RELIGION

A. What is the purpose of religion?  Religions are value systems  Religions teach followers proper ethical behavior

B. STATE RELIGIONS Buddhism: Myanmar, Laos, Thailand Islam: Pakistan, Iran Russia: Russian Orthodox Greece: Greek Orthodox

Green: Islam Blue: Christianity Yellow: Buddhism

Conflicts along Religious Borders  Interfaith Boundaries –Boundaries between the world’s major faiths.  Intrafaith Boundaries –Boundaries within a single major faith.

Interfaith Boundary in Africa

Partition of India

Sri Lanka --30% Tamil (Hindu-Dravidian) Separatist movement --70% Sinhalese Buddhists

Armenia and Azerbaijan Soviet Union’s divide-and-diminish plan

The Former Yugoslavia Genocide Ethnic Cleansing

Israel and Palestine

C. SACRED SITES  Lakes  Caves  Rivers –Ganges –Jordan  Trees  Mountains –Arafat –Fuji –Sinai

Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Vatican City Pope John Paul II greeted pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square

Sacred Sites and Rituals At Saint Declan’s Holy Well in Ardmore, Ireland Pilgrims hang scraps of clothing as offerings This practice is common at sacred sites in Far Eastern Russia

1. Jerusalem is sacred to 3 religions: Judaism (Western Wall) Christianity (Church of the Holy Sepulchre) Islam (Dome of the Rock)

2. Hindu pilgrimage to Ganges River in Varanasi, India Hindus perform morning rituals.

Swedogon Pagodo in Yangon, Myanmar 3. Eight hairs of the Buddha are preserved under the dome (chedi)

4. The Great Mosque at Mecca

D. CLASSIFICATION:  Monotheism: –Christianity –Islam –Judaism  Polytheism: –Hinduism –Japanese Shinto 1. Universalizing Religions: –Christianity –Islam –Buddhism 2. “Ethnic” Religions: –Judaism –Hinduism –Japanese Shinto 3. “Tribal” Religions (shamanism & animism)

Religions of the World Where are universalizing religions located? Where are ethnic religions located?

Sumatra Amazon Mali Korea

SECULARISM  an indifference to or rejection of religion agnostic?atheist?

Government Impact on Religion The Soviet Union: -Had an official policy of atheism -Discouraged religious practice -Drew boundaries for political control that separated ethnic groups in small areas

Armenia and Azerbaijan Soviet Union’s divide-and-diminish plan

E. DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD  Burial: Christians, Jews, Muslims  Cremation: Hinduism, Buddhism

HINDUISM  Oldest major world religion (over 4,000 years old) –religious –philosophical –social –economic –artistic

HINDUISM  850 million to 1 billion followers –almost all in India –80% of Indians are Hindu Ethical system: and Ethical system: dharma (conduct in this life) and karma (conduct in previous lives) Divine Trinity of Hindu gods: Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer.

HINDU BELIEFS:  No single doctrine  No central organization  Core beliefs: –divinity of the soul –reincarnation –unending cycle of birth and death –pilgrimages to the Ganges River

CASTE SYSTEM:  All creatures are ranked  Caste (birth) indicates spiritual status –priests –warriors –farmers –servants –“untouchables” (about 20%)

HINDU TEMPLES

BUDDHISM  Started as a Hindu reform movement  Founded by Prince Siddhartha Gautama Buddhism (2,600 years old):  “Buddha” means enlightened one  About million followers (India, China, Japan, Tibet, Nepal, S.E. Asia)

pagodas– symbolize peace bodhi tree where Siddhartha reached enlightenment…

FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS: 1.Existence Involves Suffering 2.Suffering is the Result of Desire 3.Pain Ends When Desire is Destroyed 4. Cycle of births and deaths ended (Nirvana)

JUDAISM  Judaism was founded about 4,000 years ago (Abraham)  over 20 million followers  Ethical Teachings: Torah and Talmud  word of god (Yahweh) said to be revealed in the Torah (Old Testament of the Bible)

Branches of Judaism: –Sephardim (20%)  Iberian Peninsula – expelled 15th c.  ties to North Africa & Babylonian Jews –Ashkenazim (80%)  W. & C. Europe (Poland, Lithuania, Russia)  most Jewish migrants to U.S.

ISRAEL  Zionism – belief in the need for an independent Jewish state in Israel. synagogue: Jewish temple

Western Wall, Jerusalem

Jewish neighborhoods in European Cities the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague, the Czech Republic

CHRISTIANITY  Jesus –was Jewish  spread through the Roman Empire by hierarchical and contagious diffusion  Ethical system: Ten Commandments   over 1 billion Christians worldwide (most are Roman Catholic)   denominations: Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Protestants, Baptists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Methodists, Born Again, Mormons

CHRISTIAN LANDSCAPE:  Colonization  Missionaries  Immigration

ISLAM  Islam: submission to the will of Allah  over 1 billion followers  world’s fastest growing religion  the prophet Mohammed said to receive the holy book of the Koran from Allah (god) in about A.D. 610

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM:   belief in one god   prayer 5 times daily facing Mecca   month of fasting (Ramadan)   almsgiving   pilgrimage to Mecca

BRANCHES OF ISLAM  Sunnis (80-85%)  Shi’ites –Majority in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Yemen

ISLAMIC LANDSCAPE:  Mosques

CONFUCIANISM:  K’ung Fu-tzu –Compiler of traditional wisdom  No Churches or Clergy  Ancestor Worship  Basis for imperial Chinese social control

Confucian temple

TAOISM:  First taught by Lao-tsu in 6 th c. B.C.  Tao – “The Way” –happiness lies in nature –religion and philosophy –deplore passion and govt.

JAPANESE SHINTO:  traditional religion of Japan  worship of nature & ancestors  Shinto – “The Way of the Gods”  Spirits (kamis)— family, rivers, trees, animals, mountains, sun, moon  Torii – ceremonial gateway arches

torii arches

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