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Religion: Spread of, Sacred
Spaces and Problems
Cosmogony
 The explanation of how the universe came into being
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For most religions, this would be their creation story/myth
For non-religious people, this may include the Big Bang
Theory or other scientific paths
Baha’i
 Universal Religion
 Belief in the unity of humankind, religions and God
 Syncretic – borrowing ideas from previously
established religions
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Prophets or messengers in Baha’i stem from Christianity,
Buddhism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism and Islam
See themselves as an extension of/purification of these other
faiths
Accept teachings and beliefs of the major world religions
Baha’i, cont.
 Major beliefs- Daily prayer, no drugs or alcohol, only
sex between a husband and wife (homosexuality and
adultery are forbidden), gossip and slander are
forbidden, no gambling
 Based on multiple teachers – In 1800s, an Iranian
man who called himself the “Bab”was executed for
claiming to be the messiah for Islam
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A follower of his writings, Bahá'u'lláh, was the founder of
Baha’i . Based his works on messages from God and teachings
of the Bab.
Spread “the word of God” throughout Middle East and Africa
Faced much opposition in past and even today
Diffusion of Religion
 Hearths for 3 major
universalizing religions
– Buddhism,
Christianity and Islam
all surround the places
of the birth of their
respective founders
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Christianity – SW Asia –
Israel/Palestine
Islam – SW Asia – Saudi
Arabia
Buddhism – S Asia Nepal
Christianity’s Diffusion
 Initially - Relocation Diffusion
 Missionaries carried word to people of the Roman Empire
 Then - contagious diffusion
 Contact between believers and non-believers
 Then - Hierarchical Diffusion
 Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 313 CE
 Declared empire’s official religion in 380 CE
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Continued through hierarchical diffusion (conquest and
colonization of Americas and Oceania) and relocation diffusion
(missionaries to Africa and Asia today)
Islam’s Diffusion
 Hierarchical in beginning –spread by the sword in
conquest of SW Asia and N Africa by Mohammed’s
soldiers
 Modern spread through missionary work (relocation
diffusion)
Buddhism and other Universalizing religions
 Buddhism – through relocation diffusion
(missionaries) and hierarchical (adoption of
Buddhism by empires of India)
 Baha’i – relocation diffusion (missionaries)
and contagious (in local spread)
 Sikhism – Contagious and relocation diffusion
(mainly in N. India’s Punjab region)
Holy Places and Sacred Spaces
 Holy Places – locations important for believers of a
religion. May hold spiritual meaning or have played
a role in the founder’s life.
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Believers may make pilgrimages to these places
Examples: Wailing Wall, Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, Mecca,
Ganges River
 Sacred Spaces – Places of worship, burial sites,
religious settlements
Sacred Spaces
 Muslims – mosques (temples)
 Jews – synagogues (temples)
 Hindus – temples
 Baha’i – houses of worship
 Buddhists – pagodas (for individual meditation, not
congregations)
 Christians – Churches.
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Varies by denomination
Protestant churches tend to be more ascetic while Orthodox
and Catholic churches tend to be more ornate
Burial Sites
 In the Abrahamic religions, the dead are typically
buried in a cemetery
 In Hinduism, the dead are usually cremated on a
funeral pyre
 Water burial is common practice among island
nations
 Tibetan Buddhists and Zoroastrians expose dead
bodies to nature and allow scavenging animals and
the elements take their toll
Religious Hierarchy
 Muslims, Hindus and Jews have no real central
authority with each local group having autonomy
 Mormons have a structural hierarchy over territory
in Utah. Church – stakes – wards
 Other Protestant groups vary
 Catholics bow to the authority of the Pope, but there
are rankings below him:
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Pope – Archbishops – Bishops(Diocese) – Priests (individual
churches)
Similar set up in Orthodox church with the Patriarch being the
head
Religious Wars
 Religion has led to and currently leads to a hotbed of
issues politically worldwide
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Major areas of contention today
Israel/Palestine
 Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland
 American Globalization/Muslim fundamentalism worldwide
 Religious groups/communist or former communist countries
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