KEY ISSUES*WHERE ARE RELIGIONS DISTRIBUTED?

*WHY DO RELIGIONS HAVE DIFFERENT DISTRIBUTIONS?

*WHY DO RELIGIONS ORGANIZE SPACE IN DISTINCTIVE PATTERNS?

*WHY DO TERRITORIAL CONFLICTS ARISE AMONG RELIGIOUS GROUPS?

Chapter 6- The Cultural Landscape: Religion

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Geographic study of religion: highlighting the tension between scale, globalization, and local

diversity

People draw from their religion their core values and beliefs

Some religions are designed to appeal to people throughout the world, whereas others appeal to people in geographically limited areas

Religious values are important in understanding how people identify themselves, as well as understanding how they organize their landscapes

Most, but not all, religions require exclusive adherence

Like language, migrants take their religion with them, and while they learn the language of the new environment, they retain their religion

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

KI 1- Where Are Religions Distributed?

Geographers distinguish two types of religions: Universalizing religions: Seek to appeal to all people Ethnic religions: Appeal to a smaller group of people living in

one place

KI1-Where Are Religions Distributed?

Universalizing religions: Seek to appeal to all people

58% of the world’s population practices a universalizing religion Nearly 90% of the people living in the Western Hemisphere are

Christian 5% belong to other religions 6% belong to no religion

Christianity The largest world religion (about 2 billion adherents)

Many adherents in Europe, the Americas Three major branches

Roman Catholicism (51 percent) Protestant Christianity (24 percent) Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox (11 percent)

• Other, smaller branches of Christianity comprise 14 percent of all Christians

Distribution of Christians in the United States

Figure 6-2

KI1-Where Are Religions Distributed?

Universalizing religions (continued)

Islam The second-largest world religion (about 1.3 billion

adherents) Significant clusters in the Middle East, North Africa,

and South Asia• Half the world’s Muslims live in 4 countries outside the

middle east: Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India Two significant branches

Sunnis (83 percent)• The word Sunni comes from the Arabic for “people

following the example of Mohammad Shias or Shiites (16 percent)

• The word Shiite comes from the Arabic word for “sectarian” Core of Islamic belief = the five pillars

KI1-Where Are Religions Distributed?

Universalizing religions (continued)

Islam Core of Islamic belief = the five pillars

1. There is no god worthy of worship except the one God, the source of all creation, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.

2. Five times daily, a Muslim prays, facing the city of Makkah (Mecca) as a direct link to God.

3. A Muslim gives generously to charity as an act of purification and growth.

4. A Muslim fasts during the month of Ramadan as an act of self-purification.

5. If physically and financially able, a Muslim makes a pilgrimage to Makkah.

KI1- Where Are Religions Distributed?Universalizing religions (continued)

Buddhism About 400 million adherents (difficult to quantify)

Significant clusters in China, Southeast Asia Three branches

Mahayana (China, Japan, Korea) Theravada (Southeast Asia) Tantrayana (Tibet, Mongolia)

The Four Noble Truths 1. All living beings must endure suffering. 2. Suffering, which caused by desire to live, leads to

reincarnation 3. The goal of all existence is to escape from suffering and

the endless cycle of reincarnation into Nirvana, which is achieved through mental and moral self purification

4. Nirvana is attained through an Eightfold Path, which includes rightness of belief, resolve, speech, action, livelihood, effort, thought, and meditation.

KI1- Where Are Religions Distributed?

Ethnic religions: Appeal to a smaller group of people; clustered distribution Hinduism

The third-largest religion in the world (900 million adherents)

97 percent of Hindus are found in India, the rest in Nepal Many paths to spirituality. You may chose which is best for

you as long as you stay in harmony with your true nature. Path of knowledge Path of renunciation Path of devotion Path of action

Hinduism does not have a central authority or holy book There are no set rituals; you select those that fit you and

your station in life

KI1- Where Are Religions Distributed?

Ethnic religions (continued)

Other ethnic religions Confucianism (China)

Prescribed a series of ethical principles for the orderly conduct of daily life, such as following tradition: emphasized public service

Daoism (China) Following the mystical and spiritual aspects of life,

Daoists seek the “Way”, or Path. Daoists believe not everything is knowable.

