1. Chapter 6: Religion (Part 2: Ethnic Religions)

2. Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions?
Limited diffusion of ethnic religions
more tied to physical environment
universalizing religions usually compete with or intrude on ethnic religions
Examples of syncretism:
Christianity with African ethnic religions
Buddhism with Confucianism in China
Buddhism with Shinto in Japan
Ethnic religions can diffuse with migration
Hinduism in Guyana due to Indian diaspora

3. Hinduism 3rd largest religion in the world Many paths to spirituality
900 million adherents
97% of Hindus are found in India
rest in Nepal
Many paths to spirituality
Individual decides best way to worship
Vaishnavism (Vishnu) 70%
Incarnations (Krishna, Buddha, Jesus?, etc.)
Sivaism (Siva) 26%
Protector and destroyer of ignorance
Shaktism (female consorts of Vishnu/Siva)

4. Hinduism Origin Holy places Effects on landscape
Basic ideas brought by Aryans (Indo-Europeans)
Intermingled with Dravidians
No clear founder, archaeological evidence dating from 2500 B.C.
Earliest use of term “Hinduism” = sixth century B.C.
‘Karmic” religion (cause and effect)
Dharma = set of rules for caste
Caste = social class
Social mobility is limited, Why? discuss
Holy places
Riverbanks, coastlines, mountains
Ganges River is the most sacred, Varanasi = pilgrimage site
Effects on landscape
Less physical presence of temples
Overcrowding/pollution due to pilgrimages
Hindus cremate dead = preserves land, no cemeteries BUT
Cremation strains wood supply

7. Judaism 14 - 15 million Origin and diffusion
1/3 USA, 1/3 Israel, 1/3 elsewhere
15% in Europe (90% before WWII)
Origin and diffusion
Abraham’s migration/covenant
Promised land ↔ monotheism
10 lost tribes (Assyrians)/2 tribes remain (Babylon)
Tribe of Judah = “Jewish”
Diaspora (after 70 AD by Romans)
makes Jews an exception that ethnic religions are clustered
“re-clustering” due to est. of Israel
Zionism = movement for a Jewish homeland
began late 1800s, reaction to persecution

8. The Jewish calendar Rosh Hashanah
New Year
Yom Kippur
Day of Atonement
Passover
Sukkot
Feast of Weeks
Autumn holidays express worry over winter rains
Spring harvest and sacrifices commemorated in Exodus

10. Islam’s 3rd most holy site
Dome of the Rock
Western “Wailing” Wall
Solomon built 1st temple
Destroyed by Neo-Babylonians
Rebuilt after Babylonian Captivity
Remnant of 2nd Temple
Destroyed by Romans 70 AD

11. Chinese Ethnic Religions
Confucianism
Kong Fuzi (551 – 479 BCE)
Proper relationships/behavior bring stability
answers to bigger questions come later
metaphysics
borrows spirituality from Buddhism/Daoism
Neo-Confucianism
Daoism
Laozi (604 – 531? BCE)
Seek the way or “dao”
Harmony with nature by accepting the bad with the good (feng shui)
Yin and yang (the natural and spiritual world consists of opposite forces: the ugly and beautiful, the dark and the light, masculine and feminine)
Chinese Ethnic Religions

13. Animistic Religions African ethnic religions
100 million/12% of Africans
animism
things in nature have living spirits/consciousness
competition with universalizing religions
Leads to decline (50%) in animism
Africa now: 46% Christian/40% Muslim

15. Animistic Religions Shinto Other Japanese animism
As state religion it previously elevated emperor as divine (renounced after WWII)
Mixed with Buddhism (syncretism)
Other
Isolated areas
Amazon rainforest
Arctic Ocean (Komis/Samoyeds in Siberia, Inuit in Canada, Sami in Scandinavia)
Interior of SE Asia
Interior of large Indonesian islands (Borneo and New Guinea)
Interior of Australia (Aborigines)