Download 11-2 Intro to Religion

November 9, 2012
What is religion?
 Religions change and evolve over time
 Religions are spread through interaction
Cultural Landscape
 The cultural landscape reflects religious preferences,
by houses of worship, cemeteries, shrines, and statues
 It is reflected in the sale of alcohol, dress, and personal
habits
 Ex: Pakistan requires judges to wear a beard
Religion
 A system of beliefs and practices that attempts to order
life in terms of culturally perceived ultimate priorities
 It determines how people “should” behave
 In some societies, religion determines behaviors during
waking hours, and even in sleep (some sleeping
positions can be sinful)
 Most religions have prayers and rituals
Rituals
 Rituals mark important events in people’s lives
 Births
 Death
 Coming of age
 Marriage
 Celebration of holidays
 Prayer
Secularism
 Some societies are predominantly secular, or non-
religious
 Even then, religion seeps into art, history, customs,
beliefs, and even the calendar
 Whether secular or not, it is important to have a basic
understanding of religion
 Religion is one of the most complex and controversial
aspects of culture
Early Religions
 Most religions can be classified into one of three broad
groups:
 Monotheistic
 Polytheistic
 Animistic
History
of
Religion
 Up until 3500 years ago, most religions were
polytheistic or animistic
 Zoroastrianism was the first monotheistic religion and
laid the foundation for Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam
 Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the
belief that there is a single all-powerful good god
(Zoroastro), and there is also an evil being trying to
destroy good
Diffusion
of
Monotheism
 Judaism was the second (or first) great monotheistic
religion
 However, it was not until Christianity and Islam
emerged that monotheism spread
 By 500 BCE, there were four hearths of religion:
 Greece (Greek Philosophy)
 India (Hinduism)
 Israel (Judaism)
 China (Chinese philosophies)
World Distribution of Religions
Fig. 6-1: World religions by continent.