Shinto (Japan) Acknowledge the divine in everything, including

rocks ,trees, mountains and certain animals Became a political cult under the reign of the Emperor

Meiji (1808-1912), when he declared himself divine

KI1- Where Are Religions Distributed?Ethnic religions (continued)

Other ethnic religions Judaism (today: the United States, Israel)

• 1/3 of the population of Jews live in the U.S., 1/3 live in Israel, 1/3 the rest of the world

The first monotheistic religion: belief in one all powerful God• Migrated from present day Iraq, to Canaan, (present day Israel),

4,000 years ago• Offered a sharp contrast to Polytheism, practiced by all the

neighboring people at the time of its inception• Jews consider themselves “chosen” or set apart by God to live

according to his ethical and moral principles, “The Ten Commandments”

Two of the three main universalizing religions find their roots in Judaism

Ethnic African religions Animism (belief inanimate objects in nature have

spirits)• 12% of the people in Africa follow traditional ethnic religions• Hard to classify due to a lack of written history or sacred texts• Botswana is the one place in Africa where the majority of the

population adheres to animism today

Ethnic Religions

Figure 6-4

Figure 6-5

Hinduism

Judaism

Religions of the United States

KI 2- Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions?

Origin of religions Universalizing: precise origins, tied to a specific founder

Christianity Founder: Jesus and his teachings

• Roman Catholics accept the teachings of the Bible, as well as the interpretations of those teachings by the church hierarchy, headed by the Pope in Rome

• Orthodoxy comprises the faith and practices of a collection of churches that arose in the eastern part of the Roman Empire in the 5th Century

• Protestantism is generally thought to have begun when Martin Luther (a Roman Catholic priest) ushered in the Reformation by nailing his 95 thesis or arguments to the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral on Oct. 31, 1517, demanding Reformation within the Church

Islam Prophet of Islam: Muhammad

Two branches: Sunni and Shiite go back to the earliest days of the religion and reflect a disagreement over the line of succession after the death of the prophet

Buddhism Founder: Siddhartha Gautama

Theravada, the oldest of the two largest branches, believes they are closest to Buddha’s original thinking

Mahayana, the other large branch, believes they can help more people because their approach is less demanding and more all encompassing

Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions?

Origin of religions Ethnic: unclear or unknown origins, not tied to a specific

founder Hinduism

No clear founder Earliest use of Hinduism = sixth century B.C.

• Referred to people living in what is now India Archaeological evidence dating from 2500 B.C.

• Earliest surviving Hindu documents were written around 1500 B.C.E.

• Aryan tribes invaded India from 1400 B.C.E. and brought with them the Indo European language and their religion

Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions?Diffusion of religions

Universalizing religions: The hearths where the 3 originated are based on key events in the lives of

the three key individuals All three were founded in Asia Followers transmitted the message to people living elsewhere, thus

defusing them across the globe

Christianity Diffuses via relocation and expansion diffusion Hearth was Palestine- Missionaries carried the religion along the Roman

Empire’s protected sea routes and excellent roads

Islam Diffuses to North Africa, South and Southeast Asia Islam diffused through Muslim armies conquering countries throughout

what is now the Middle East

Buddhism Slow diffusion from the core Emperor Asoka of the Magadham Empire became a Buddhist and helped

and sent missionaries into other parts of Asia spreading the religion

Diffusion of Universalizing Religions

Figure 6-6

Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions?Limited diffusion of ethnic religions

Universal religions usually compete with ethnic religions Ethnic religions lack missionaries dedicated to converting people

Examples of mingling: Christianity with African ethnic religions

Some African ethnic religions that honor ancestors have merged with Christian religions creating thousands of hybrid religions

Buddhism with Confucianism in China and with Shinto in Japan Japan has many people who claim both Shintoism and Buddhism.

The nation is unable to accurately identify the numbers: it could be 4 million or 100 million

Ethnic religions can diffuse with migration: adapting and adopting universal religions

Judaism = exception Historically Judaism has been practiced in may locations because of

the Jewish Diaspora in A.D. 70 Jews retained separate religious practices from the people they lived

among Ghetto; City neighborhoods defined by law to be inhabited only by

Jews.

Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions?

