RELIGION REVIEW

Ch. 6
 Religion Big Ideas
• Religion
• Role in society
• Secularism
• Monotheistic, Polytheistic, Animistic
• Diffusion of Religions
• Major World Religions
• Hearths of religion
• S Asia
• China
• Eastern Mediterranean
• Religious landscapes
• Religious Conflicts
 What is Religion?
• According to geographers, Robert Stoddard &Carolyn Prorak, religion is
“a system of beliefs & practices that attempts to order life in terms of
culturally perceived ultimate priorities.
• “Should” people explain & how they & others “should” behave based on their
religious beliefs.
• A binding force in societies, especially those less dominated by
technology
• Change over time
• Have been adopted across cultural barriers & language boundaries.
 Role in Society
• In some countries, it practically constitutes culture
• Religion manifests itself in many different ways
• Worship of souls of ancestors in living natural objects.
• Belief that certain living persons possess capacities granted by a supernatural
power
• Belief in a deity or deities
• In Western, industrialized, urbanized societies, religion has become
subordinate to secular culture & government.
• Effect on culture
• “good” life has rewards & “bad” behavior risks punishment-controlling
individual behavior.
• Modes of dress acceptable & foods a person can or cannot eat
• Location & structure of houses.
 Secularism
• The indifference to or rejection of formal religion
• Most secular countries in Europe
• 2009 Pew Survey - How important is religion in their lives?
• 13% in France
• 8% in Sweden
• 7% in Czech Republic
• Even if your society is secular & regardless of your religious beliefs, what
you eat, when you work, when you shop, & what you are allowed to do,
are all influenced by religion.
 Monotheistic, Polytheistic, Animistic
• Despite the wide variety of religions found around the world, they are
commonly classified into three categories.
• Based on their approaches to the concept of divinity
• Monotheistic – worship a single deity, a God, or Allah
• Polytheistic – worship more than one deity, even thousands
• Animistic – centered on the belief that inanimate objects, such as
mountains, boulders, rivers, & trees, possess spirits & should be revered.
• Throughout much of human history, virtually all religions were either
animistic, polytheistic, or both
• Approx. 3500 yrs. ago monotheistic religion developed in SW Asia –
Zoroastrianism
 Diffusion of Religions
• Religions diffuse through…
• Expansion – including both
contagious & hierarchical
• Relocation
• With either of these, leaders or
followers interact with people who
do not espouse the religion
• Sometimes lead to conversion
• Spatial interaction occurs because of
migration, missionary efforts, & even
conquest.
 Major World Religions
• Any map of world religions is a generalization
• Caution must be used when making observations from the map.
• Mask minority religions, many of which have a significant number of
followers.
• Some of the regions shown as belonging to a particular religion are
places where faiths have penetrated relatively recently.
• Each of the widespread religions share in one characteristic
• They are all universalizing
• Actively seek converts because they view themselves as offering belief systems
of universal appropriateness & appeal.
HEARTHS OF RELIGION
S. Asia
 Hinduism
• 3rd largest after Christianity & Islam
• Monotheistic or polytheistic
• Ethnic religion – appeals primarily to one group of people living in one
place.
• Do not actively seek converts
• Dates back over 4,000 years
• No single founder, theology, or agreement on its origins
• Recognize the sacredness of the Vedas - texts that make up the sacred books
• Karma
• Doctrines are closely tied to Indian society's caste system
• Sacred River – Ganges River
 Buddhism
• Splintered from Hinduism over 2500 years ago
• Reaction to questions about Hinduism’s teachings
• Prince Siddhartha – Buddha
• Preached salvation could be attained by anyone
• Knowledge; elimination of greed, craving, & desire; complete honesty; & never
hurting another person or animal
• Various branches have an estimated 347 million adherents
• Mahayana & Theravada claiming most adherents
• Universalizing religion
• Nonevangelical
 Diffusion of…
• Hinduism migrated from present-day Pakistan to the Ganges River.
• Diffused throughout S Asia & into SE Asia.
• First attached itself to traditional faiths & then slowly replaced them.
• Over the last two centuries, through migration
• During colonialism, relocation diffusion to British colonies
• Buddhism first spread due to Emperor Asoka
• Sent missionaries to distant peoples
• Spread as far south as Sri Lanka
• Later advanced to Mediterranean, Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, &
Indonesia over 10 centuries.
• Changed as it grew & is strongly regional with different forms.
• Has become a global religion
HEARTHS OF RELIGION
Huang He River Valley
 Taoism
• Beginnings unclear
• Trace the religion to an older contemporary
of Confucius, Lao-Tsu
• Focused on the proper form of political
rule & on the oneness of humanity &
nature
• Gave rise to the concept of Feng Shui
• Nothing should be done to nature without
consulting the geomancers
• Virtues are simplicity, spontaneity,
tenderness, & tranquility
• War should be avoided
 Confucianism
• Addressed the traditional Chinese tenets that included belief
in heaven & the existence of the soul, ancestor worship,
sacrificial rites, & shamanism
• Held that the meaning of life lay in the present
• Service to one’s fellow humans should supersede service
to spirits.
• Mainly a philosophy of life
• Had great & lasting impacts on Chinese life.
• Revered as a spiritual leader after his death
 Diffusion of…
• Confucianism diffused throughout East & SE Asia
• Has long influenced the practice of Buddhism
• Diffusion within China has been tempered by government efforts to
suppress religion
• Both so entrenched in Chinese culture that governments initiative have
not had desired effect.
