* Religions come from elements of the physical environment. Religions modify the landscape. Things to know about religions: 1)People care deeply about

* Religions come from elements of the physical environment.

• Religions modify the landscape.

Things to know about religions:

1)People care deeply about their religion

2)Some religions are designed to appeal to all people

3)Religious values are important to understand people

4)Most religions require exclusive adherence

5)People take their religion with them when they move

Where are Religions Distributed?

• Universalizing religions: attempt to appeal to all people all over the world.

• Ethnic Religion: appeals primarily to one group of people living in one place.


• Universalizing religions

– Christianity

– Islam

– Buddhism

• Each is divided into a branch, a denomination, and a sect.


• Branch– A large and fundamental division of a religion

• Denomination– A division of a branch that unites a number of

local congregations in a single legal and administrative body

• Sect– a relatively small group that has broken away

from an established denomination


• Christianity

– 2 billion adherents, more than any other religion

• Branches of Christianity

– Roman Catholic

– Protestant

– Eastern Orthodox


• Christianity in the Western Hemisphere– North America 90 percent of people are

Christian– 93% of Latin America is Catholic– 29% of North America is Catholic– Baptists are the largest protestant group in the

U.S.– Other protestant groups are Methodist,

Pentecostal, and Lutheran


• Smaller branches of Christianity– Coptic Church of Egypt and the Ethiopian

Church– The Armenian Church– Maronites– Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints


• Islam– Religion of 1.3 billion people on Earth– Islam has five pillars of faith

• Branches of Islam– Sunni – 83% of Muslims– Shiite

• Islam in North America and Europe– 5% of Europe’s population– 5 million Muslims in the U.S. and Canada


• Buddhism– 400 million adherents around the world– Has the Four Noble Truths

• Branches of Buddhism– Mahayana– Theravada– Tantrayana

• Buddhists are hard to classify because Buddhism is not an exclusive religion.


• Other Universalizing Religions– Sikhism– Baha’i


• Ethnic Religions– Hinduism

• Third largest Religion on Earth• India• No central authority or holy book• Vishnu, Krishna, Siva, Shakti

Where are Religions Distributed?• Other Ethnic Religions

– Confucianism• Teachings of Confucius• Rooted in the traditional values of China

– Daoism (Taoism)• Dao cannot be comprehended

– Shintoism• Ethnic religion of Japan

– Judaism• Believe in one all-powerful god

– Ethnic African Religions• Animists

Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions?

• Origin of Religions– Christianity

• Teachings of Jesus• Four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John• Jesus died on the cross

– Catholicism• Headed by the Pope

– Eastern Orthodoxy• Split from Roman Catholics in 1054

– Protestantism• The reformation headed by Martin Luther


• Origin of Islam– Based on the same story as Judaism and

Protestantism.• Muslims believe in Abraham’s second wife and son• One of Isaac’s descendents was Muhammed.• Muhammed was a prophet of god

– Islam split• Shiites and Sunnis disagree over the line of

succession in Islamic leadership• Uthman was Caliph. After his assassination, Ali

became Caliph. Shiites support Ali.


• Origin of Buddhism– Founded by Siddhartha Gautama (563 BC)– Siddhartha had been a rich kid.– Siddhartha became the “Buddha” and spent the

next 45 years preaching– Mahayana vs. Theravada


• Origin of other Universalizing Religions– Sikhism

• Founded by Guru Nanak about 500 years ago• The Holy Granth of Enlightenment

– Baha’i• Established in Iran in the 19th century• Execution in 1850• Baha’u’llah the prophet of Baha’i


• Origin of Hinduism, an ethnic religion

– No founder

– Existed prior to recorded history

– Earliest documents were written about 1500 B.C.


• Diffusion of Religions

• Diffusion of Christianity

– Relocation Diffusion: Missionaries

– Contagious Diffusion: Holy Roman Empire

– Hierarchical Diffusion: Emperor Constantine

– Expansion Diffusion: Europeans moving


• Diffusion of Islam

– Expansion Diffusion: Conquering armies


– Contagious Diffusion: Traders to Indonesia


• Diffusion of Buddhism

– Hierarchical Diffusion: Asoka


– Contagious Diffusion: Traders to China,then to Korea, then to Japan


• Diffusion of other Universalizing religions

– Baha’i

• Contagious Diffusion: a temple on every continent

– Sikhism

• Relocation Diffusion: the division of Punjab


• Lack of Diffusion of Ethnic Religions• Lack missionaries to carry the message

– Mingling of Ethnic and Universalizing Religions• Africa merging ethnic religions and

Christianity• Buddhism and Shinto in Japan• Mauritius has three religions Hindu,

Islam, and Christianity. All brought there by others.