Holy places In universalizing religions

Buddhist shrines 8 places holy to Buddhists, they signify important events in

Buddha’s life Holy places in Islam = associated with the life of Muhammad

A pilgrimage, or hajj is expected of every healthy Muslim who can afford it to visit the holy sites associated with the life of Muhammad

In ethnic religions Ethnic religions are highly clustered because they are tied to the

physical environment Holy places in Hinduism = closely tied to the physical geography of

India Hindus believe they achieve purification by bathing in certain rivers

in India Cosmogony in ethnic religions

Ethnic religions acknowledge the relationship between humans and nature

Distinct principles that center around the origins of the universe and the laws that govern the universe

Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions?

Holy places in India for Hinduism

Figure 6-17

Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions?

The calendar In ethnic religions = celebration of the seasons

The Jewish calendar Judaism is classified in part as an ethnic religion because the

major holidays are based on events in the agricultural calendar of the Jewish Homeland

Agricultural holidays gained importance because they also coincided with events of the Exodus out of Slavery in Egypt

The solstice Many ethnic religions find importance in the Winter and

Summer Solstices Winter Solstice is the shortest time of daylight/Summer

Solstice, when the daylight is longest. In universalizing religions = celebration of the founder’s life

Holy days celebrate important events throughout the year Christian holy days have been incorporated into other, more

ancient holy festivals

Why Do Religions Organize Space in Distinctive Ways?

Places of worship Many types:

Christian churches, Muslim mosques, Hindu temples, Buddhist and Shinto pagodas, Bahá’í houses of worship

Figure 6-19

Why Do Religions Organize Space in Distinctive Ways?

Sacred space Disposing of the dead/honoring the dead

Important cultural moment; thought to be the original reason for early humans to settle in one place

Burial Christians, Muslims, and Jews establish cemeteries

Other ways of disposing of the dead Not all faiths bury their dead

• Hindus generally practice cremation Religious settlements

Buildings for worship and burial places are small-scale manifestations of religion on the landscape

In some cases the entire settlement reflects the religion of the people: Mormonism is an example

Religious place names Migrating Roman Catholics have left their imprint on the landscape by

assigning sacred names to settlements or toponyms

Religious Toponyms

Figure 6-21

Why Do Religions Organize Space in Distinctive Ways?

Administration of space Hierarchical religions: have well defined geographical

structures and organize territory into local administrative units Latter-day Saints

Strong organizational structure:• Wards (app. 750 pop., Wards combined into stakes (5,000 pop.)

Boundaries are redrawn with expanding populations Roman Catholics:

Area and population vary according to historical factors and distribution of Roman Catholics across the Earth’s surface• The Pope • Archbishops: heads a province, reports to the Pope• Bishop: administrates a diocese (geographic organization),

headquarters in the see, the largest city in the diocese• Priest: heads a parish, or local church, reports to the Bishop

Why Do Religions Organize Space in Distinctive Ways?

Administration of space (continued) Locally autonomous religions

Islam Has no religious hierarchy No formal territorial organization Mosque is for public ceremony Individuals accountable for their own observances (i.e.

prayer) Protestant denominations

Very in geographic structure from extremely autonomous, to somewhat hierarchical • Somewhat hierarchical: Episcopalian, Lutheran, and most

Methodist• Extremely autonomous: Baptist, United Church of Christ

Judaism and Hinduism have no centralized structure

Roman Catholic Hierarchy in the United States

Figure 6-22

Why Do Territorial Conflicts Arise?

Religions versus government policies The 20th Century was a century of global conflict: Two

World Wars, and the Cold War between supporters of democracy and communism

Religion versus social change Taliban and Western values Hinduism and social inequality

Caste system Religion versus communism

Eastern Orthodoxy and Islam in the Soviet Union Buddhism in Southeast Asia

Why Do Territorial Conflicts Arise?

Religion versus religion Fundamentalism:

Literal interpretation and strict and intense adherence to basic principles of a religion, religious branch, denomination, or sect

Religious wars in Ireland Northern Ireland: Protestant, closely aligned with the

Church of England Ireland: Independent nation, Catholic

Religious wars in the Middle East Crusades (Christians in Muslim lands) Jews and Muslims in Palestine

Distribution of Protestants in Ireland

Figure 6-23

Two Perspectives on Palestine/Israel

Figure 6-26

Israel’s “Separation Fence”

Figure 6-27

The End.

Up next: Ethnicity