• More recently, Chinese immigrants expanded influence in parts of SE
Asia, Europe, & N. America.
 Shintoism
• Ethnic religion
• Focuses particularly on nature & ancestor worship
• Japanese emperor made state religion in 19th century
• Animist religion
• Mostly found in Japan
HEARTHS OF RELIGION
Eastern Mediterranean
• Monotheistic
Judaism
• Ethnic
• Grew out of the belief system of the Jews about 4000 years ago
• Traditions lie in teachings of Abraham
• Not limited to contiguous territories
• Distributed through parts of Middle East & N. Africa, Russia, Ukraine, Europe,
& parts of North & South America
• Only country where this religion is the majority is Israel
• Three branches
• Reform – developed with objective of adjusting Judaism & practices to current
times
• Orthodox – sought to retain old precepts
• Conservative – less strictly orthodox, but not as liberal as reform.
 Diffusion of …
• Jewish diaspora – scattering of the Jews after Roman destruction of Jerusalem
• Now signifies the spatial dispersion of members of any ethnic group
• Zionism – idea of a homeland for the Jewish people
• Popular during the 19th century
• 1948
• UN created Israel and Palestine
• Many Jews have moved to Israel after establishment
• 2004 – 10,000 left former Soviet Union; 4000 Jews from Africa; over 2000 from
western Europe & North America each.
• 18 million Jews worldwide
• 40.5% US; 40.2 Israel
 Christianity
• Traced back to same hearth as Judaism
• Stems from a single founder, Jesus
• Teachings hold that Jesus was placed on Earth to teach people to live according to
God’s plan.
• Monotheistic
• Universalizing
• First split between Roman Catholicism & Eastern Orthodox
• Divided for purposes of government
• Roman Catholicism claims most adherents (more than 1 billion)
• 15th & 16th centuries lead to Protestant Reformation
 Diffusion of…
• Expansion combined with relocation diffusion
• Christianity declined in Western Europe after fall of the Roman Empire
• Contagious diffusion as religious ideas spread from coastal Ireland & Scotland
throughout western Europe
• Eastern Orthodox – contagious diffusion from the religion’s hearth in
Constantinople to north & northeast.
• Protestantism – contagious diffusion in several parts
• Hierarchical into northern & central Europe as political leaders converted
• Worldwide diffusion occurred during European colonialism
• Has always been characterized by aggressive & persistent proselytism
• Attempt to convert people to their beliefs.
 Islam
• Youngest of the major religions
• 2nd Largest to Christianity
• Monotheistic
• Traced back to a single founder, Muhammed
• Received the truth directly from Allah
• Precepts of Islam revised Judaic & Christian beliefs & traditions
• One god; earthly matters are profane; Omnipotent and omniscient
• 5 Pillars of Faith
• Two main branches – occurred almost immediate after death
• Sunni – great majority
• Shi’ite – concentrated in Iran
 Diffusion of…
• Converted Arabian Kings utilized armies to
spread faith across Arabian peninsula
• Diffused throughout North Africa
• Early 9th century included parts of Africa,
Europe, Arabia, Middle East, & present-day
Pakistan
• Through trade, later spread across Indian Ocean
• Established new secondary hearths &
worked to diffuse contagiously
• Recent diffusion into Europe, S. Africa, and
the Americas has largely been through
migration
• Relocation diffusion
 Indigenous & Shamanist
• Indigenous religions – reverence for nature, passed through family units & groups
(tribes) of indigenous people
• No central tenet or belief
• Grouped because they share the same pressures from diffusion of global religions
• Shamanism – community faith in which people follow their shaman (religious
leader)
• Appeared at various times to various peoples in Africa, Native America, SE Asia,
& E Asia
• Traditional religion
 Religious Landscapes
• Marks cultural landscapes with houses of worship, cemeteries, icons,
stores for religious goods, sacred sites
• Pilgrimage – act of voluntary travel to a religious/sacred site
• Sacred Sites
• Jerusalem – sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims
• Hinduism & Buddhism – pilgrimages follow prescribed routes.
• Hinduism – temples & shrines are sacred
• Buddhism – Bodhi tree
• Christianity – medieval churches, cathedrals, or monasteries
• Islam – Mosque with towering minarets. Holy Kaaba in the Grand
Mosque
 Religious Conflicts
• Usually involve more than differences in spiritual practices & beliefs
• Functions as a symbol of a wider set of cultural & political differences.
• Interfaith boundaries – boundaries between the world’s major faiths
• Subject to potentially divisive cultural forces – particularly when people see their
religious differences as a source of social division in their country
• Intrafaith boundaries – boundaries within a single major faith
• Include divisions between Christian Protestants & Catholics, Muslim Sunni &
Shi'ite
 Places of Religious Conflict
• Jerusalem – Muslims & Jews
• Nigeria – Muslims & Christians
• Yugoslavia – Muslims, Eastern Orthodox, & Roman Catholic
• Ireland – Protestant & Catholic
• Religious Fundamentalism – born out of frustration over the perceived breakdown
of society’s mores & values, lack of religious authority, failure to achieve economic
goals, etc.
• Holds religious beliefs as nonnegotiable & uncompromising.
• Religious extremism – fundamentalism carried to the extreme
• Christianity
• Judaism
• Islam