Download Religions - AP Human Geography

Religions
Ch. 6 – AP Human Geography
Religion Overview
Classifications of Religions
• Monotheistic – belief in one deity
• Polytheistic – belief in many deities
• Animistic – objects (trees, mountains, rivers) have spirits
• Atheistic – belief that there is no deity
• Cultural Religions – limited to the national culture of a single
region – Shinto, Daoism, etc.
• Abrahamic Faiths – faiths with a historical association with
Abraham, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Key Characteristics of Religion
• Set of doctrines or beliefs relating to a god or gods
• Structure or hierarchy of officials
• Rituals for birth, death, reaching adulthood, marriage, prayer,
routine services on a Fri, Sat, or Sun
• Religions are often syncretic
• Religions may also provide an explanation of the beginning of
the world, or cosmogony
Impact of Religion
• Can affect calendars, holidays, agriculture, toponyms, slogans
on coins or flags, etc.
• Potential positive impacts – education, medicine or health
care, the arts, etc.
• Potential negative impacts – blocked scientific study,
oppression, supported imperialism, can keep women inferior
Universalizing Religions
Universalizing Religions
• Religions that actively seek converts because members
believe they offer belief systems of universal appropriateness
and appeal
• Ex: Christianity
• Global in nature
Universalizing Religions
• Main religions include Christianity, Muslim, and Buddhism
• Branches – a large and fundamental division within a
religion
• Denomination – a division of a branch that unites a number
of local congregations into a single administrative body
• Sect – can mean a small group that broke away from a bigger
group or a religious denomination
Ethnic Religions
Ethnic Religions
• Religions whose adherents are born into the faith and whose
members do not actively seek converts
• Ex: Hinduism
• Local in nature
Ethnic Religions
• Main: Hinduism – 900 million people
• Others
• Judaism
• Chinese Traditional (Taoism, Confucianism)
• Asian and African Primal Indigenous (Shamanism)
• Juchte
• Spiritism
Religious Hearths,
Diffusion, and Distribution
Religions of the Semitic Hearth
• Christianity and Judaism share similar hearths around Eastern
Mediterranean and present-day Israel
• Islam originated in present-day Saudi Arabia and spread through
hierarchical and relocation diffusion
Where Religions are Distributed
• Christianity
• 2 billion adherents, more than any other religion
• 90% of the people in N. America are Christians
• 93% of Latin America is Catholic (29% in N. America)
• Baptists are the largest protestant group in the US
• Smaller branches of Christianity include:
• Coptic Church of Egypt and the Ethiopian Church
• Armenian Church
• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Where Religions are Distributed
• Christianity
• Originated with teachings of Jesus and the four gospels of
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
• Catholicism is headed by the Pope
• Eastern Orthodox split from Roman Catholics in 1054
• Protestantism came after the Reformation (first headed by
Martin Luther and later others)
Where Religions are Distributed
• Islam
• 1.3 billion people on Earth
• Sunni – 83% of Muslims
• Shiite is the other sect
• 5% of Europe’s population are Muslims
• 5 million Muslims in the US and Canada
Where Religions are Distributed
• Islam
• Origin begins similarly to Judeo-Christian traditions
• Line follows Abraham’s other son
• Muhammad was considered a prophet of God
• Split between Shiites and Sunnis come from a disagreement
over the line of succession in Islamic leadership
Where Religions are Distributed
• Buddhism
• 400 million
adherents around
the world
• Branches include
Mahayana,
Theravada, and
Tantrayana
Where Religions are Distributed
• Buddhism
• Began with Siddhartha Gautama in 563 BCE
• Siddhartha became the “Buddha” and spent 45 years
preaching
• Sikhism
• Founded by Guru Nanak about 500 years ago
• Baha’i
