Download Chapter 7 - Religion

Chapter 7: Religion
Alex Matthews
What is Religion?
• “A system of beliefs and practices that
attempts to order life in terms of culturally
perceived ultimate priorities”.
• Religion answers the question of how a
person “should” behave on a day-to-day
basis.
The Purpose of Religion
• Religion normally projects the idea that a
“good” life has rewards and that “bad”
behaviors have punishments
• For many people, religion defines who
they are and how they understand the
world around them
The Opposite of Religion
• Secularism – “the idea that ethical and moral
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standards should be formulated and adhered to
for life on Earth, not to accommodate the
prescriptions of a deity and promises of a
comfortable afterlife.”
Basically stating that religion should be excluded
from daily life and the main concern is to focus
on life on the physical Earth.
Categories of Religion
• Monotheistic – “a belief system in which one
supreme deity is revered as creator and arbiter
of all that exists.”
– Key Phrase: One deity
– Example: Christianity
• Polytheistic – “a belief system in which
multiple deities are revered as creators and
arbiters of all that exists.”
– Key Phrase: Multiple deities
– Example: Hinduism
• Animistic – “a belief system in which
inanimate objects and elements of the
natural landscape possess souls and can
help or hinder human efforts.”
– Key Phrase: Inanimate objects and nature
– Example: Shamanism
Hearths of Religion
• By 500 BCE there were four main hearths of
religion and philosophy that were developed:
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Greek Philosophy: Shores of the Mediterranean Sea
Hinduism: South Asia, along the Indus River valley
Judaism: Eastern Mediterranean
Chinese Philosophy: Huang He River Valley in
China
• These religions/philosophies influenced other
religions that we know of today.
Hearth Religious Influence on Other
Religions
• Christianity has influence from both
Judaism and Greek Philosophy.
• Islam has influence from Judaism, Greek
Philosophy, and Christianity.
• The monotheistic beliefs that Christianity
and Islam share are derived from the
monotheistic beliefs that Judaism displays.
Hearth of the Three Main
Monotheistic Religions
• Around 3,500 years ago there was a
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monotheistic religion that developed in
Southwest Asia called Zoroastrianism.
Some believe that this religion is the original
hearth of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
However, some others believe that Judaism itself
was the first monotheistic religion.
Universalizing Religions
• “A belief system that espouses the idea
that there is one true religion that is
universal in scope.”
• Members of universalizing religions
actively seek people to be a part of their
religion. (Missionaries)
• Examples: Christianity, Islam, and
Buddhism.
Ethnic Religions
• “A religion that is particular to one, culturally
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distinct group of people.”
Followers are normally born into the religion.
Followers do not actively seek out converts like
in universalizing religions.
Ethnic religions tend to be spatially concentrated
but not always.
Examples: Judaism, Shamanism, traditional
religions in Africa
Hearths of Different Religions
• Hinduism:
– Originated 4,000 years ago in the Indus River
Valley which is now part of Pakistan
– Does not have a single founder or single
theology
– Based on ancient practices of the Indus River
cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa
• Buddhism:
– Derived from Hinduism over 2,500 years ago
– Created as a reaction to Hinduism’s strict social hierarchy
– Prince Siddhartha of what is now Nepal founded Buddhism and
was known as the Buddha
• Shintoism:
– Buddhism was mixed with a local religion in Japan creating
Shintoism
– There is no official founder
• Taoism:
– The exact beginnings are not known
– Can be traced back to an older contemporary of Confucius, LaoTsu
– Lao-Tsu published the Tao-te-ching, “Book of the Way”, which
focused on the proper form of political rule and the oneness of
humanity and nature
• Confucianism:
– Started by Confucius in China
– Confucius denied the divine ancestry of the aristocratic rulers,
educated the landless and the weak, disliked supernatural
mysticism, and argues that human virtues and abilities not
heritage should determine a person's position and responsibility
in society.
– Confucianism is a philosophy not really a religion.
• Judaism:
– Grew out of the belief system of the Jews, one of the several
nomadic Semitic tribes in Southwest Asia about 4,000 years ago.
– The teachings of Abraham are the roots of the Jewish religious
beliefs
• Christianity:
– Can be traced back to the same hearth as Judaism in the
Mediterranean
– Jesus was the founder of Christianity
• Islam:
– Can be traced back to the founder
Muhammad in Mecca
– Muhammad admired the monotheism of
Judaism and Christianity
• Traditional/Shamanist:
– Can be traced back to many different tribes
scattered all around the world
– These faiths could be found in early African,
Native American, Southeast and East Asian
civilizations.
Sacred Sites
• “Place or space people infuse with
religious meaning.”
• The ancient city of Jerusalem is sacred to
the Jewish people, Christians and Muslims.
• The Western Wall and The Temple Mount
are other examples of sacred sites
Sacred Landscapes
• How religion is prominent through an areas
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landscape
Since the erection of a temple in the Hindu
culture bestows merit on the builder, there are
many temples within the Hindu cultural
landscape.
In a Christian landscape a church is always
present and sometimes is the focus of the whole
town.
Interfaith Boundaries
• “Boundaries between the world’s major
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religions”
Social division in a country based on religion can
cause conflict and interfaith boundaries
Examples:
– The Christian and Muslim faith presences in Africa
– Israel/Palestine Conflict
Intrafaith Boundaries
• “Boundaries within a single faith”
• Different sects of a religion could engage
in conflict with each other based on
diverging beliefs.
• Example:
– The Protestant/Catholic conflict in Northern
Ireland
Israel and Palestine
• After World War I, the British, who controlled
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Palestine, wanted to create a national homeland
for the Jewish people within Palestine.
The British assured the world that the nonJewish people of Palestine would have protected
religious and civil rights
A peaceful result was not achieved by the policy
and by 1947-1948 Jews and Palestinians
engaged in open warfare.
Yugoslavia
• The Catholic and Eastern Orthodox divisions of
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Christianity existed in Yugoslavia divided by the
Balkan Peninsula.
The Slovenians and Croats in the west of the
peninsula were Catholic.
The Serbians and Montenegrans in the east and
south of the Peninsula were Eastern Orthodox
Also, the people in the west of the peninsula
used the roman alphabet and the people in the
east and south used the Cyrillic alphabet
Yugoslavia (Continued)
• The already present religious and linguistic
tension that existed in Yugoslavia followed
by the forceful take over by the Muslim
Ottomans caused more tension and
conflict.
Religious Fundamentalism
• “Religious movement whose objectives are
to return to the foundations of the faith
and to influence state policy”
• A fundamentalist group holds it religious
beliefs as nonnegotiable and
uncompromisable.
Religious Extremism
• “Religious fundamentalism carried to the
point of violence”
• Fundamentalists can be extremists but not
the other way around.