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Religion
There may be some extra words in the presentation: Do NOT write them down.
What Is Religion?
Religion
is “A system of beliefs and
practices that attempts to order life in
terms of culturally perceived ultimate
priorities.”
What Role Does It Play in Culture?
1. Religions set standards for how people
“should” behave.
2. Religion manifests itself in many ways:
Worship
Prayer
Rituals
•
Take place through regular intervals
Birth, marriage, and death
•
Attainment of adulthood
•
Secularism is the indifference to or rejection
of religion.
Types of Religions
 Monotheistic
 Polytheistic
 Animistic
religions: single god
religions: many gods
religions: inanimate objects
possess spirits
Types of Religions
 Universalizing
religions:
• Actively seek converts
• Believe they offer universal appeal
• Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism
 Ethnic
religions:
• Appeals to one group of people living in one
place; born into the faith
• Do not actively seek converts
• Hinduism, Judaism, Animism, Shamanism

Sometimes, univ. and ethnic religions mix
e.g. in Africa, Louisiana, Haiti.
World Distribution of Religions
World religions by continent. 60% of world population – universalizing region;
25% - ethnic religion; 15% - no religion.
World Population by Religion
Over two-thirds of the world’s population belong to Christianity, Islam, Hinduism,
or Buddhism. Christianity is the single largest world religion.
Christian Branches in Europe
Protestant denominations, Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy are dominant in different
regions of Europe—a result of many historic interactions.
Origin Religions
From the Hearth of South Asia
Hinduism
•
One of oldest religions; over 4000 years; no specific
leader
•Originated
in the Indus River Valley
•Ganges (sacred river)
•Ancient practices include ritual bathing and
reincarnation
•Polytheistic
•Caste
System →
Hindu Temple
Origin Religions
From the Hearth of South Asia
Buddhism
 Splintered from Hinduism 2500 years ago
 Siddhartha Gautama (born about 563 B.C.)
 Four Noble Truths + Noble Eightfold Path
 Approximately 347 million adherents
Sikhism
o Originated in Punjab, India around 1669
o Based on the teachings of Guru Nanak
o Monotheistic
Shintoism
 Japan
 Focused on nature and ancestor worship
Origin of Religions
From the Hearth of the Huang He
River Valley
Taoism
Lao-Tsu –founder (600 BCE)
Tao-te-ching – “Book of the Way”
Feng Shui – living in harmony with nature
Confucianism
Confucius 551 to 479 BCE
Confucian Classics – blueprint for Chinese
civilization
Origin of Religions
From the Hearth of the Eastern
Mediterranean
Judaism
Teachings of Abraham & Moses
• Holy scroll is the Torah
•
Origin of Religions
From the Hearth of the Eastern
Mediterranean
Christianity
• Teachings of Jesus (born about 4 B.C.)
• Sacred book is the Bible
• Split from Judaism
• Church split led to Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic
Church
• Protestant reformation challenged fundamental Roman
Catholic teachings
Origin of Religions
From the Hearth of the Eastern
Mediterranean
Islam
Founder/Prophet Muhammad (born 570 A.D.)
Sacred text is the Qu’ran (Koran)
Five Pillars of Islam
Shia and Sunni
Diffusion of Religions
• Overall:
– Increase of diffusion
– missionary work
– Lack of diffusion
– lack of appeal to outsiders
(tied to cultures)
Diffusion of Universalizing Religions
Each of the three main universalizing religions diffused widely from its hearth.
Diffusion of Religions
From the Hearth of the Eastern
Mediterranean
Diffusion of Christianity
 European Colonialism in the sixteenth
century
 33,000 denominations
Diffusion of Christianity
Christianity diffused from Palestine through the Roman Empire and continued diffusing through
Europe after the fall of Rome. It was later replaced by Islam in much of the
Mideast and North Africa.
Diffusion of Religions
From the Hearth of the Eastern
Mediterranean
Diffusion of Islam
•
•
•
Kings used armies to spread faith across Arabian
Peninsula.
Islam later spread by trade.
1.57 billion followers worldwide; is fastest-growing
religion.
