chapter 6 religion -...
TRANSCRIPT
Chapter 6 – 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)
Universalizing religions
global appealing to all people
regardless of location or culture
Ex. Christianity , Islam , Buddhism
Ethnic religions
one group of people living in one
place.
26% of population
Tribal (Sometimes)
Animism
Universalizing
• Appeal to people everywhere
• Individual founder (prophet)
• Message diffused widely
(missionaries)
• Followers distributed widely.
• Holidays based on events in
founder’s life.
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.
PRINCIPAL WORLD RELIGIONS
CATEGORIES OF RELIGION
Universalizing:
Buddhism
Christian
Islam
Ethnic:
Judaism
Hindu
Shinto
Tribal:
Animism
Shamanism
World Patterns 1970 2002
Christian 933 m 2.0 b
Islam 503 m 1.3 b
Hindu 458 m 900 m
Buddhism 180 m 360 m
Judaism 14 m 14 m
Secular 850 m
Measure of affiliation
More than ½ world population adheres
to universalizing religions
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.
Origin and Diffusion
Palestine (modern Israel)
Messiah: Jesus
3 Branches
Roman Catholic 51%
Southwest & East Europe.
Protestant 24%
Northwest Europe
Eastern Orthodox 11%
East and Southeast Europe
Most practiced religion in Africa
Basic Precepts
Belief in One God
Father, Son & Holy Spirit
30 C.E.
Covenant (contract) with God
New Testament
Belief in Jesus Christ and his
teachings
Salvation is by grace
Believers Heaven with everlasting life
Conversion of others (proselytize)
• Catholicism - largest branch
• Headed by the Pope
• direct link to God
• Ceremonial - 7 sacraments
• baptism, marriage, Eucharist,
etc.
• Very traditional
CHRISTIANITY SPREADS
Hierarchical Diffusion
Emperor Constantine
Roman Empire
Embraced Christianity
Relocation Diffusion
Missionaries
Migration
Settlement of Americas, Australia &
New Zealand
CHRISTIANITY BRANCHES
Protestantism
1517 Reformation era
No Pope needed
All Direct link to God
Grace
Grace through faith
No Sacraments
Sins forgiven through prayers
Spread though N. Europe and England
1466 Gutenberg Bible & the printing
press
CHRISTIANITY BRANCHES
Eastern Orthodoxy
5th Century split
Rivalry between Pope and Patriarch of
Constantinople (Istanbul)
Rome remained center for Roman
Catholicism
Rejected Roman Catholicism doctrine
1054 officially split
National Churches
Russian, Greek, Serbian Orthodox, etc.
CHRISTIANITY IN NORTH AMERICA
Roman Catholic
93% Latin America
40% in North America
Protestant
82 million members in
the United States.
Baptist largest with 37
million.
Paris
Sacramento
Vermont
Origin and Diffusion
Mecca, Muhammad
Submission to Allah
Branches
Sunni (majority)
Largest branch in most Muslim
countries in Southwest Asia and
North Africa
83 % of all Muslims
Shiite
Greatly concentrated in the
Middle Eastern countries of Iran,
Azerbaijan, Iraq, Oman, and
Bahrain
16% of all Muslims
ISLAM BASICS
• Basic Precepts
• Founder - Prophet Muhammad
• Submission to God (Allah)
• Lineage
• Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, &
Mohammed (different lineage)
• Holy Book
• Koran
• Built on Old Testament
• Five pillars of faith
• Creed “There is no God but Allah”
• Prayer 5 times a day facing Mecca
• Giving to the poor
• Fasting Month of
Ramadan
• Pilgrimage to Mecca
Art of beautiful handwriting
Living things in art was not allowed
So artists turned to calligraphy to express
themselves.
