Download Where Are Religions Distributed?

Religion: Key Issue 1
Where Are Religions Distributed?
Rubenstein, pp. 170 -178
● UNIVERSALIZING RELIGIONS
CHRISTIANITY
1. Give the percentage of the world’s Christian population belonging to each of Christianity’s
three major branches
Roman Catholic Eastern Orthodox Protestant 2. Regarding Eastern Orthodox churches . . .
How many separate churches are there?
Which has by far the largest membership?
3. What percentage of Latin American Christians are Roman Catholic?
4. Protestants comprise 82 million of the U.S. population. List the five largest
denominations (#5 is a tie) by total number.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
5. Complete the chart with names of smaller branches of Christianity and their location of
concentration.
Branch of Christianity
Region of predominance
ISLAM
6. Half of the world’s Muslims live in the Middle East. The other half live in four countries
outside the Middle East. List them.
1.
2.
3.
4.
7. Give the percentage for each of Islam’s two great branches:
Sunni Shia 8. Only in three countries do Shia Muslims number more than Sunni. List them and give the %
Shia.
1.
2.
3.
BUDDHISM
9. Buddhism is built around “Four Noble Truths” as taught by the Buddha. Summarize them.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
10. Complete this chart dividing Buddhism into its three main branches.
Branch
% of all global
Buddhist
population
11. Why are Buddhists difficult to count?
Regions where predominant
OTHER UNIVERSALIZING RELIGIONS
12. Where are Sikkhs concentrated?
13. What is the main belief of the Bahá’í?
● ETHNIC RELIGIONS
HINDUISM
14a. Where are Hindus concentrated? What % of all Hindus live there?
14b. Where are the rest?
15. Hinduism does not have different branches but, because it is polytheistic, does have some
more “popular” gods than others. Complete the chart below regarding the more popular
forms of Hinduism.
FORM
% of global
Hindus
God worshiped (include a brief description)
OTHER ETHNIC RELIGIONS
16. Make a note or two (that seem of geographic interest) about each of the following ethnic
religions
A. CONFUCIANISM
B. DAOISM (TAOISM)
C. SHINTOISM
D. JUDAISM
E. ANIMISM
Shade and label this map to highlight the one
country where traditional African religions
constitute a clear majority.
Religion: Key Issue 2
Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions?
Rubenstein, pp. 178 - 191
● ORIGIN OF RELIGIONS
1. Complete the table below describing the origins and branches of the major universalizing
religions.
Christianity
Islam
Year of Origin
Founder
Major
branches and
main belief
of each
branch
2. Regarding Hinduism:
a. How was its origin different than universalizing religions?
b. When did it originate?
c. Where did it originate?
d. What two ancient peoples beliefs blended to form Hinduism?
Buddhism
● DIFFUSION OF RELIGIONS
3. Give 4 explanations for the diffusion of Christianity.
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
4. Give 3 ways in which Islam spread.
i.
ii.
iii.
5. Give 2 reasons for the expansion of Buddhism.
i.
ii.
6. Provide 4 examples of cases in which religions, or religious practices, have blended.
Religions which have blended
Location and description
A
B
C
7. Regarding Judaism:
a. How is its distribution very different from other ethnic religions?
b. What was the diaspora?
c. How were most Jews treated as they lived among other nationalities?
d. What is the origin of the term ghetto?
● HOLY PLACES
8. What is a pilgrimage?
9. Read the section (pp. 185 - 188) and make notes on four case studies; Buddhism, Islam,
Sikhism, and Hinduism.
BUDDHIST SHRINES
HOLY PLACES IN ISLAM
HOLY PLACES IN SIKHISM
HOLY PLACES IN HINDUISM
11. What is a cosmogony?
● THE CALENDAR
12. What is the most prominent feature of
the calendar in ETHNIC religions?
13. What is the principle purpose of the
calendar in UNIVERSALIZING religions?
14. How is the Jewish calendar typical of ethnic use of the calendar?
15. What is the solstice?
16. Both the Jewish and the Muslims use a lunar calendar, yet in a different way and with
very different results. Explain.
17. How is the date of Easter related to physical geography (the natural world) through the
calendar?
18. Why do different Christian branches celebrate Easter on different days?
19. How is this similar to Buddhism’s major holidays?
Religion: Key Issue 3
Why Do Religions Organize Space in Distinctive Patterns?
Rubenstein, pp. 191 - 195
● PLACES OF WORSHIP
1. For what two reasons does a church (the physical structure) play a more critical role
than in other religions?
2. Complete the following table to express unique visible features of Christian
churches.
CHRISTIAN BRANCH or REGION
Unique design or typical feature
Orthodox Christianity
Protestant – esp. North America
Northeast US
Southeast US
Southwest US
Latin America
3. How is a Muslim mosque viewed differently than a Christian church?
4. Identify 3 specific, visible, features of a typical mosque.
i.
ii.
iii.
5. How are Hindu temples different than both churches and mosques?
6. List 3 typical, visible features of a Hindu temple.
i.
ii.
iii.
7. What is the religious purpose of a Buddhist pagoda?
8. How was pilgrimage a part of the development of pagodas?
9. Formal worship in a pagoda is not typical. Where does is usually take
place?
● SACRED SPACE
10a. Christians practice burial of the dead. Complete the flowchart below to indicate the
history of this practice.
10b. Make two notes about the use of cemetery land in urban areas
i.
ii.
10c. Complete the table below with brief notes on the disposal of the dead in ways other than
burial.
Hindus
Parsis (Zoroastrians)
Micronesians
11. Complete the table below with brief notes on the religious settlements indicated.
Utopian settlements
Salt Lake City, Utah
Puritans
● ADMINISTRATION OF SPACE
12a. Define hierarchical religion:
12b. List the Roman Catholic hierarchy,
indicating geographic region and leader who
heads it.
Region
Leader
12c. Why are parishes in Latin America so
much larger than those in Europe?
13a. Describe an autonomous religion:
13b. In the absence of a hierarchy, what is the only formal organization of territory in Islam?
13c. What holds Islam together?
Religion: Key Issue 4
Why Do Territorial Conflicts Arise Among Religious Groups?
Rubenstein, pp. 195 - 203
● RELIGION VERSUS GOVERNMENT POLICIES
1. In what ways did the Taliban government of Afghanistan raise conflicts with Western/modern
ideas after it took control of the country in 1996?
2a. What aspect of Hinduism has clashed with Western/modern ideas?
2b. What western groups criticized this aspect? Why?
2c. How has the Indian government responded to this issue?
3. In Russia/Soviet Union, how did each of the following attempt to limit the influence of
religion, specifically the Eastern Orthodox Church?
a) Czar Peter the Great:
b) Communism:
4. What happened, and is continuing to happen, in each of the following regions of the Russian
Empire/Soviet Union since the fall of communism in the 1990s? Complete the table below by
adding THREE more countries to each category and then describing what is going on at the
present time in that region.
Historic Catholic Regions
Historic Muslim Regions
Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary,
Lithuania
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
Currently…
Currently…
5. How were and are each of the following detrimental to Buddhism in Southeast Asia?
a) Vietnam War:
b) Communist regimes:
● RELIGION VERSUS RELIGION
6. Define fundamentalism:
7. Fundamentalism is increasing in the world today and its growth contributes to conflicts. Why
is it increasing?