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Chapter 6: Religion What is a religion? Religion • A set of beliefs – existence of a higher power, spirits or god – an explanation of the origins and purpose of humans and their role on earth – Which involves rituals, festivals, rites of passage and space (religious landscapes) Main Types of Religion • Universalizing Religion: attempts to appeal to all people, not just those living in a particular location. • Ethnic Religions: concentrated spatial distribution whose principles are likely based on physical characteristics of a particular location. • Monotheism: existence of only one god. • Polytheism: existence of many gods. How do Universalizing and Ethnic Religions Differ? Universalizing Ethnic •Appeal to people everywhere •Appeal to a smaller group of people living in one place. •Individual founder (prophet) •Unknown source. •Message diffused widely •Content focused on place and (missionaries) landscape of origin. •Followers distributed widely. •Followers highly clustered. •Holidays based on events in •Holidays based on local climate founder’s life. and agricultural practice. Holy Places reflect the Religious Beliefs Ethnic religions • rooted in a distinctive physical environment Universal religions • holy places are associated with the founder’s life. • • For example: – Hindu - The Ganges River in India. – Hindu - Himalayas Mt. Kalias in Nepal. For example: – Christian - The city of Jerusalem – Muslim - The city of Mecca – Buddhist- Locations of important events in Buddha's life. Major World Religions • Ethnic Religions – Hinduism – Judaism – all Animistic Religions • No specific founder • limited diffusion / no missionaries Major World Religions • Universalizing Religions – Christianity – Islam – Buddhism • Traced to actions and teaching of a man • Diffused from specific hearths by followers / missionaries How Did These Religions Diffuse to Where They Are? Islam Christianity •Traveling merchants go to North Africa •Sea routes to Indonesia and Philippines introduced Islam. •Missionaries •Alliance with powerful communist countries. Buddhist •Early believers spread ideas to the Roman Empire. •Monks travel into China, Tibet and Southeast Asia. • European Colonization spreads Christianity worldwide. •Ocean trading routes to China brought Buddhism. •Missionaries •Alliance with technologically powerful western world & capitalism. •Missionaries •Powerful kingdom of Magadhan Empire helped establish religion. Religious Divisions • Branch: A large and fundamental division within a religion. • Denomination: A division within a branch of a religion. • Sect: A relatively small denominational group that has broken away from an established church.