Rubenstein Ch. 6 World Religions

Terms to Know Before We Begin 199BC 200 BC 100 BC 1BC/1AD 100 AD 200 AD Anno Domini (AD or A.D.) and Before Christ (BC or B.C.) are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars. This calendar era is based on the traditionally reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus of Nazareth, with AD counting years after the start of this epoch, and BC denoting years before the start of the epoch. There is no year zero in this scheme, so the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC. This dating system was devised in 525, but was not widely used until after 800 B.C. (Before Christ) or B.C.E. (Before Common Era) A.D. (Anno Domini) or C.E. (Common Era)

Terms to Know Before We Begin Diffusion -the process by which a characteristic spreads across space from one place to another over time. Types of Diffusion Expansion diffusion is idea or innovation spreads outward from the hearth. Contagious Diffusion the rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population. Hierarchical Diffusion the spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or place. Stimulus Diffusion the spread of an underlying principle, even though a characteristic itself apparently fails to diffuse. Non-Expansion Diffusion Type Relocation Diffusion the spread of an idea through physical movement of people from one place to another.   Diffusion Explained: It is the process of dissemination. Diffusion causes ideas and different cultural customs to be spread from one place to another. This makes the world more culturally diverse. There are many types of diffusion: contagious, hierarchical, stimulus, and relocation. These types of diffusions are seen in trends, ideas, transportation, and communication systems. For example, it allows the world to watch events on television and transportation to travel and spread ideas from place to place. Contagious: Ideas that are spread through contagious diffusion are spread throughout the population like the flu would. It starts with one person or place and it keeps spreading. Ideas that spread through contagious diffusion start in a populated area, then other cities adopt the idea and it keeps spreading from there. Unlike hierarchical diffusion, everyone picks up on the trend and idea around the same time causing it to become contagious, like a wave on the crowd. It starts from a “center” or hearth and diffuses out from there to the rest of the population. Contagious diffusion goes along with many ideas that relate to popular culture each year. Hierarchical: The most common method for this is a trend or idea starts in a major city, then the other cities follow a while after. This type of diffusion can also spread by authority figures in a community such as a political leaders or socially elite people. This type of diffusion usually starts in a populated early and slowly diffuses to less and less populated areas. An example of this would be architecture. This is because it may start in a certain area of the world, then someone from that country moves and builds that same style in another area which spreads through the rest of that area and so on and so forth. Another example is hip hop and rap. It started from low-income African Americans in urban areas and diffused from there. Another example is “command centers” in New York, Tokyo, and London employ modern telecommunications to send out their orders to factories, shops, and research centers. Stimulus:Also, an idea or innovation sparked by an idea that diffused in from another culture. The specific trait may be rejected, but the underlying concept is accepted. The concept is often rejected for cultural reasons. Also, this it is when the basic idea or trend is being diffused, but not the exact idea or trend is spread because of the region it spread to. An example of this would be McDonald’s diffusing to India. This is because Hindus don’t eat cows because they believe they are holy, so they replace the meat in the burgers and make them veggie burgers. Relocation: Also, it’s movement of individuals who carry an idea or innovation with them to a new, perhaps distant locale. This is caused when people migrate from place to place and bring their culture with them. This is the cause for many different languages being in one area, such as the United States. Not only is language is diffused, but religion and ethnicity as well.

Terms to Know Before We Begin Religion – a set of beliefs existence of a higher power, spirits or god an explanation of the origins and purpose of humans and their role on earth Which involves rituals, festivals, rites of passage and space (religious landscapes)

Terms to Know Before We Begin Views on Deities Monotheistic Pantheistic Polytheistic “God is everything and everything is God” the worship of all gods of different creeds, cults, or peoples indifferently belief in or worship of more than one god the doctrine or belief that there is only one God

KI 1: Where Are Religions Distributed? Universalizing Religion: attempts to appeal to all people, not just those living in a particular location. Seek to appeal to all people Proselytize: to try to convert people to one’s belief or opinion.

Universalizing Religions Where are they distributed? Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions? Universalizing Religions Christianity 2 billion adherents Islam 1.3 billion adherents Buddhism 365 million adherents ORIGINS = precise, tied to a specific founder; traced to actions and teaching of a man Rubenstein pgs. 184-185 Origins: Christianity Founder: Jesus Islam Prophet of Islam: Muhammad Buddhism Founder: Siddhartha Gautama

Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions? DIFFUSION OF RELIGIONS Universalizing religions Diffused from specific hearths (original points) by followers / missionaries Christianity Diffuses via relocation and expansion diffusion Islam Diffuses to North Africa, South and Southeast Asia Buddhism Slow diffusion from the core

Diffusion of Universalizing Religions Fig. 6-4: Each of the three main universalizing religions diffused widely from its hearth.

On your Chart…. Find and label each universalizing religion

Where Are Religions Distributed? Ethnic Religions: concentrated spatial distribution whose principles are likely based on physical characteristics of a particular location. Appeal to a smaller group of people (of one ethnicity) living in one place

ORIGINS: unclear or unknown origins, no specific founder Where are they distributed? Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions? Ethnic Religions Hinduism 97% of India’s pop. Judaism Confucianism Daoism Shintoism Animism ORIGINS: unclear or unknown origins, no specific founder Rubenstein pgs. 184-185 Origins: Hinduism No clear founder; Earliest use of Hinduism = sixth century B.C.; Archaeological evidence dating from 2500 B.C.

Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions? DIFFUSION OF RELIGIONS Ethnic religions limited diffusion / no missionaries Universal religions usually compete with ethnic religions Examples of mingling: Christianity with African ethnic religions Buddhism with Confucianism in China and with Shinto in Japan Ethnic religions can diffuse with migration/relocation Judaism = exception

On your Chart…. Find and label each ethnic religion

Universalizing vs. Ethnic Hinduism actively seeks converts (proselytizing) Diffused through missionaries single founder attempts to operate on a global scale and to appeal to all people wherever they reside founded Anno Domini, with the notable exception being Buddhism. holidays and ceremonies correspond to events in the lives of their founders majority of adherents (followers) share a common identity (ethnicity) Unknown origins appeals primarily to a specific group of people from a specific place several thousand years old-cannot be accurately documented holy places and holidays relate to physical geography a universalizing religion is a religion that attempts to operate on a global scale and to appeal to all people wherever they reside, compared to an ethnic religion which primarily attracts one group of people living in one place Universalizing religions can usually be traced to a single founder, a result of the fact that most universalizing religions are younger than ethnic religions. For example, Christianity can be traced to Christ, Islam can be traced to Muhammad, and Buddhism can be traced to Siddhartha Gautama ("the Buddha"). These religions can be traced back to their founders because they were established within recorded history, a characteristic of all universalizing religions. In fact, almost all universalizing religions were founded Anno Domini, with the notable exception being Buddhism. Another notable characteristic of universalizing religions that stems from their having known founders is the nature of their ceremonies.[2] Most universalizing religions' holidays and ceremonies correspond to events in the lives of their founders. For example, the major Christian holidays of Easter and Christmas correspond to significant events in the life of Christ, with several minor holidays corresponding to the lives of saints. diffused through the use of missionaries to travel with the intent of encouraging those met along the way to convert. Some even may force conversion through conquest, as Islam did in the first half of the second millennium AD. From the 17th through the early 20th centuries, Christianity was primarily spread through European countries' colonization of places like North and South America and Africa. ETHNIC RELIGIONS Some ethnic religions have different denominations, but most don't. By far the most practiced ethnic religions in terms of the sheer number of adherents is Hinduism, but the most geographically widespread ethnic religion is Judaism. All ethnic religions are several thousand years old, which most being of an unknown age because they stem from indigenous religions practiced in prehistory. The notable exceptions to this are Confucianism and Daoism (or Taoism), which both have specific founders (Confucius and Lao Tzu, respectively) yet are still considered to be ethnic religions because they are practiced by a very small number of people primarily located in China (where they are actually illegal but still practiced) and Taiwan and are based on the traditional values and philosophies of that region. The ages of prehistoric religions like Hinduism, Shintoism, and Judaism cannot be accurately measured because their histories are not as well documented as those established within the scope of recorded history. ceremonies in ethnic religions tend to be based on the cycle of the harvest.[4] For example, the Jewish holidays of Purim and Hanukkah, even though they have elaborate origin stories, can be traced back to being celebrations of the stages of a harvest in the same vain as Celtic celebrations like Samhain (today better known and celebrated as Halloween). Because of this, the calendars of most ethnic religions are lunar (as opposed to the common Gregorian Solar calendar) and begin in the autumn with harvest celebrations akin to the American tradition of Thanksgiving, which itself can partly be traced to a Native American harvest feast. often very difficult to convert to an ethnic religion. For example, Jewish Rabbis are traditionally supposed to reject a potential convert unless he or she comes back three times as a sign of their dedication, after which the convert usually must endure rigorous training in Hebrew scripture akin to what a young Jewish person might go through in preparation for a Bar Mitzvah. majority of ethnic religions are polytheistic or animistic, including Hinduism, Shintoism, indigenous Celtic religions, indigenous Native American religions, and indigenous African religions. The most notable exception to this is Judaism, which is not only monotheistic but is also one of the three Abrahamic religions. It is the only Abrahamic religion to be considered an ethnic religion, with the other two (Christianity and Islam) being considered universalizing. List of Ethnic Religions

World Population by Religion Fig. 6-1a: Over two thirds of the world’s population adhere to Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism. Christianity is the single largest world religion.

Hierarchical v. Autonomous Hierarchical Religion = has a central authority that exercises a high degree of control Autonomous Religion = does not have a central authority but shares ideas and cooperates informally

Why Do Religions Organize Space in Distinctive Ways? Hierarchical religions Latter-day Saints Roman Catholics Locally autonomous religions Islam (Sunni) Protestant denominations

On your Chart…. Find and label each hierarchical and autonomous religion

Roman Catholic Hierarchy in the United States Figure 6-22

World Distribution of Religions Fig. 6-1: World religions by continent.

Read Ch. 6 Key Issue 2 Read pages 190-192 Color Code/Symbol your Eastern Hemisphere Map with each religion’s origin (create a key) And indicate on your chart the origins for each world religion