November 9, 2012

What is religion?Religions change and evolve over timeReligions are spread through interaction

Cultural LandscapeThe cultural landscape reflects religious

preferences, by houses of worship, cemeteries, shrines, and statues

It is reflected in the sale of alcohol, dress, and personal habitsEx: Pakistan requires judges to wear a beard

ReligionA system of beliefs and practices that

attempts to order life in terms of culturally perceived ultimate priorities

It determines how people “should” behaveIn some societies, religion determines

behaviors during waking hours, and even in sleep (some sleeping positions can be sinful)

Most religions have prayers and rituals

RitualsRituals mark important events in people’s

livesBirthsDeathComing of ageMarriageCelebration of holidaysPrayer

SecularismSome societies are predominantly secular, or

non-religiousEven then, religion seeps into art, history,

customs, beliefs, and even the calendarWhether secular or not, it is important to have

a basic understanding of religionReligion is one of the most complex and

controversial aspects of culture

Early ReligionsMost religions can be classified into one of

three broad groups:MonotheisticPolytheisticAnimistic

History of ReligionUp until 3500 years ago, most religions were

polytheistic or animisticZoroastrianism was the first monotheistic

religion and laid the foundation for Judaism, Christianity, and IslamZoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy

based on the belief that there is a single all-powerful good god (Zoroastro), and there is also an evil being trying to destroy good

Diffusion of MonotheismJudaism was the second (or first) great

monotheistic religionHowever, it was not until Christianity and

Islam emerged that monotheism spreadBy 500 BCE, there were four hearths of

religion:Greece (Greek Philosophy)India (Hinduism)Israel (Judaism)China (Chinese philosophies)

World Distribution of Religions

Fig. 6-1: World religions by continent.