World Religion Where are religions distributed? Why do they have different distributions?

The Paradox of Religion  All religions hold peace as the highest value.  Loving thy enemy is common to all religion  So why is so much conflict centered around religion?  Geographers are concerned with distribution of religion and the potential for conflict

Globalization vs. Local Diversity  People care deeply about their religion and draw core values/beliefs from it  Some designed to appeal to all people, while others appeal to geographically limited areas  Religious values are a mark of culture and ways people organize the landscape  Most religions require exclusive adherence, adopting a universal religion comes at the expense of a local religion  Unlike language, you can only have 1 religion.  Like language, people carry religion with them when they migrate  Assimilated people usually lose native language before religion

Universalizing vs Ethnic Religions  Universalizing- attempt to be global, appeal to all people.  Ethnic- appeals primarily to 1 group of people in 1 place.  62% universalizing, 24% ethnic, 14% no religion

Universalizing  3 main ones- Christianity, Islam, Buddhism  Branch- large and fundamental division within a religion  Denomination- division of a branch that unites a number of congregations in a single body  Sect- small group that has broken away from a denomination

Examples  Religion- Christianity  Branch- Protestant  Denomination- Baptist  Sect- Southern Baptist Convention, National Baptist Convention  R- Islam  B- Sunni, Shi’ite  D- American Muslim Mission  S- Nation of Islam

Christian Branches  3 main branches- Roman Catholicism (52%), Eastern Orthodox (10%), Protestant (21%)-  27% not part of these 3 branches, including 5% nonreligious Christians  Protestant/Catholic areas sharply divided  Over 2 billion people worldwide call themselves Christian

Western hemisphere  90% of West is Christian  5% other, 6% nonreligious  Latin Am 93% Catholic, N. America 29%  Among Protestants in US, Baptists largest, followed by Methodists, Pentecostal, and Lutheran  Catholics in US concentrated in NE and SW

Smaller branches  Egyptian Coptic/Ethiopian- from 4 th century, when shipwrecked Christian slaves converted Ethiopian king  About 10 million in Ethiopia  Armenian church originated in Antioch, members concentrated in Lebanon, Armenia, NE Turkey and SW Azerbaijan

Smaller branches  Maronites- a small Christian sect concentrated in Lebanon  Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) consider themselves an independent branch 3% of Americans, mostly Utah, some in Canada

Islam  1.3 billion Muslims, mostly in Middle East from N. Africa to Central Asia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India  Islam means “submission to the will of God”, has a similar root to the word “peace”

5 Pillars of Islam  1. There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his prophet  2. Pray 5 times/day, facing Mecca  3. Alms giving (charity)  4. Fasting during Ramadan  5. Pilgrimage to Mecca if able

Branches of Islam  2 main ones- Sunni (orthodox) and Shi’ite (sectarian)  Sunni 83%, Shi’ite 16%  Shi’ite concentrated in Iran, Iraq, Pakistan  Muslims in W. Europe a legacy of colonialism and immigration. E. Europe- Ottoman Empire  5 million Muslims in N. America

Nation of Islam  Aka “Black Muslims” started in 1930’s in Detroit  Led by Elijah Muhammad, advocated a separate nation within the US for themselves  Malcolm X converted to orthodox Islam after a pilgrimage to Mecca, assassinated 1965

Buddhism  400 million adherents  Mainly in China and SE Asia  4 Noble Truths:  1. Life is suffering  2. Suffering is caused by desire  3. To eliminate suffering, eliminate desire  4. To eliminate desire and achieve Nirvana, follow the Noble Eightfold Path- right beliefs, resolve, speech, action, livelihood, effort, thought, meditation

Buddha

Buddhist Branches  Theravada “little raft” (38%), Mahayana “big raft” (56%), tantrayana “yoga” (6%)  Buddhists can adhere to more than one Eastern religion.

Other Universalizing  Sikhism- 25 million, mostly in Punjab region of India  Kind of a combo of Islam and Buddhism  Sikhs wear turbans and never cut beards/hair  Baha’i- 8 million, dispersed mostly in Asia and Africa  Baha’u’llah wanted to overcome disunity and establish universal faith by abolishing class, race, and religious prejudices

Ethnic religions  Hinduism- 860 million, 3 rd largest  97% in India  It is up to you to decide the best way to worship God  4 paths- knowledge, renunciation, devotion, and action  68% Vishnu, mostly west  27 % Shiva, mostly north and east

Ethnic Religions  Confucianism emphasizes li, or “correct behavior”, 5 relationships  A series of ethical principles like following traditions and fulfilling obligations  Taoism- seek the Tao, or “way”. Only by avoiding daily activities and introspection can a person live in harmony with the universe.  Split into many sects

Ethnic Religions  Shintoism- ethnic religion of Japan- originally worshipped forces of nature  Transmitted orally until 5 th century when introduction of Chinese script  Eventually deceased emperors and ancestors became more important gods than nature  After WW2 Emperor forced to renounce his divinity