• Established in Iran in the 19th century
Where Religions are Distributed
• Hinduism
• Third largest religion in
world
• India
Where Religions are Distributed
• Hinduism
• No known founder
• Existed prior to recorded history
• Earliest documents were written around 1500 BCE
Diffusion of Universalizing Religions
• Christianity
• Relocation Diffusion: Missionaries
• Contagious Diffusion: Holy Roman Empire
• Hierarchical Diffusion: Emperor Constantine
• Expansion Diffusion: Europeans moving
Diffusion of Universalizing Religions
• Islam
• Expansion Diffusion: Conquering armies
• Relocation Diffusion: Missionaries
• Contagious Diffusion: Traders to Indonesia
• Buddhism
• Hierarchical Diffusion: Asoka
• Relocation Diffusion: Missionaries
• Contagious Diffusion: Traders to China, then to Korea, then to
Japan
Diffusion of Ethnic Religions
• Lack of Diffusion of Ethnic Religions
• No missionaries to carry the message
• However, some ethnic and universalizing religions have mingled
over time
• Judaism
• Practiced in many places
• Diaspora by the Romans
• Migration to Europe
• Ghettos
• WWII
Religion, Society, and
Globalization
Holy Places in Universalizing Religions
• Buddhist Shrines
• Lumbini in Southern Nepal, Bodh Gaya, Deer Park in Sarnath,
Kusinagara, Sravasti, Samkasya, Rajagrha, Vaisali
• Holy places in Islam
• Mecca home to Al—Ka’ba, the Great Mosque
• Medina home to Muhammad’s tomb
• Holy places in Sikhism
• Darbar Sahib – the Golden Temple
Holy Places in Ethnic Religions
• Hinduism
• Riverbanks and
coastlines
• The Ganges River
Sacred Space
• Pilgrimages – journey to a sacred place or site
• Community, Identity, and Scale – religion can provide both a basis for
community and identity
• Ex. Muslim community can be expressed at global or local scales
• Religion and Settlement
• Diasporas (especially among Jewish)
• Migration to escape persecution (Mormons movement to Utah)
• Places can become sacred through a process of sanctification
Religious Law and Social Space
• Christianity
• In US, typically a separation between church and state
• Some states have Sunday-closing laws or blue laws (where sale of
nonessential merchandise is prohibited)
• Judaism
• Sabbath (Friday to Saturday evening)
• Jewish law, halacah, and Kosher dietary principles derived from the
Torah
• Islam
• Sharia – Islamic law derived from the Qur’an
Religious Conflicts
Tradition and Change
• Modernism refers to increased scientific thought, expansion
of knowledge, and belief in progress
• Secularization reduces the scope or influence of religion
• This can cause a lot of conflicts!
Religion vs. Gov’t Policies
• Fundamentalism is a literal interpretation and strict
adherence to basic principles of a religion
• Fundamentalism allows a group to maintain a cultural
identity
• Many religious groups oppose gov’t policies that would affect
social change
Religion vs. Social Change
• Taliban vs. Western Values
• Taliban in Afghanistan spread very strict laws as they saw
them in the Qur’an
• Taliban banned all “Western activities” and destroyed
Buddhist statues
• Hinduism vs. Social Equality
• Caste system conflicts with idea of social mobility
Religion vs. Communism
• Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Islam vs. the Soviet Union
(USSR)
• Bolshevik Revolution and creation of the USSR brought
conflict
• End of USSR brought a resurgence in religion
• Buddhism vs. Southeast Asian Countries
• Destruction of shrines
• Self-immolation in protest
Religion vs. Religion
• Religious Wars in Ireland
• N. Ireland
• Protestants v. Roman
Catholics
• IRA
• Ulster Defense Force
Religion vs. Religion
• Religious Wars in the Middle East
• Christians, Muslims, and Jews all value the “Holy Land”
and Jerusalem
• Crusades between Christians and Muslims
• Arab army invaded Europe as far as France
• Arabs controlled Spain until 1492
• Crusades to take Jerusalem started in 1099
Religion vs. Religion
• Jews vs. Muslims
in Palestine
• Started in the
1930s
• Israel and
Palestine has
conflict over
holy land