• Diffusion of Judaism, an exception

– Practiced in many places

– Disporia or Dispersion by the Romans

– Most Jews migrated to Europe

– Ghettos

– WWII


• Holy Places

– Different meanings for universal and ethnic religions

• Pilgrimage: making a trip to a holy site


• Holy Places in Universalizing Religions– Buddhist Shrines

• Lumbini in Southern Nepal, Bodh Gaya, Deer Park in Sarnath, Kusinagara, Sravasti, Samkasya, Rajagrha, Vaisali

– Holy places in Islam• Mecca home to Al—Ka’ba, the Great Mosque• Medina home to muhammand’s tomb

– Holy places in Sikhism• Darbar Sahib – the Golden Temple

Lumbini in Nepal

Bodh Gaya

Deer Park in Sarnath


• Holy Places in Ethnic Religions

– Holy Places in Hinduism

• Riverbanks and Coastlines

• The Ganges


• Cosmogony in Ethnic Religions

– Cosmogony is a set of religious beliefs about the origin of the universe.

• Confucianism – Yin and Yang

• Christianity and Islam – God created everything

• Christianity and Islam and man’s purpose

• Animists – God is mystical


• The Calendar

– The Calendar in Ethnic religions

• More clustered distribution

• Celebrations of the seasons

• Rituals

• Sacred moments


• The Jewish Calendar

– Based on agriculture

– Rosh Hashanah

– Yom Kippur

– Sukkot

– Pesach (passover)

– Shavout

– Lunar rather than solar calendar


• The Solstice– Winter– Summer


• The Calendar in Universalizing Religions

– Islamic calendar

• Lunar calendar

• Ramadan

– Baha’i calendar

• 19 months of 19 days

• A feast is held on the first day of each month


• Christian holidays– Easter– Christmas

• Buddhist holidays– Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and death

• Sikh holidays– Births and deaths of the ten gurus.– Day of installing the Holy Granth

Why do Religions Organize Space in Distinctive Patterns?

• Places of Worship– Christian churches

• Source of gathering• Often the largest, tallest building in a town• Important part of the religion

– Church Architecture• Modeled after basilica• No single style of church has dominated• Building materials are often local


• Places of Worship in other Religions– Muslim Mosques

• A gathering place to worship, not sanctified• Minaret

– Hindu Temples• House shrines for gods not for congregation

– Buddhist and Shintoist Pagodas• Contain something belonging to Buddha• Not meant for congregation

– Baha’i houses of worship• One on each continent. Open to everyone


• Sacred Space

– Disposing of the Dead

• Burial

–Christian, Muslim, and Jewish tradition

• Other methods

–Cremation

–Parsis (Zoroastrians)

–Disposal at sea (Micronesia)


• Religious Settlements

– Utopia

– Place Names


• Administration of Space– A Hierarchical Religion has a well defined

geographic structure and organizes territory into local administrative units.

– Roman Catholic Hierarchy• Parishes make a Diocese. The diocese is watched by

a Bishop. The Bishops report to an Archbishop. The archbishop heads a Province which is made of several diocese. The Archbishops report to the Pope who runs the show.

– The latter-day saints• Wards and Stakes which get redrawn


• Locally Autonomous Religions– Autonomous religions are self-sufficient

• Local Autonomy in Islam– No Hierarchy in Islam– Lots of communication and migration

• Protestant Autonomy– Congregations determine leadership– Presbyterian churches have low hierarchy– Lutherans, Episcopalians, and Methodists have

a hierarchy.– Judaism and Hinduism have no hierarchy

Why Do Territorial Conflicts Arise Among Religious Groups?

• Religion vs. Government Policies– Fundamentalism is a literal interpretation

and a strict adherence to basic principles of a religion.

– Fundamentalism allows a group to maintain a cultural identity.

– Many religious groups oppose government policies that would affect social change


• Religion vs. Social Change

– Taliban vs. Western Values

• Taliban in Afghanistan spread very strict laws as they saw them in the Koran

• Taliban banned all “Western” activities

• Taliban Destroyed Buddhist statues


• Religion vs. Social Change

– Hinduism vs. Social Equality

• Believes in a caste system

• Caste system has been around since 1500 bc

• You cannot change your caste


• Religion vs. Communism– Eastern Orthodox Christianity and lslam vs. The

soviet Union• Russian Orthodox Church, 1721• 1917 Bolshevik revolution• End of communist brought a resurgence of

religion– Buddhism vs. Southeast Asian Countries

• Destruction of Shrines• Self immolation in protest


• Religion Vs. Religion

– Religious wars in Ireland

• Northern Ireland

• Protestants vs. Roman Catholics

• IRA

• Ulster Defense Force


• Religion Vs. Religion– Religious wars in the Middle East

• Christians, Muslims, and Jews all value the “Holy Land”

• Jerusalem– Crusades between Christians and Muslims

• Arab army invaded Europe as far as France• Arabs controlled Spain until 1492• Crusades to take Jerusalem started in 1099


• Jews vs. Muslims in Palestine– Started in the 1930s– Continued in 1948– Wars in 1956, 1967, and 1973– Six day war in 1967– Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin 1979


• Conflict over the holy land: Palestinian Perspectives– Five groups consider themselves Palestinian– Israeli settlements– PLO– Hamas– What the Palestinians want


• Conflict over the holy land: Israeli Perspective– Jews surrounded by Muslims– Very small space– West Bank is the west bank of the Jordan River– Control of Jerusalem

Documents

* Religions come from elements of the physical environment. Religions modify the landscape. Things to know about religions: 1)People care deeply about