Ethnic Religions  Judaism- Most in Israel and US  Israel 1 st majority Jewish state since biblical times  Jesus born a Jew, Islam, Christianity have roots in Judaism  Founded by Abraham about 4000 yrs ago when he moved from Iraq to Canaan  1 st monotheistic religion

Ethnic Religions  Patriarch Jacob (Judaism, Israel). Jacob had 12 sons. 10 sons plus 2 grandsons= 12 tribes of Israel who marched out of Egypt under Moses  Each tribe got a piece of Canaan  10 tribes lost after they were forced to migrate to Assyria 721 BC

Ethnic Religions  African Religions- 100 million people, 12% of Africa are animists.  Animism- plants, rocks, forces of nature have conscious life and spirit  1 supreme god and many other gods under him  Orally transmitted  Losing ground to universalizing religion

Why do religions have different Distributions? Origin of Religions Diffusion of Religion

Origin and Diffusion of Universalizing Religions  All 3 based on life of a man  Buddhism 2500 yrs old, Christianity 2000 yrs old, Islam 1500 yrs old  Born between 8 and 4 BC

Christianity  Jesus born between 8 and 4 BC  Crucified by Romans ~30 AD  Story of Life/works spread by 4 gospels- Matthew, Mark, Luke, John (New Testament)  “Christ” is a title and means ‘anointed one’, from Greek “Christos”, from Hebrew “messiah”  3 days after death rose from dead

Christianity  Last Supper was Jewish Passover seder, meal  Catholics- God conveys Grace through 7 sacraments- Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, Anointing of the sick, Matrimony, Holy Orders, Eucharist  Transubstantiation- bread/wine literally becomes blood and flesh of Christ- a miracle

Christianity  Split w/ Eastern Orthodox starts with division of Roman Empire  Final Split in Great Schism  Reject Catholic teachings after 700s AD  Protestantism originated w/ the Reformation in 1517 when Luther nailed the 95 theses up- response to Catholic corruption

Origin of Islam  Abe married Sarah- no son  Married Hagar- son Ishmael  Sarah son- Isaac  Sarah told Hagar to take a hike  Hagar/Ishmael end up in Mecca  Muhammad born 570 AD  At 40- married an older rich lady  God spoke to him through angel Gabriel

Islam  Began to preach in Mecca, but they weren’t hearing it. 622 moved to Medina- hijra conversion  Returned to Mecca w/ army  Medina means “city of the prophet”  Shi’ite follow caliph who is of Muhammad’s blood line, Sunnis believe any Muslim can be caliph  Sunni/Shi’ite split ~670AD

Buddhism  Siddhartha Gautama was a prince, born about 563BC  4 trips out at 29  1. old age  2. disease  3. death  4. monk and withdrawal from the world

Buddhism  After 6 years of solitude, emerged from the forest as the Buddha “enlightened one”  Theravada focuses on wisdom, Mahayana focuses on compassion

Other Universalizing  Sikhism founded about 500 years ago  Baha’i founded early to mid 1800’s

Hinduism  Ancient- Hindu artifacts date to 2500 BC  Earliest Hindu writing 1500 BC  1400 BC- Aryan invasion  Word Hinduism originated in 6 th century BC  While universalizing religions have a hearth and spread out, ethnic religions remain clustered in 1 location

Diffusion of Christianity  Missionaries- individuals who help transmit a religion through relocation diffusion  Paul was most important missionary and a disciple of Jesus  Diffused along Roman roads and sea routes  First towns, then country  “Pagan” means countryside in Latin  Roman Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity in 313- official religion of Empire in 380

Islam  Also diffused through relocation diffusion- through conquest and intermarriage  Rapid diffusion from Portugal to Indonesia

Buddhism  Diffused very slowly until Asoka, emperor of Magadhan Empire ( BC) adopted it  1 st spread to Sri Lanka, then SE Asia, China, Japan.  By the time it got to Japan it was no longer dominant in India

Others  Sikhs remain clustered in Punjab province India  Baha’i built a temple on every continent in 20 th century

Mixing  Independent Christian churches exist in Africa that mix traditional and Christian beliefs  Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism have mixed in China  Buddhism and Shinto mix in Japan  Mauritius- ex of diffusion of ethnic religion- Hinduism

Judaism  An ethnic religion diffused all over the world because of expulsion of Jews from Canaan in 70 AD by Romans- diaspora  Ghetto- section of city in Europe closed off- Jews live there

Holy Places  8 sites in Nepal/India holy for Buddhists- locations important in Buddha’s life  Bo tree has become holy and has diffused to Buddhist countries  Mecca holy to Muslims- Ka’ba- a stone thought to have been given to Abraham by Gabriel- meteor?  Medina- #2 for holiness  #3 is Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem

Holy places  Sikh- Golden Temple at Amritsar  Pilgrimmage- a religious journey  Tirtha- pilgrimmage for Hindus