISM:

Kung Fu-tzu
 Compiler of traditional wisdom
 A scholar who loves comfort is not
worthy of the name.
No Churches or Clergy
Ancestor Worship
Basis for imperial Chinese
social control
TAOISM:
First taught by Lao-tsu
in 6th c. B.C.
Tao – “The Way”
 happiness lies in nature
 religion and philosophy
 Nonaction, effortless action
JAPANESE SHINTO:

 traditional religion of
Japan
 worship of nature &
ancestors
 Shinto – “The Way of
the Gods”
 Spirits (kamis)—
family, rivers, trees,
animals, mountains,
sun, moon
 Torii – ceremonial
gateway arches

 http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/history-of-religion.html