Download belief

RELIGION
Camila Restrepo and Sam Osorio
What is religion?
• A belief system and a set of practices that
recognizes the existence of a higher power
• Helps people make sense of what their place
is in the world
• Most complex and controversial aspects of
human condition
• Core component of culture
• Root of conflict
Different types
• Universalizing (Proselytic)
– Seeks new members and tries to convert many
• Ethnic
– Identifies with a specific ethnic or tribal groups, doesn’t seek converts and has no
missionaries
– One place or one ethnicity
• Syncretism
– A combination of two or more belief systems (hybrid)
– Common in areas of colonization where Christianity blended with indigenous
beliefs
• Orthodox
– Emphasizes purity of the faith
– Each religion has an Orthodox branch
• Polytheistic
– Belief in more than one god or goddess
• Monotheistic
– Belief in one god or goddess
• Animistic
– Belief that inanimate objects (mountains, boulders, rivers, trees) have spirits
Religion Families
• African
• Abrahamic
– Christianity
– Islam
– Judaism
• Indian
– Hindu
– Buddhism
– Sikhism
Must
know!
– Primal indigenous
– African traditional
– African Diasporic
• Far East
– Taoism
– Confucianism
– Shinto
What is fundamentalism?
• Intolerance of other religions
– Movements in Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism,
Islam
– Wants to return to founding principles, or the
literal interpretations of the text
– Leads to violence!
– Connected to Orthodox branches
Universalizing Religions
•
•
•
•
•
Christianity
Islam
Buddhism
Sikhism
Baha'i
People that
practice a
religion are
known as
adherents not
followers
Christianity
Founder
Jesus of Nazareth, 30 CE
Origin
Palestine (Jerusalem) now Israel
Doctrine
10 Commandments
Diffusion
1. Relocation
2. Contagious
3. Hierarchical
Branches
1. Roman Catholic
2. Protestant
3. Eastern Orthodox
Holy Book
Bible
Holy Places
Churches, Jerusalem
Landscape Impact
1. Churches
2. Cemeteries
3. Administration
1.
2.
3.
Paul, Mary, disciples,
early missionaries
Spread to a couple of
people
From the Roman
Empire to the people
Christianity (con’t)
• Branches
– 1. Roman Catholic
• SW/East Europe, NE/SW North
America and all of South
America
• Sacraments: Eucharist…body
and blood of Christ (go
through pope)
– 2. Protestant
• NW Europe, highly clustered in
North America
• Individuals can directly
communicate with God
(Martin Luther, Reformation)
•Landscape Impact
–Churches
•RC: more elaborate and cathedrals
•Protestant: plain
•Orthodox: cathedrals with domes,
Byzantine style
–Cemeteries
•Bury the dead
•Not everyone is buried the same
way, hierarchy
–Administration
•RC: hierarchical
– 3. Eastern Orthodox
• SE Europe, Middle East
• Ruled by Patriarchs from each
region
• Split from RC teachings
Pope
Archbishops
Bishops
Priests
Islam
Founder
Muhammad, 622 CE
Origin
Arabian Peninsula, Mid-East, now Saudi
Arabia
Doctrine
5 Pillars of Islam
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Allah one true God
Pray 5x a day facing Mecca
Charity work
Fast (Ramadan)
Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca
Diffusion
1. Contagious
2. Relocation
Branches
1. Sunni
2. Shiite
Holy Book
Quran
Holy Places
1. Mecca
2. Medina
3. Jerusalem
Landscape Impact
1.
2.
3.
4.
Mosques
Administration
Calendar
Art
World’s
fastest
growing
religion
1.