Muhammad’s successors
followers into armies
led a conquest to spread the
religion over an extensive area
of…
Africa
Asia
Europe
Relocation diffusion
Missionaries to sub-Saharan
Africa & Southeast Asia
Turkey
Uzbekistan
Burkina Faso
Granada
Cordoba
• Origin and Diffusion
• Founder: Siddhartha Gautama
• Branches
• Theravada
• 38%
• Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri
Lanka, and Thailand
• Mahayana
• 56%
• Zen
• China, Japan, and Korea
• Vajrayana
• 6%
• Tibet & Mongolia
BUDDHISM BASICS
• Basic Precepts
• Buddha - the enlightened one
• Nirvana - highest degree of
consciousness
• 4 noble truths
• Life involves suffering
• Cause of suffering is desire
• Extinguish desire
• Nirvana reached through 8 fold path
BUDDHISM BASICS
•Basic Precepts
• Individuals choose the “Middle
Path”
• Buddhist believe:
• not in any God, blind faith, or savior
• what is created is impermanent
• True Permanent Absolute Reality
• uncreated, unborn, permanent
bliss of Nirvana
BUDDHISM SPREADS
Diffused slowly
Origin in Northeast India.
Emperor Asoka
Magadhan Empire (273 to 232 B.C.).
Missionaries sent to territories
neighboring the empire.
Buddhism introduced to China
Trade routes in the first century A.D.
Origin & Diffusion - unknown
Collection of scriptures 1500BC -
500AD
Not widely diffused
Almost exclusive to India
Oldest religion in Asia (1500 B.C)
No authority or holy book (ancient
scriptures)
Polytheistic (perceived)
Numerous Gods
Yet one reality
Brahman - one God
HINDUISM BASICS
Basic Precepts
Caste: The class or distinct hereditary
order into which a Hindu is assigned
according to religious law.
Brahman (manifestations)
Vishnu (preserver)
Shiva (destroyer)
Shakti (mother god)
HINDUISM BASICS Basic Precepts
Maya - forms, categories, structures are
an illusion from our perspective
Reincarnation - chain of rebirths of each
soul
Law of Karma - “is the form of creation,
where from all things have their life”
(life’s baggage)
Moksha - break the bonds of karma;
experience that everything, including
ourselves, is Brahman
Origin and Diffusion
Ethnic Religion (origins of Christianity)
Diaspora
In 70 A.D., Romans forced Jews to
disperse throughout the world.
Ghetto
During the Middle Ages, a neighborhood
in a city set up by law to be inhabited
only by Jews.
Christianity and Islam find some of
their roots in Judaism.
JUDAISM BASICS
Basic Precepts
Belief in One God
Torah - original 5 chapters of Bible
Prophecy of Moses
Coming of the Messiah still to come
Atonement accomplished by sacrifices,
penitence & good deeds
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
SYNCRETISM The mixing of two or more religions that
creates unique rituals, artwork, and
beliefs.
Examples
Christianity and indigenous beliefs in the
Americas, Africa, and Asia.
Caribbean Voodoo (Haiti, Louisiana)
Christianity in Indigenous Latin
American
OTHERS
Secularization
Large groups of people who claim no
allegiance to any church
Ex. American Cities and Europe
Fundamentalism
leading to increasingly large groups
of people who claim there is only one
way to interpret worship.
Ex. Islamic Nations
Confucianism
moral code
Daoism
philosophy of harmony &
balance
Shintoism
Japanese traditional religion
SACRED SPACE Places of worship
Physically anchor religion to landscape.
Christian Church
More significant than other religions
Belief that building is the house of God.
Traditionally largest & tallest building in a
community.
Prominent location
Ex. Square or center of town
No single architectural style
Bahá’í Houses of Worship
Dispersed to different continents
Open to adherents of all religions
WESTERN WALL - JERUSALEM
SACRED SITE – CHRISTIANITY CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY – BETHLEHEM
EASTERN ORTHODOX CHURCHES ARE ORNATE TOPPED BY ONION-SHAPED DOMES.
BYZANTINE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN?
Muslim Mosques
Space for community assembly
Not viewed as a sanctified place
Attention to directions
Pulpit at end of a courtyard faces Makkah.
Minaret, a tower where a man known as a
muezzin summons people to worship.
Buddhist Pagodas
Tall many-sided towers arranged in a series
of tiers, balconies, and slanting roofs.
Contain relics
Portion of Buddha’s body or clothing.
Not designed for congregational worship.
SACRED SPACE BUDDHISM Cities and places associated with the
founder’s life
Not close proximity of each other
Not needed to be related to physical
environment
Buddhism and Islam
Emphasis on identifying shrines
Marking locations of important events
in the life of Buddha or Muhammad.
