Chapter 6.1: Where Are Religions Distributed?

• Human Geographers study where religions are located and why they spread

• Scale (globalization vs. local diversity) causes most religious tensions in the world– People draw their core beliefs from

religion– Some are designed for global appeal,

while others are intended for geographically limited areas

– Religious values affect how cultures organize their landscapes

– Most require exclusive adherence so global religions make people abandon local beliefs

– Migrants take religions to new locations. While they may learn a new language they often keep their old religion

• Identification with a religion leads to pride, but can also lead to conflict with other religions

Where Are Religions Distributed?• There are two types of religion: Universalizing and

Ethnic• Universalizing religions: attempt to be global, appeal to

all people wherever they are in the world not just one location of culture

• Three major universalizing religions: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism

World Distribution of Religions

Fig. 6-1: World religions by continent.

• Each religion is divided in three ways– Branches- large

fundamental division within a religion (Catholic, Protestant)

– Denominations- a division of a branch that unites local congregations (Baptist, Lutheran, etc.)

– Sects- small group that has broken away from a religion

• Christianity– Has 2 billion adherents and widest distribution– Three major branches: Roman Catholic, Protestant,

Eastern Orthodox• Roman Catholic- Southwest/East Europe• Protestant- Northwest Europe• Orthodox- East/Russia

– In the Western Hemisphere• 50% of N. America is Protestant (Baptist, Lutheran)• 95% of S. America is Roman Catholic

– Some smaller branches exist in Asia, Middle East, and Africa

Christian Branches in Europe

Fig. 6-2: Protestant denominations, Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy are dominant in different regions of Europe—a result of many historic interactions.

Christian Branches in the U.S.

Fig. 6-3: Distribution of Christians in the U.S. Shaded areas are counties with more than 50% of church membership concentrated in Roman Catholicism or one of the Protestant denominations.

• Islam– 1.3 billion in Middle East, N. Africa, and

Asia– Islam means “submission to the will of

god”– Five major pillars of faith

1. There is only one true god and Muhammad is his messenger

2. Muslims must pray five times a day facing Mecca

3. Must give generously to charity for purification/growth

4. Must fast during Ramadan for self purification

5. Must make a pilgrimage to Mecca– Two major branches: Sunni and Shia– Dominant in Middle East and Asia, also a

minority religion in Europe and America

• Buddhism– 365 million people, mostly in China/Southeast

Asia– Four Noble Truths (major tenets)

• All living beings must endure suffering• Suffering is caused by desire to live and leads to

reincarnation• Goal of all existence is to escape suffering and

endless cycle of reincarnation into Nirvana which is achieved through self-purification

• Nirvana is attained through the eightfold path which is rightness of belief, resolve, speech, action, livelihood, effort, thought, and meditation

– Hard to make an accurate count since there are not many Buddhist institutions

– It is not an exclusive religion like Christianity and Islam

Ethnic Religions

• Hinduism– 97% live in India– Believe it is up to the individual to

decide how to worship God– You alone are responsible for your

own actions and must suffer any consequences

– No central authority or holy book, you select your own rituals

• Others include Confucianism, Daoism, Judaism, Animism

Chapter 6.2: Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions?

Origin of Religions• Universalizing religions have precise

places of origin based on events in the life of man

• Ethnic religions have unknown or unclear origins, not tied to historic individuals

• Origin of Universalizing religions– Christianity: founded on the

teachings of Jesus who died around 30 AD in Jerusalem

– Islam: founded by Muhammad around 610 AD in Mecca

– Buddhism: founded by Siddhartha Gautama near present day Nepal

• Origin of Ethnic Religion– Hinduism existed prior

to written history – Earliest surviving

Hindu documents are dated around 1500 BC

Diffusion of Religions

• Diffusion of Universalizing Religions– Hearths of the three

largest universal religions center around 3 individuals

– All three of these hearths originate in Asia

– Diffusion of Christianity• Spread through relocation, hierarchical,

and contagious diffusion• First through relocation: missionaries

carried the religion through the Roman Empire

• Contagious: spread through daily contact between believers and non-believers (Pagans)

• Hierarchical: the emperor Constantine converts and encourages spread.