Military
conquest
2. Missionaries
Islam (con’t)
• Branches
• Landscape Impact
• 1. Sunni
• Mosques
• “people following the
• Minaret tower: call to
example of Muhammad”
• Succession: from the
prayer
community
• Cemeteries: bury the dead
• 2. Shiite
• Administration
• “sectarian”
• Succession: from the family
• Local autonomy, no formal
line of Muhammad
hierarchies
• Holy Places
• 1. Mecca: birthplace of
• Calendar
Muhammad
• Holy month of Ramadan
• 2. Medina: Muhammad’s tomb
• Art
• 3. Jerusalem: Muhammad’s
ascension to heaven
• Calligraphy
Buddhism
Founder
Siddhartha Gautama, 563 BCE
Origin
India/Nepal
Doctrine
Four Noble Truths
Eight fold path
Diffusion
No rapid diffusion
Brought to China by trade routes
Branches
1. Mahayana
2. Theravada
3. Tibetan
Holy Book
None
Holy Places
Shrines
• 8 sacred sites
Landscape Impact
1. Pagodas: relic of Buddha
2. Calendar
• Holidays of Buddha’s birth,
enlightenment and death
1.
Mahayana 56%,
less demanding,
more
encompassing
2. Theravada 38%,
oldest branch, full
time occupation as
monks
3. Tibetan 6%
Other Universalizing Religions
• Baha’i
– Grew out of Babi faith
– Founder: Siyyd ‘Ali
Muhammad
– Doctrine: Believe that one of
Bab’s disciples was a prophet
of God
– Function: overcome disunity in
religions and establish a
universal faith
– Temple on every continent
– Calendar 19 months with 19
days, 4 “extra”
– Diffusion: Adherents
persecuted and exiled to Iraq
• Sikhism
− Founded in late 15th century
− Follows teachings of Guru
Nanak
− Monotheistic
− Blend of Hinduism and Islam
practices and beliefs
− Diffused outward from
Pakistan
− High concentration in Punjab
region of India
− Holy site: Golden Temple
− Holy book: Guru Granth
Sahid
Ethnic Religions
•
•
•
•
Hinduism
Judaism
East Asian: Taoism, Confucianism, Shintoism
Shamanism
Hinduism
•
•
•
•
•
Largest ethnic religion
Localized in India and Nepal
Polytheistic
No single founder
Different paths to reach God:
–
–
–
–
Path of knowledge
Path of renunciation
Path of devotion
Path of action
•
•
•
•
Law of karma
Dharma: duty in life
Reincarnation
Supreme being who has
unlimited forms
− Brahman
• Vedas, only written source
• No central authority or holy book,
for understanding religious
no specific founder, no agreement
life in ancient India
on origins
• See the divine in everything and
tolerant of other religions
• You are responsible for your own
actions and you alone suffer the
consequences
Hinduism (con’t)
• Holy places organized into a
hierarchy
• Geography of India: rivers,
mountains
• Temples: home to one or
more gods, not for
congregational worship
• Pool for ritual baths
• Worship called Puja
• Arranged marriage
• Body cremated
(reincarnation)
• Four castes
1.
2.
3.
4.
Brahmans: priests
Kshatriyas: warriors
Vaisyas: merchants
Shudras: agricultural
peasants
• Untouchables: outcasts
• Gandhi pointed out
problems with system
• Govt legally abolished the
untouchable caste
Judaism
• Believed to be the first
monotheistic religion
• Founder - Abraham
• “parent” of Christianity and
related to Islam
• One powerful God
• “chosen people”: God selected
them to live according to his
ethical and moral principles
• 10 commandments
• Rewarded for faith and
punished for sins
• Holy book: the Torah
• Synagogue: house of worship,
have an ark housing the Torah
• 6-pointed star symbol
• Most sacred site is the Wailing
Wall
• All that is left of temples
• Gather to remember
destruction and offer prayers
Judaism (con’t)
• Major holidays based on
• Branches
events in agricultural
− Orthodox: original teachings
calendar
− Reform: adjust religion to
• To conduct full service: 10
more modern times
adult males must be
− Conservative: most recent and
present
most moderate
• Most Jews don’t live in
• Subgroups (b/c of Diaspora)
Israel, most migrated to
Europe
− Ashkenazim: lived in
Germany and France before
• Jews were persecuted by
Eastern Europe
other nationalities
− Mizrachim: never left North
• Largest pop of Jews live in
Africa or Middle East
the U.S. (northeast)
− Sephardim: Spain or Portugal
East Asian
• Taosim
