the geography of religion

The Great Mosque, Mali

Buddhist Monks

The Geography of Religion

Explains the unexplainedSystem of beliefs and practices that attempts

to order life in terms of culturally perceived ultimate priorities.

Explains how people SHOULD behave.Constitutes as culture

What is Religion

The Geography of Religion

Birth of Religions

How do Universalizing and Ethnic Religions Differ?Universalizing

• Appeal to people everywhere

• Individual founder (prophet)

• Message diffused widely (missionaries)

• Followers distributed widely.

• Holidays based on events in founder’s life.

• Seek converts

Ethnic• Has meaning in particular

place only.• Unknown source.• Content focused on place

and landscape of origin.• Followers highly clustered.• Holidays based on local

climate and agricultural practice.

• Not seeking converts

Christianity

Islam

Buddhism

Example of Universalizing

AfricaSouth America tribes (native religions)Native AmericanJudaism as wellHinduism (not actively seeking converts)

Creates pockets of Hinduism

Example of Ethnic

History of ReligionZoroastrianism

(SW Asia 3500 years ago.)

The First Monotheistic Religion

Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam is divided into three groups.

1) Branch- A large and fundamental division within a religion. Ex: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox

2)Denomination-Division of a branch that unites a number of local congregations in a single legal and administrative body. Ex: Lutheran (of Protestant branch)

3) Sect- a relatively small group that has broken away from an established denomination (Missouri Synod or Evangelical) of the Lutheran Denomination.

However, in Universalizing Religions, we see divisions

Islam• 1 billion +

adherents• Originated in

Saudi Arabia (Mecca and Medina) around AD 600.

• Spread originally by Muslim armies to N. Africa, and the Near East.

Sunni (83%) - throughout the Muslim world. More “liberal” b/c people following the example of Muhammad.

Shiite (16%) - Iran (30%), Pakistan (15%), Iraq (10%): More fundamental

Shiite comprise of 90% of population in Iran.

Sects of Islam

Second largest religion in the worldWorlds largest dominantly Islamic state is

IndonesiaAdoption of Sharia Law, fundamental Islam is

growing.

Islam

IslamFive Pillars of Islam• There is one God and

Muhammad is his messenger.• Prayer five times daily, facing

Mecca.• The giving of alms(charity) to

the poor.• Fasting during Ramadan for

purification and submission.• If body and income allow, a

Muslim must make a pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca in his lifetime.

Islamic Calender• Begins in AD 622

when Muhammad was commanded to Mecca from Medina (Hijra).

• Lunar calendar makes Ramadan move through the seasons (30 year cycle - 19 years with 354 days and 11 with 355).

Reading the Koran, Brunei

Prophet: MuhammadHoly Text: Koran

Islam

Prophet: Muhammad; Can NOT be depicted in picture form. Is disrespectful

Holy Text: Koran

Diffusion of Islam

Islam is considered the fastest growing religion in America. Only a small part of this growth is from black Muslims and the Nation of Islam.

Islamic Architecture

Certain practices or institutions should exist separately from religion or religious belief.

Secularism

The Roots of ReligionAnimism (Shamanism) - the belief that all objects, animals, and beings are “animated” or possess a spirit and a conscious life. Also called shamanism because of the prominence of a Shaman.• Such beliefs are common among

hunter-gatherers.• 10% of Africans follow such

traditional ethnic religions.• These beliefs are losing ground to

Christianity and Islam throughout Africa.

Nigerian Shaman

Native American Animism

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. ~ Chief Seattle

Bear Dance

Semetic4000 Yrs ago-Nomadic PeoplesTeachings of Abraham-CovenenantMoses18 million adherantsOrthodox-More Conservative

Judaism

Zionism: Seeks a homeland for the Jewish people.

Diaspora of the Jews resulted from the Roman Destruction of Jerusalem

Ashkenazim and SephardimThe Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the site of

Jesus’s Tomb (Jerusalem).

Judaism

Pilgrimage: when adherents travel to a religious site to pay respects.

Jerusalem

Sacred Sites

Wailing Wall-Destruction of Jewish templesTemple Mount-Abraham’s SacrificeChurch of the Holy SepulchreOutside of Jerusalem walls is where Jesus was

crucified.

Holy Places

Division between state politics and religious belief.