Diffusion of Islam
Islam diffused rapidly and widely from its area of origin in Arabia. It eventually stretched
from southeast Asia to West Africa.
Diffusion of Religions
From the Hearth of the Eastern
Mediterranean
Diffusion of Judaism
•Diaspora—scattering of people
•Zionism—form of nationalism
that supports a separate Jewish
state
Diffusion of Buddhism
Buddhism diffused gradually from its origin in northeastern India to Sri Lanka,
southeast Asia, and eventually China and Japan.
Shintoism and Buddhism in Japan
Since Japanese can be both Shinto and Buddhist, there are many areas in Japan where
over two-thirds of the population are both Shinto and Buddhist.
How Is Religion Seen in the
Cultural Landscape?
Sacred sites
 Places people infuse with religious meaning
 Pilgrimage: Voluntarily travel to a religious
site to pay respects or participate in a ritual
at the site
Sacred Sites of Jerusalem
 Sacred
to Jews, Christians, and Muslims
 Wailing Wall, Temple Mount, Dome of the
Rock, Church of the Holy Sepulchre
How Is Religion Seen in the
Cultural Landscape?
 Hinduism
•
•
Temples, shrines
Holy animals, ritual bathing
 Buddhism
•
•
Stupus: bell shaped structures that protect
burial mounds
Pagoda: tiered tower
Hindu Holy Places
Hierarchy of Hindu holy places: Some sites are holy to Hindus throughout India; others have
a regional or sectarian importance, or are important only locally.
Also includes the Ganges River.
Holy Sites in Buddhism
Most holy sites in Buddhism are locations of important events in Buddha’s life and are
clustered in northeastern India and southern Nepal.
How Is Religion Seen in the
Cultural Landscape?
Landscapes of Christianity
 Medieval
•
Europe
Cathedral, church, or
monastery
Bordeaux, France. Built beginning in 1472,
St. Michael’s Tower rises over Bordeaux,
France, marking the importance of the Catholic
Church in Bordeaux’s history and culture. © H.
J. de Blij.
Place Names in Québec
Place names in Québec show the impact of religion on the landscape.
Many cities and towns are named after saints.
How Is Religion Seen in the
Cultural Landscape?
Landscapes of Islam
Prohibition
against depicting the
human form
•
Led to calligraphy and geometric design
Hajj
•
Pilgrimage to Mecca
Mecca, Islam’s Holiest City
Makkah (Mecca) is the holiest city in Islam and is the site of pilgrimage for millions of
Muslims each year. There are numerous holy sites in the city.
What Role Does Religion Play in
Political Conflicts?
 Interfaith
boundaries: boundaries between
the world’s major faiths
•
Ex.: Christian-Muslim boundaries in Africa
 Intrafaith
boundaries: boundaries within a
single major faith
•
Ex.: Christian Protestants and Catholics, Muslim
Sunni and Shi’ite
What Role Does Religion Play in
Political Conflicts?
Israel and Palestine
•
WWII, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, West Bank, Hamas
Nigeria
•
Muslim North/Christian South
The Former Yugoslavia
•
Balkan Peninsula separates the Roman Catholic
Chruch and the Eastern Orthodox Church
Northern Ireland
•
Catholics and Protestants in the North
Example of Religious Conflict: Jerusalem
The Old City of Jerusalem contains holy sites for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Boundary Changes in Palestine/Israel
The UN partition plan for Palestine in 1947 contrasted with the boundaries that were established
after the 1948–49 War. Major changes later resulted from the 1967 War.
The West Bank: Political and
Physical Geography
Political control of the West Bank has been split between Palestinians and Israelis (though under
overall Israeli control). The West Bank includes many of the higher altitude areas of the region.
Conflict: Protestants in Northern Ireland
Percent Protestant population by district in Ireland, 1911. When Ireland became independent in
1937, 26 northern districts (or local states) with large Protestant populations chose to
remain part of the United Kingdom.
Reasons for Political Conflicts
 Religious
•
fundamentalism
Beliefs are nonnegotiable and uncompromising
 Religious
extremism
Fundamentalism carried to the point of
violence
 Fundamentalists can be extremists but this does
not mean that all fundamentalists (of any faith)
are extremists
