Religion a Quick Review

Universalizing v. Ethnic Religions Christianity Islam Buddhism Sikhism Baha’i Ehtnic Hinduism Confucianism Daoism Shintoism Judaism Animism

Animism A predominantly African set of beliefs where natural objects and events are “animated” and have “spirits.” This is practiced by many traditional ethnicities. As recently as 1980 more than 200 million Africans were classified as animists. These numbers have declined as a result of the increased popularity of Christianity and Islam through missionaries and diffusion. Currently African is classified as 46% Christian and 40% Muslim, leaving only 14% Animists.

Diffusion: Universalizing Religions Christianity: Diffused to Europe from the Middle East but did not move east, it has diffused in a mainly western direction.

Diffusion Islam: Muhammad’s successors organized into armies and conquered much of northern African and the middle east. As a result of these conquests it moved well beyond its original hearth.

Diffusion Buddhism: Point of origin is northeastern India. Most responsible for diffusion was Emperor Magadhan. Buddhism as not diffused to same extent as Christianity or Islam.

Figure: 06-09 Title: Holy places in Buddhism. Caption: Most are clustered in northeastern India and southern Nepal, because they were the locations of important events in Buddha’s life. Most of the sites are in ruins today.

No Diffusion: Ethnic Religions Ethnic religions diffuse if its adherents move to new locations. For the most part these religions remain close to the hearth. Ex: Shinto: Japan Judaism: This religion is practiced in many locations not just close to its hearth. Despite the lack of universalizing diffusion Judaism is actually more spread out than any other ethnic religion. The highest concentration of Jews in the world is in Israel, second highest is in the United States.

Judaism The Bible recants the history of the Jewish people. A Modern Jewish Man  14 million Jews worldwide. 1/3 live in Israel, 1/3 live in U.S. Most universalizing religions have a history that includes Judaism. Christianity: Jesus, Islam: Muhammad traces his history to Abraham. Ethnic religion, no Jewish missionaries. The Bible recants the history of the Jewish people.

Judaism Monotheistic religion. Jews consider themselves God’s “chosen people.” They believe he has chosen them to live by his ethical and moral principles, ex. the Ten Commandments. There were 12 tribes of Hebrews who emigrated from Egypt. Two were lost in their later exile to Assyria leaving the 10 remaining tribes.

Distribution of Christianity Christianity is distributed throughout the western hemisphere almost universally. 90% of the WH is Christian. In Latin America 93% of the Christian population is Roman Catholic. 40% of North America is Roman Catholic. (SW & NW regions) Protestants make up 28% of the population in NA. Baptists are the largest Protestant group in NA.

The Roman Catholic Church divides the United States into provinces, each headed by an archbishop. Provinces are subdivided into dioceses, each headed by a bishop. The archbishop of a province also serves as the bishop of a diocese. Dioceses that are headed by archbishops are called archdioceses. Figure: 06-13 Title: Roman Catholic hierarchy in the United States. Caption: The Roman Catholic Church divides the United States into provinces, each headed by an archbishop. Provinces are subdivided into dioceses, each headed by a bishop. The archbishop of a province also serves as the bishop of a diocese. Dioceses that are headed by archbishops are called archdioceses.

Figure: 06-03 Title: Distribution of Christians in the United States. Caption: The shaded areas are U.S. counties in which more than 50 percent of church membership is concentrated in either Roman Catholicism or one Protestant denomination. Baptists are concentrated in the Southeast, Lutherans in the Upper Midwest, Mormons in Utah and contiguous states, and Roman Catholics in the Northeast and Southwest. The distinctive distribution of religious groups within the United States results from patterns of migration, especially from Europe in the nineteenth century and from Latin America in recent years.