Pilgrimages
Journeys for religious purposes, are
incorporated in Islamic doctrine.
Holy Places in Islam
Holiest locations are in cities associated
with Prophet Muhammad.
Makkah (Mecca)
Birthplace of Muhammad.
Holiest object in the Islamic
landscape—al-Ka’ba—a cube like
structure encased in silk that stands
in Islam’s largest mosque, Masjid
al-Haram.
Second-most-holy place is Madinah
(Medina).
Muhammad’s tomb is in Madinah.
Shrine which houses a sacred stone
Stone believed to be the location of
Muhammad’s ascent to Heaven
PUTRAJAYA MOSQUE IN MALAYSIA (PUTRA MEANS CENTER AND JAYA MEANS ROAD)
SACRED SPACE HINDUISM Hindu Landscape
Tied to physical geography of India
Mt. Kailas is home to Siva.
Holiest places are riverbanks and coastlines.
Hindus believe that they achieve purification
by bathing in holy rivers
Ex. Ganges River
Pollution problems
1 billion liters of untreated raw sewage
Inadequate cremation procedures
contribute to partially burnt corpses floating
in river
45% of people who take a dip in the river
regularly have skin or stomach ailments.
Solstice
Special significance in some ethnic
religions
Stonehenge is a prominent remnant
of a pagan structure aligned so that
sun rises between two stones on
solstices.
SACRED SPACE – DEAD Disposing of the Dead
Climate, topography, and religious doctrine
combine to create differences in practices to
shelter the dead.
Burial
Christians, Muslims, and Jews
Bury the deceased in cemeteries.
Cemeteries were typically only public
open space in congested urban places
prior to the 19th century.
Cremation
Hindus wash the bodies of the deceased
with water from the Ganges River first,
then burn them with a slow fire on a
funeral pyre.
Calendar
Holidays
Ramadan (Islam): part of five pillars
of faith
Easter (Christian): resurrection of
Jesus
Ethnic Religions tied to Agriculture
Toponyms
Names also come from religion
Utopian – Mormons
Utah
RELIGIONS ORGANIZING SPACE
Hierarchical Religions
Well-defined Geographic structure
Organizes territory into local
administrative units.
Roman Catholic Church - Diocese
Headed by a leader who is
accountable to the next higher-
ordered leader.
Locally Autonomous Religions
Islam
No religious hierarchy
No formal territorial organization
RELIGIOUS TERRITORIAL CONFLICTS
Religion versus Government Policies
Religion is element of cultural
diversity
Religious fundamentalism
a literal interpretation and strict
adherence to basic principles of a
religion, has spurred more intense
conflict recently.
Taliban versus Western Values
Taliban’s control of Afghanistan’s
government in the 1990s led to strict
laws opposing Western values.
“Western, non-Islamic” leisure
activities banned
Ex: Soccer stadiums converted to
settings for executions and
floggings.
RELIGIOUS TERRITORIAL CONFLICTS Religious Wars in Ireland
A small faction chose to join the United
Kingdom when Ireland became independent
in 1937.
46 percent protestant and 40 percent
Roman Catholic (2001)
Roman Catholics have been victimized
discriminatory practices, such as exclusion
form higher-paying jobs and better
schools.
Belfast, the capital city, is highly segregated.
Protests by Roman Catholics began in 1968
with bloodshed of both Protestants and
Roman Catholics.
RELIGIOUS TERRITORIAL CONFLICTS
Middle East
Conflict in the Middle East is among the
world’s longest standing.
2,000 years of fighting
Judaism: claim the Promised Land
Islam: The third holiest city to
Muslims, because it is believed to be
where Muhammad ascended into
heaven.
Christianity: The major events in
Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection
occurred there.
RELIGIOUS TERRITORIAL CONFLICTS Conflicting Perspectives of the Holy
Land
1973
Palestinians emerged as Israel’s
principal opponent.
Palestinians viewed themselves as the
legitimate rulers of Israel.
Biggest obstacle to peace in the
Middle East is the status of Jerusalem.
Peace will likely not be possible, if one
religion has political control over
Jerusalem.