by Brayden, Nam, Romil, Daniel, Maya, and Chris Chapter 6 Review by Brayden, Nam, Romil, Daniel, Maya, and Chris

What are ethnic and universalizing religions? A ethnic religion is a religion defined by the ethnicity of the majority of its followers or adherents. A universalizing religion is a religion that is seeking to spread around the world and by appealing to everyone. Christianity is the largest universalizing religion and the largest ethnic religion is Hinduism. http://www.martinsaphug.com/learn/units/culture/hinduism/ Christianity is a religion that has spread around the world and is actively trying to gain adherents or followers. This is an example of a universalizing religion, which is a religion trying to gain adherents. Hinduism is another religion that has spread around the world, but is a ethnic religion. The difference between an ethnic religion and a universalizing religion is that an ethnic religion does not actively try to gain followers and is usually defined by the ethnicity of its followers. Christianity has about 2.1 billion adherents and Hinduism has a 950 million followers. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/ http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-exec/ http://www.religioustolerance.org/hinduism.html

What are the titles found within the Hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church? The positions of the Catholic Church from highest to lowest are Pope, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops,and a Deacon http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0922582.html The Pope is the bishop of Rome and speaks on behalf of the church. Cardinals help give advice to the Pope. A Archbishop serves in diplomatic posts or serve in administration. A Bishop is a teacher of the church. A Deacon helps the priest perform ceremonies. http://www.hierarchystructure.com/hierarchy-of-the-catholic-church/

What are the holiest cities of Islam? Religions often elevate certain places to a “holy” status. A holy place is considered sacred by the people of that religion, and pilgrimages (journeys for religious purposes) are often made to these places. Ethnic religions tend to have less widespread distribution than that of universalizing religion (keep in mind that there are exceptions, such as Buddhism which is universalizing but does not have missionaries). This is because an ethnic religion’s holy places are derived from the physical environment of its hearth whereas a universalizing religion’s holy places are places associated with the founder’s life. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi_Rabigh Examples: The holiest city in Islam is Mecca, which is the birthplace of Muhammad; it also contains the Ka’ba - a cubelike structure believed to have been built by Abraham and Ishmael (most holy object in Islamic landscape The second holiest city in Islam is Madinah, which is where Muhammad received his first support from the people of Madinah and became the city’s chief administrator; his tomb is also located at Madinah

What does the distribution of religion in the United States look like? In human geography, distribution is defined as the arrangement of a feature in space. Ethnic religions tend to have a smaller distribution than that of universalizing ones. Since major religions have a hearth based in the United States, it has been mostly influenced by the three major universalizing religions: Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. In terms of number of adherents, Christianity makes up 75 percent, and about 15 percent are agnostic/atheist. All other religions have an extremely small number of adherence proportionally. For example, only 0.5% of the U.S. population identifies as Muslim. Christianity’s main branches in the U.S. are Protestant and Catholic. Protestants make up 52.5% of the U.S. population and are located throughout the majority of the U.S. Catholics make up 23.6% of the population and are located primarily on the border of Mexico and the west coast (due to immigrants from Latin America bringing Catholic identity) and in the New England area.

What are the major branches of Christianity and Islam? Sunni- Make up 83 percent of Muslims, mostly in Middle East and Asian Shiite- Make up 16 percent of muslims, mostly in Iran, Pakistan, Yemen, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Afghanistan. Christianity: Roman Catholic - 50% of Christians, dominant in Latin America and western Europe Protestant - 25% of Christians, Dominant in North America and Oceania Eastern Orthodox - 10% of Christians, dominant in Eastern Europe http://www.tedmontgomery.com/bblovrvw/endtimes/MuslimDistribution.jpg

What is significant about the distribution of religion found on Ireland? The island of Ireland is split into two parts. The Northern part is a part of the United Kingdom and is mainly Protestant. The Southern part is the Republic of Irelands and is mainly Roman Catholic. When Ireland became independent from the U.K. originally, the north side of protestants voted to stay a part of the United Kingdom and not separate. This caused severe discrimination of catholics in northern ireland and more than 3,000 people have killed due to this religious tension. Protestant distribution of Ireland. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Catholicism_in_Ireland.png/350px-Catholicism_in_Ireland.png

What is the Caste System of Hinduism? The Hindu caste system is a form of social classes which ties directly into the religion. The system is divided into 5 main castes. A high class can observe written religious rituals while a low class is generally illiterate. The lowest caste is called the intouchables who do work considered too dirty. erikaearl.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/caste_indian.jpg

What is cosmogony? Cosmogony is a set of religious beliefs that regard the origin of the universe. Religions have many different ways of determining this, and it ranges from physical creation to supernatural creation. For example, Confucianism and Daoism, believe that the universe is made up of yin and yang, which stand for positive and negative forces. www.unitheist.org

What religion places a special emphasis on cremation after death? Hinduism mandates cremation, the body is seen as an instrument to carry the soul Crematorium in Thailand

What religions hold Jerusalem to be a holy site? Judaism- Jerusalem has been the holiest city in Judaism since the 10th century BCE. It is the site of Temple Mount (also known as The First Temple) where all worshipping is done. Christianity- In Christianity, Jerusalem is where Jesus was brought as a child to be presented to the temple. The gospels also say that Jesus preached and healed. Most importantly, Jerusalem is where Jesus was nearby resurrected. Islam- Jerusalem is the 3rd holiest city in Islam, after Medina and Mecca. Jerusalem is the home of The Dome of the Rock temple, where Muhammad ascended to heaven and received the 5 pillars of Islam from Allah. www.allaboutreligion.org/religion.htm