– Emperor Theodosius makes it the official religion in 380 AD

• Later spread to North/South America through relocation again

Diffusion of Christianity

Fig. 6-5: 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 Islam• Originally spread

through the conquest of Muslim armies including North Africa, southern Spain, South Eastern Europe, Turkey

• Later spread to Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia through relocation diffusion and trade

Diffusion of Islam

Fig. 6-6: Islam diffused rapidly and widely from its area of origin in Arabia. It eventually stretched from southeast Asia to West Africa.

– Diffusion of Buddhism• Spread more slowly than

the other two• The Magadhan Empire

begins the spread in 257 BC when it sends missionaries to Kashmir, Burma and other parts of India

• Merchants introduce the religion to China, which allows missionaries to spread the religion.

– Later spreads to Korea and then Japan

Diffusion of Buddhism

Fig. 6-7: Buddhism diffused gradually from its origin in northeastern India to Sri Lanka, southeast Asia, and eventually China and Japan.

• Lack of Diffusion of Ethnic Religions– Most ethnic religions have very

limited, if any, diffusion– In some places they actually mix with

universalizing religions (Africa-Christianity)

– They can diffusion through relocation if the new region does not force them to change religions

– Judaism is an exception to this rule• It is practiced in many nations and did

not even have a home until Israel was founded 1948

Holy Places• Religions sometimes elevate

particular places to holy positions• Ethnic religions have less

distribution because its holy places are derived from the physical environment of its hearth

• Universalizing religion often grants holiness to the cities and other places in their founder’s life, and these areas do not have to be near one another

• Universalizing Holy Places– Buddhists: 8 places are holy

due to important events in Buddha’s life (Birthplace, first sermon, death)

– Islam: cities associated with the life of Muhammad (birth: Mecca, Medina: his first followers)

Holy Sites in Buddhism

Fig. 6-9: Most holy sites in Buddhism are locations of important events in Buddha’s life and are clustered in northeastern India and southern Nepal.

• Ethnic Holy Places– Tied very closely to physical

geography of one place– Cosmogony: set of religious

beliefs concerning the origin of the universe.

– Events in the physical universe are more likely to be incorporated into the principles of an ethnic religion (animists, Confucianism).

• Universal religions tend to think God is more powerful than nature.

The Calendar

• Ethnic religions tend to celebrate holidays based on the seasons, while universalizing religions center around the founder

• Ethnic Religions– Often celebrate the seasons and their changes– Rituals often pray for favorable environmental

conditions or thanks for past farming success– Jewish calendar: two holiest days are in Autumn

• Rosh Hashanah - New Year• Yom Kippur - Day of Atonement - this corresponds with the

planting season– Many ethnic religions recognize the winter solstice

• shortest day of the year

• Universalizing Religions– Celebrates events of

the founder’s life– Easter, Christmas,

Ramadan

Chapter 6.3: Why Do Religions Organize Space in Distinctive Patterns?

Places of Worship • All major religions have some form of

buildings for spiritual use• Christian Churches

– The Christian landscape has a very high density of churches

– Plays a more critical role than buildings in other religions

– Believe the structure itself is an image of god

– Traditionally the church was the largest building in the center of a town, still applies in rural areas

– Churches are very expensive, requires donations from members and rich congregations have more ornate churches

• Muslim Mosques– Considered to be a place for

community assembly– It is not viewed so much as a

holy place as it is a place for the community to gather and pray together

– Mosques are usually found in larger cities, in small villages a simple place is chosen for this role

– It is organized around a central courtyard and the pulpit always faces Mecca

– A distinctive feature is the minaret, a tower where the Muzzan summons people to worship

• Hindu Temples– Most Asian ethnic and

universal religions place little emphasis on collective worship

– Important religious functions are more likely to be done in the home in their own shrines

– Hindu temples are home to one or more god and are funded by wealthy individuals

– These temples contain a dimly lit interior room with a statue of the god and perhaps room for a purification pool

– There are no organized services, people come to worship or meditate as they please

Sacred Space• Religious land use is typically

for burial of the dead and religious settlements

• Burial– Christians, Muslims and

Jews typically bury their dead in cemeteries

– Hindus tend to cremate rather than bury.