Religious Conflict There is often conflict between religion and social change. Islam is often seen as being at odds with modernization. The Catholic church will not approve marriages between people who choose not to, or are unable to, have children. Hinduism, with its use of the caste system, has been challenged by the idea of social equality. Political change has also had an effect on religion. In Southeast Asia the presence of communism has effected the ability and number of practitioners of Buddhism. In Russia the practice of orthodoxy was reduced through nationalization of the church and severing the tie between the church and the government.

Religious Conflict Conflict between religions exists in many places around the world. One of the contributors to religious conflict is fundamentalism. Fundamentalism is a way for a group to retain its identity. These groups are often convinced that their way is the ONLY correct way. Fundamentalists also usually have specific ideas about territories that belong to only religion. Fundamentalists groups are often portrayed as being radical.

Specific Conflicts Northern Ireland: The Republic of Ireland is 87% Roman Catholic while northern Ireland, belonging to the United Kingdom, is 46% Protestant and 40% Roman Catholic. In 1946 when Ireland became independent the northernmost 6 counties voted to remain part of the U.K. which was protestant rather than be a part of the mainly Catholic Republic of Ireland. Roman Catholics were and continue to be poorly treated in Northern Ireland. Since 1968 more than 3,000 people have been killed in the conflicts between the Catholics and Protestants. A small groups of Catholics created the IRA, a terrorists group bent on re-uniting Ireland by any means necessary. As long as the Protestants wish to remain with the U.K. and the Catholics want to unite with R.o.I peace seems impossible.

Figure: 06-14 Title: Distribution of Protestants in Ireland, 1911. Caption: Long a colony of England, Ireland became a self-governing dominion within the British Empire in 1921. In 1937, it became a completely independent country, but 26 districts in the north of Ireland chose to remain part of the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland today is more than 95 percent Roman Catholic, whereas Northern Ireland has a Protestant majority. The boundary between Roman Catholics and Protestants does not coincide precisely with the international border, so Northern Ireland includes some communities that are predominantly Roman Catholic. This is the root of a religious conflict that continues today.

Religious Calendars Most religions have their own calendar that depicts important times of year and holidays. The Jewish calendar has its holiest days in the Fall and then again at planting and harvest. In universalizing religions the calendar commemorates events in the founder’s life. Most have special holidays at the birth and death of their founders. Christianity: Christmas: birth of Christ, Easter: death of Christ.

Built where Buddha found perfect wisdom. Figure: 06-08-01UN Title: Mahabodhi Temple. Caption: Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, India, built where Buddha found perfect wisdom.

The black box in the center is a shrine to Allah. Figure: 06-10-01UN Title: Al Haram Al Sharif and the Ka’ba. Caption: The black, cubelike structure in the center of the mosque, called al-Ka’ba, once had been a shrine to tribal idols until Muhammad rededicated it to Allah. Muslims believe that Abraham and Ishmael originally built the Ka’ba.

Hindus bathing the Ganges. Figure: 06-11-02UN Title: Bathing in the Ganges River. Caption: The river attracts Hindu pilgrims from all over India, because they believe that the Ganges springs from the hair of Siva, one of the main deities. Hindus achieve purification by bathing in the Ganges, and bodies of the dead are washed with water from it before being cremated.

Disposal of the Dead In Christianity, Islam, and Judaism dead bodies are generally buried. Before the advent of public parks, cemeteries were one of the only green places in a city, and used for recreation. Hindus generally practice cremation after the body is washed with water from the Ganges river. Zoroastrians did want the dead to contaminate the sacred elements of earth, fire, or water and allow birds to and animals to scavenge off the bodies of their dead. Tibetan Buddhists also practice exposure for some dead.

The most common way to dispose of bodies in India is cremation. Figure: 06-11-04UN Title: Cremation. Caption: The most common form of disposal of bodies in India is cremation. In middle-class families, bodies are more likely to be cremated in an electric oven at a crematorium. A poor person may be cremated in an open fire, such as this one within sight of the Taj Mahal. High-ranking officials and strong believers in traditional religious practices may also be cremated on an outdoor fire.