Secularism

Rabbi Kahane: Jewish ExtremistsReligious Fundamentalism

The Roots of ReligionAnimism (Shamanism) - the belief that all objects, animals, and beings are “animated” or possess a spirit and a conscious life. Also called shamanism because of the prominence of a Shaman.• Such beliefs are common among

hunter-gatherers.• 10% of Africans follow such

traditional ethnic religions.• These beliefs are losing ground to

Christianity and Islam throughout Africa.

Nigerian Shaman

Native American Animism

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. ~ Chief Seattle

Bear Dance

Over 4000 years oldNo single founderUnknown specific origin thought Harappa and

Mohenjo Daro thought to be the area where first practiced.

Pakistan no longer Hindu

Hinduism

• 900 million + adherents primarily in India

• Hinduism is an ancient term for the complex and diverse set of religious beliefs practiced around the Indus River.

• Reincarnation - endless cycles. Karma

• Coastlines and river banks most sacred sites.

• Vishnu and Shiva most common of hundreds of deities. Though Brahma lead Deity.

Hinduism

Monotheism: The belief in a single deityPolytheism: The belief in multiple deities.

Hinduism?-Brahman

How many Gods do you want?

Sacred ScripturesVedas

Karma-transferability of the soulReincarnation-seeks union with Brahman

Fundamental Doctrine

Social Effects of HinduismSupports the

Caste SystemOther religionsModernizationEqual distributionOf wealth-Mahatma Gandhi

Hinduism

Lord Vishnu

Dancing Shiva/NatarajGanesh

Spread of Hinduism

Bali was a refuge for Hinduism because nearby Java, Indonesia was engulfed by Islam

Also spread because of transportation of Indian workers during the colonial era.

• 300 million + adherents primarily in China and S.E. Asia

• Spread originally in India and Sri Lanka by Magadhan Empire (250 BC).

• Indian traders brought it to China in 1st century AD.

• By 6th century it had lost its hold on India, but was now in Korea and Japan.

Buddhism

Buddhism Originated near

modern Nepal/India around 530 BC by prince Siddhartha Guatama.

Later known as Buddha or Enlightened One

Spoke out against Hindu Caste System

Four Noble Truths:1. All living beings must endure suffering.2. Suffering, which is caused by desires (for life), leads to reincarnation.3. The goal of existence is an escape from suffering and the endless cycle of reincarnation by means of Nirvana.4. Nirvana is achieved by the Eightfold Path, which includes rightness of understanding, mindfulness, speech, action, livelihood, effort, thought, and concentration.

Buddhism

Theravada - the older, more severe form which requires the renouncing of all worldly goods and desires.Mahayana - focuses on Buddha’s teachings and compassion.

Karma - your past bad or good actions determine your progress toward Nirvana through reincarnation. You are your own God.

Buddhism

Thrives in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Tibet, Korea, Cambodia

Tibetan Buddhism=Lamaism

Universalizing religion-Not Cultural/Ethnic

PagodaStupa

Originated in China where 13 texts were the major focus of education for 2,000 years.

Was suppressed and banned under Communist rule from 1949-present

Feng-Shui & Geomancers

Confucism

Semetic4000 Yrs ago-Nomadic PeoplesTeachings of Abraham-CovenenantMoses18 million adherantsOrthodox-More Conservative

Judaism

Zionism: Seeks a homeland for the Jewish people.

Diaspora of the Jews resulted from the Roman Destruction of Jerusalem

Ashkenazim and SephardimThe Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the site of

Jesus’s Tomb (Jerusalem).

Judaism

Pilgrimage: when adherents travel to a religious site to pay respects.

Jerusalem

Sacred Sites

Division between state politics and religious belief.

Secularism

Rabbi Kahane: Jewish ExtremistsReligious Fundamentalism

Vote to Partition Palestine was taken by the United Nations.

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

SikhismSikhism is a

compromise religion of Hinduism and Islam (modern day Pakistan)

Have gurusNo strict definition of

GodSalvation through

discipline and meditation

Nanek

Christianity• 2 billion adherents make it most practiced in the world.

• Originated in Bethlehem (8-4 BC) and Jerusalem (AD 30) with Jesus Christ.

• Spread by missionaries and the Roman Empire (Constantine A.D. 313).

• It is the most practiced religion in Africa today.

Diffusion of Christianity

Christianity in the U.S.