• They first purify the body in the Ganges River.

• Religious Settlements– Most human settlements serve

economic purposes, but sometimes they are formed due to religion

– Examples include utopian settlements: an ideal community built around a religious way of life

– Oneida, New York and New Harmony, Indiana are examples of these communities

– Colonial settlements were not entirely planed for religious purposes, but Puritans tended to settle in such communities

Administration of Space

• Members of universalizing religions must be connected for communication and consistency of the religion

• Ethnic religions tend not to have these organized authorities

• Hierarchical Religions: have a well-defined geographic structure and organizes territory into administrative units– Roman Catholics– Pope- Archbishops

(province)- Bishops (diocese)- Priests (parish)

• Autonomous Religions: Self sufficient with little communication with other communities of that faith– Islam provides a great deal of

local autonomy– Has no formal hierarchy or

territory– Each member is expected to

participate equally in rituals – The exception to this is when the

government is run by and Islamic majority

– Migration to Mecca and a very explicit doctrine keep unity in the religion

• Judaism, and Hinduism also have no centralized authority

Chapter 6.4: Religious Conflict

Religion vs. Government• Government policies can come

into conflict with religious beliefs

• Religion vs. Social Change– In LDC’s, participation in

the global economy brings western influences into society

– Westerners do not consider economic development as incompatible with religious values, but many non-Christian religions do

– The Taliban• Take over Afghanistan in the late

1990’s• Impose very strict Islamic principles

on the nation• Men are beaten for shaving beards,

women stoned to death for adultery, homosexuals buried alive, women wearing nail polish have their fingers cut off

• Banned all western activities including TV, kite flying, and music.

– Soccer stadiums were converted into execution and flogging arenas

– Hinduism vs. Social Equality• The caste system divides India into four

groups: Brahmans (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaisyas (merchants), and Shudras (farm workers, very low group).

– Below these groups are the untouchables or descendants of the natives before Aryan conquest.

• Almost no socialization outside of your group, very few rights for untouchables and Shudras

• The British rulers and Christian missionaries fight to eliminate the system, succeed in abolishing the untouchable caste

– Eastern Orthodox Christianity vs. Communism

• With the Communist revolution in Russia in 1917, the Soviet Government eliminates the official church-state connection to the church

• Religious organizations are banned from social and cultural work and most East Orthodox Christians either abandon the religion or go underground

• With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, religions are once again spreading in Russia

Religion vs. Religion

• Conflict is most likely to occur between borders of major religions

• Two long-standing conflicts are in the Middle East and in Northern Ireland

• Religious Wars in the Middle East– Jews, Christians, and Muslims have

fought for control of this region for 2000 years

– Jews consider this area their holy land, Christians consider Jerusalem holy due to Jesus’ death/resurrection, and Muslims regard it as holy since Muhammad ascended to heaven here

Jerusalem

Fig. 6-14: The Old City of Jerusalem contains holy sites for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

– The Crusades• Muslims conquer most of the middle east during the 7th

century• 150 years of Christian led invasions of the holy land known as

the crusades

– Jews vs. Muslims in Palestine

• Divided by the United Nations following WWII into Jewish and Muslim parts

• A series of wars between Israel and its Arab neighbors leaves Israel with possession of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, which were originally given to the Palestinians

• Jewish settlements in these areas caused open violence between Palestinian groups and the Israelis