Religion & Geography

How Many Religions Can You Name? Catholic Sikh Protestant (Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, United, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Anabaptist,Evangelical, etc) Shinto Confucian Gnostic Baha’i Mormon Jain Jehovah’s Witness Zoroastrian Unitarian Taoist Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, etc Wiccan Jewish (Reform, Orthodox, etc) Countless indigenous faiths Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster Muslim (Shia, Sunni) Hindu

How would you define these words? Religion God Atheist Agnostic

Definition of Religion the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods Religion is composed of a set of morals, rules, principles and ethics that serve to guide one’s way of living The difference between a Religion and a Philosophy is sometimes tricky Generally the difference is a philosophy is the rational investigation of truth, whereas religion often makes the same kind of truth claims but doesn't claim to base it on reason or rationality, but instead it is based on other things like faith Definition of Religion

How Much Do You Know? What is the main religion of Japan? What is the difference between Shia and Sunni Muslim? What is the difference between Catholic and Protestant? Who is the Dalai Lama? What state in the USA has a large percentage of Mormons?

Can you guess which religion is dominant in what region? Atheist Buddhist Catholic Hindu Jewish Orthodox Christian Protestant Shi-ite Muslim Sikh Sunni Muslim

Map A Roman Catholics Reference Map

Map B Sikhs Reference Map

Map C Atheists Reference Map

Map D Shia Muslims Reference Map

Map E Sunni Muslims Reference Map

Map F Hindus Reference Map

Map G Protestants Reference Map

Map H Jews Reference Map

Map I Buddhists Reference Map

Map J Orthodox Christians Reference Map

Distribution of Religion

Key Terms Universalizing/ Proselytic religions: Ethnic religions: They try to appeal to all people; their aim is to convert all humanity Ethnic religions: They appeal primarily to one group of people living in one place; does not seek converts

Polytheism: a religion that honours more than one god. Monotheism: a religion that acknowledges the existence of only one god Deism: the belief that a god created the world but does not interfere directly with the world Animism: a religious belief that all components of the universe, including humans, animals, plant life, rocks, etc. contain some form of life force, soul or spirit

Agnostic vs Atheist Agnostic: they believe you cannot know whether a God exists Atheist: does not believe any God exists

Or if you want to be really specific…

90 % of all Chinese consider themselves to be atheists or not to be religious Sweden is the least religious country

The Birthplaces of 12 Major Religions

Sacred architecture

What religion is this related to? Sri Harmandir Sahib, aka the Golden Temple, in Amritsar, India SIKH

What religion is this related to? The Blue Mosque, (the Sultan Ahmed Mosque) – Istanbul, Turkey ISLAM

What religion is this? Eldridge Street Synagogue, New York JUDAISM

What religion is this related to? St. Peter's Basilica - Vatican City ROMAN CATHOLIC

What religion is this related to? Paro Taktsang Monastery, Bhutan BUDDHISM

What religion is this related to? Meenakshi Amman Temple - Madurai, India HINDUISM

What religion is this related to? Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine, Kyoto, Japan SHINTOISM

What religion is this related to? The Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), Washington DC MORMONISM

What religion is this related to? Christ the Saviour Cathedral, Moscow CHRISTIAN ORTHODOX