Religion

• Religion is a system of beliefs and practices that help people make sense of the universe and their place in it

• Why would people need to make sense of their world?

• Deity – a deity is a god• Monotheistic – a belief in one (mono) god• Polytheistic – a belief in more than one god• Atheistic – a belief that there are no gods

Religion and identity

• How does religion shape the identity of a person

• ?

How does religion shape the identity of a community?

• Ritual – behaviors regularly practiced that often have personal or symbolic meaning

• Piety – means to be deeply devoted to a religion• Two types of religions and the difference between

the two is how they get followers and at what scale

• Universalizing religion – – (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Sikhism) these are

closely associated with a key individual who established the religion.

– Welcomes all people as potential members– May actively work to get converts

• Ethnic religion– Membership in an ethnic religion is usually

conferred by birth– Rarely use missionaries to increase numbers– Judaism, Hinduism, Shintoism (Japan)

• Civil religion– When religious ideas, symbols and rituals are part

of the political culture of an area.

Abrahamic Faiths

• Religions that have a historical association with Abraham

• Abraham lived in the Middle East in the 19th century BCE

• Judaism, Christianity and Islam are often classified as Abrahamic faiths

• Buddhism and Hinduism are Vedic faiths. The Vedas are India’s oldest sacred writings and influenced the development of Hinduism

• Buddhism separated from Hinduism

Judaism

• 13 million Jews world wide• Israel is the only country in which the majority

of the population is Jewish• Abraham is the patriarch (male head)• Torah is holy book

Christianity

• Largest world religion with 2.3 billion adherents• Promises forgiveness and eternal life through

belief in Jesus• Many different forms of Christianity• Western Christianity – Roman Catholics based in

Rome. Broke into Protestant faiths in 1500’s• Eastern Christianity – Eastern Orthodoxy based

Constantinople (Istanbul)

Islam

• Second largest religion• 1/5 of world’s population calls themselves Muslims• Fastest growing religion in the world• Muhammad is the founder. Born in 570 CE in Mecca

(Saudi Arabia)• God is called Allah• Holy book – Qur’an • Sunnis – largest and most wide spread. Believed that

after Muhammad’s death someone outside his family could succeed him

Islam

• Shiites – believed that Muhammad’s successor should be someone from his family.

Hinduism

• Largest ethnic religion in the world. • Most Hindus live in South Asia, specifically India• Great diversity of religious beliefs and practices• Belief in reincarnation – existence is a cycle and

souls are immortal. • Karma is an important element of reincarnation• Brahman is the supreme spiritual source• Hinduism has a large number of gods and goddess,

each expressing different qualities of Brahman

Buddhism

• Prevalent in China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. (also mixes with Confucianism)

• Founder is Siddhartha Gautama (6th century)• He had a privileged life and when he saw

suffering he felt the need to give up his life of comfort and seek a way to end human suffering

• He attained enlightenment by meditating (Buddha means enlightened one)

• Oldest Buddhist document is the Tripitaka

Buddhism

• Buddhists believe that suffering is linked to reincarnation and that to escape the cycle of reincarnation you need to achieve Nirvana

• The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism are:– Life brings suffering– Desire causes this suffering– This suffering can be overcome and nirvana can be attained– Disciplining the mind and body by practicing proper thinking

and behavior ends this suffering and leads to nirvana• Three major branches of Buddhism – Theravada,

Mahayana and Tantrayana.

Sikhism• Smallest of the universalizing religions (23 million adherents)• Guru is an inspired religious teacher• Sikh means disciple• Guru Nanak (1469-1538) founded Sikhism• Sikhs believe that Guru Nanak experienced a divine (god like)

revelation and began teaching and establishing Sikh communities• Is influenced by Buddhism and Islam• Believes in one creator and emphasizes the importance of karma• Holy book is – Guru Guanth Sahib - contains hymns revealed to

Guru Nanak and other gurus.