– Laozi: people should live
in harmony with nature
and all aspects of their
lives
– Ying and yang, feng shui
• Confucianism
– Confucius: system of
morals and a way of life
for Chinese
– Focuses more on worldly
life rather than ideas of
heaven and hell
• Shintoism
− Forces of nature are considered
divine
− From 1800s to post WW2,
religion of Japan
− Blends principles of Buddhism
with local Japanese religion
Shamanism
• Follows a shaman:
religious leader,
healer, or truth
knower
• Strongest in Africa
• Animism: belief that
objects (trees,
mountains, rivers)
have divine sprits in
them
Religious Issues
• Secularism vs Theocracy
– Secular: move away from
religion, indifferent to
religion or reject it all
together, Western
democracies have secular
principles
– Theocracy: govt run by a
religion, holy law is
supreme, today: Iran
Interfaith vs. Intrafaith boundaries
• Interfaith
– Divide space between
two or more religions
– Struggle over the same
area
– Ex: Nigeria, Islam is
dominant in the north
and Christianity in the
south, lead to tensions
for govt control
• Intrafaith
− Divide space within
one religion, often
among
denominations
− Ex: Iraq, Sunni and
Shiite Islam, fight for
control of politics
Religion vs…
Government
conflict
Groups oppose govt if policies conflict religious values or
promote social change
Social changes
Taliban vs. Western values (Afghanistan ’96)
Taliban= fundamentalist Muslims
Banned western “leisure” activities, TV and internet
Believed they had been called by Allah to rid Afghanistan of sin
and violence
Communism
Buddhism vs. SE Asian countries
Buddhist hurt by Vietnam war, immolated themselves to protest
policies of the South Vietnamese govt
Current Communist govt have discouraged religion and allowed
monuments to decay
Religion vs. Religion
• Rise of fundamentalism
– Literal interpretation and
strict and intense adherence
to basic principles
– Convinced that its religious
opinion/view is THE right
way
– Condone violence against
those that believe otherwise
• Northern Ireland
− Became independent
− North Ireland part of the
UK
− Catholics have been
victimized
− Joined the IRA: militant
org dedicated to
achieving Irish national
unity in any way
necessary
Conflict in Middle East
• Jews, Christians, and
Muslims have fought for
2,000 years for control of
Jerusalem and its
surrounding region
• WHY?
– Jews: “promised land”, once
forced to leave
– Christians: “Holy Land”,
major events in Christ’s life
– Muslims: most widely
practiced religion in the
region, Jerusalem is where
Muhammad ascended to
heaven
Israel and Palestine Issues
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ongoing struggle between Israelis and
Palestinians that began in the early 20th
century
Ottoman Empire controlled Palestine for
4 centuries (1516-1917)
After WW1, United Nations voted to
partition Palestine and Britain took over,
divided into two states: one Jewish, one
Muslim
When the British withdrew in 1948, war
was declared on Israel
In 1949, an armistice was signed that
divided control of Jerusalem
In 1956, 1967,1973: three more wars
Israel returned Sinai to Egypt and Egypt
“recognized” Israel’s right to exist
•
Palestinian POV:
• Israel’s prime opponent
• 5 groups consider themselves
Palestinians
• Palestinian Liberation Org: terrorist
group that fights for Palestinians,
• Have been divided by a struggle for
power; Fatah party and Hamas
party
Israeli POV:
• Considers self a very small country
with a Jewish majority surrounded
by a region of hostile Muslim Arabs
• Israelis still divided
BINGO!
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Universalizing
Ethnic
Abrahamic
Fundamentalism
The Bible
Roman Catholic
Pope
Hajj
Fasting (Ramadan)
Sunni
Shiite
The Quran
Minaret tower
Buddhism
Siddhartha Gautama
Baha’i
The Golden Temple
Hinduism



















Judaism
Law of karma
Untouchables
Wailing Wall
Ying and yang
Animism
Secular
Interfaith
Intrafaith
Jerusalem
Adherents
Westboro Baptist Church
Contagious diffusion
Succession of Muhammad
Four noble truths
Syncretism
Nigeria
Iran
Diaspora