Largest sect of ChristianitySpread to Americas by Spain

Roman-Catholicism

Sacred Spaces Sites of special religious significance (experiences, events)Hallowed grounds that are preserved across generationsFor believers, places endowed with divine meaning

Paha Sapa Kin Wiyopeya Unkiyapi kte sni yelo!!We never sold the Black Hills!!(Lakota expression)

Shrine at Lourdes, southern France

Cathedral at Chartres, France

Methodist-Congregationalis

t (Protestant) church,

southwest Quebec, Canada

St. Basil’s(Russian

Orthodox), Red Square, Moscow

Mid-City Cemetery

New Orleans

Recoleto CemeteryBuenos Aires

Jewish cemete

ry, Chicag

oTemple Beth El (1973), Bloomington Hills, Mich.

Synagogue, Jewish quarter, Prague(13th century)

Western (Wailing) Wall, Jerusalem

Buddhist stupa, Thailand

(Hemispherical shape is typical, but different

forms of Buddhism use differing types and

levels of ornamentation.)

Statue of Buddha

Hindu temple,

Northern India

Taj Mahal (Agra, India) – Islamic mausoleum

Hindu cremation ceremony,

India

Friday prayers, Grand Mosque, Mecca, Saudi Arabia: The Hajj

Memorial Spaces How similar to, and how different from, “sacred

space”?

Memorial Spaces

Monuments, memorials, shrines, museums, and preserved sites used to commemorate and sanctify the past

From D. Alderman (2000): “Public commemoration is a socially directed process: before historical events and figures can be regarded as memorable, people must judge them worthy of remembrance and have the influence to get others to agree.”

“Places of memory make history visible and tangible. … Memorial sites shape how we interpret and value the past.”

“Memorial landscapes are in a constant state of redefinition as governments rise and fall, as the heritage and cultural tourism industry continues to expand, and as marginalized populations seek public recognition.”

From O. Dwyer (2000): “The narrative content of these memorials reflects the types of archival materials that survive, the intentions of their producers, and contemporary politics regarding [historical events]. In turn, through their symbolic power and the large number of visitors who travel to them, these landscapes play a role in contemporary America’s ... politics.”

Wailing Wall-Destruction of Jewish templesTemple Mount-Abraham’s SacrificeChurch of the Holy Sepulchre-Golgotha where

Jesus was crucified.

Holy Places

Key TermsSyncretism - the mixing of two or more religions that creates unique rituals, artwork, and beliefs. Examples include syncretism of Christianity and indigenous beliefs in the Americas, Africa, and Asia.• Caribbean Voodoo (Haiti,

Louisiana)• Christianity in Indigenous

Latin American• READ SHINTOISM

PASSAGE

Voodoo Dolls, Haiti

Shrine, Bangalore, India

Syncretism in practice

Christianity and Islam has failed to convert people in Africa who have previously belonged to a traditional religion.

Though Eastern Orthodox survives in Ethiopia

Christianity

Key TermsSecularization - a process that is leading to increasingly large groups of people who claim no allegiance to any church. Some of these people are atheists. Others simply do not practice. Still others call themselves spiritual, but not religious.• Common in Europe and the

cities of the U.S.• Common in former Soviet

Union and China.

• READ RISE OF SECULARIZATION

PASSAGE

Fundamentalism - a process that is leading to increasingly large groups of people who claim there is only one way to interpret worship. Fundamentalists generally envision a return to a more perfect religion and ethics they imagine existed in the past.• Common in the U.S. and in

some Islamic nations.

• READ RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM AND

EXTREMISM

Religious ConflictThe Big Question: Can secular society exist alongside traditional and fundamentalist religious sects and states?• We are quick to notice fundamentalism abroad (i.e.

Salman Rushdie’s death sentence by Shia clerics) and not so quick to recognize it at home (abortion clinic bombings; Southern Baptist Convention’s calls for women to submit to their husbands’ authority).

• American evangelical Christianity and Islamic fundamentalism are the two most influential fundamentalist movements in the world.

• Fewer and fewer states are governed by an official church.

Roman Catholic vs. Eastern OrthodoxLinguistic differences Islam then introduced in SerbiaMany INTERFAITH boundriesEx: Croats & Nazis genocide against SerbsSerbs ethnic cleansed the Bosnian Muslims

Former Yugoslavia

Islam Vs. Christianity in EritreaHas changed hands many timesLinguistic differences

Horn of Africa

Interfaith regionAfter WWII, United Nations made borders for

both groups.Israel’s building fence.

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Atheism discouraged religious practices in Soviet Union

Islam tolerated in old but not young.Divide and Diminish plan used!

Soviet Religion