Religions

Key to Culture

Religion – Geographer’s View• A Religions’ diffusion process across the landscape

may conflict with the distribution of others

• Regional distribution of different religions may result in the potential for conflict

• Relationship between religion and the physical environment

• Relgions’ power to modify the landscape.

• How do humans occupy the Earth?

• Where are religions located and why are they there?

Why are religions important?• Religion defines core values and beliefs which is an

essential element of the definition of culture

• Some religions are designed to appeal to people across the world while others focus on a geographically limited area

• Religious values define identity and how the landscape is defined

• Most religions require exclusive adherence which requires turning away from local religions

• Religions migrate with people

Universalizing Religions

• Christianity

• Islam

• Buddhism

• All attempt to be global, appeal to all people regardless of location

• Consists of branches, denominations and sects

Breakout of Religions

Universalizing Religions

Christianity

Christianity Central Belief

• God was born as a man, was crucified, rose from the dead and will return to resurrect all men of faith

Christianity

• Three Branches– Roman Catholic

– Protestant

– Eastern Orthodox

– Other

• Multiple Religions claimed by some individuals

Distribution of Christians

Islam

Islam Central Beliefs

• Five Pillars of Faith– There is one God worthy of worship and

Mohammed is his messenger

– Face Mecca and pray five times a day

– Give generously to charity

– Fast during the month of Ramadan

– If able, make a pilgrimage to Makkah

Islam

• Predominant in Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia.

• A strong presence in Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India

• Two Branches– Sunni (Predominant, 83%)

– Shia (Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Oman, 16%)

Buddhism

Buddhism Central Beliefs• All living beings must endure suffering

• Suffering (a desire to live) leads to reincarnation

• Existence is to end suffering and escape to Nirvana never to reincarnate again

• Nirvana obtained via an eightfold path– Rightness of belief, resolve, speech, actions,

livelihood, effort, thought and meditation.

Buddhism

• Three branches–Mahayana (56%, China, Japan, Korea)

– Theravada ( 38%, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka)

– Tantrayana ( 6%, Tibet and Mongolia)

• Does not require exclusive adherence.

• Religious functions are performed by monks

Ethnic Religions

Ethnic Religions

• Appeal to specific ethnic groups

• Usually located in specific geographic areas

Hinduism

• Largest group

• Concentrated in India (97% of adherents live in India)

• No “right” approach to theological matters

• Individuals select method of worship

• An overarching “spirit” worshiped though gods selected by individuals according to their preferences

• No single holy book

Other Ethnic Religions• Confucianism – Ethical principles and orderly

conduct

• Taoism – search for the path or way

• Shintoism – Divine nature of natural forces and ancestors as Deities

• Judaism – monothism centered on the Middle East with worldwide decendants

• Ethnic African Religions – generally animist

Diffusion of Universalizing Religions

Christianity

• Primarily through missionary adeherents “spreading the gospel”

• Middle East to Rome.

• Hierarchical diffusion through the Roman Empire

• Colonial spread by Europeans

Islam

• Hierarchical diffusion via Armies and conquest– Palestine

– Persia,

– North Africa, Spain

– Eastern Europe, Turkey

• Relocation Diffusion– Subsaharan Africa, Southeast Asia

Buddhism• Slowly

• Hierarchical via Asoka, Magadhan Empire– Via missionaries to Sri Lanka, Myanmar

• Contagion–Merchants to China

Diffusion of Ethnic Religions

Ethnic Diffusion

• By definition Ethnic religions are isolated

• Ethnic religions tend to co-mingle with universalizing religions

• Judaism –– Historical persecution and dispersion

– Ethnic connection to religion preserves the practice in spite of distance

Holy Places and Conflict

Religion a major element of Culture

• Love, Esteem and Territoriality

• Convergence between several religions and cultural hearth claims

• Judaism, Christianity, Islam all have claims on Jerusalem as a center of their faith

• Centuries of conflict and warfare mark this holy site.

Pilgrimages• Sometimes central to religious tenets– Hajj of Islam

– Tirtha of Hindus

–Way of the Cross in Christianity

• Increased travel capabilities increases demand for access to sites

• Local improvements in rural areas cater to pilgrims

Religious Conflicts

Social Change• Taliban and Western Values– Strict laws based on Islamic values as interpreted by the

“religious students”

– Taliban interpretation questioned by Islamic scholars

– Fueling fight for control of Afghanistan

• Hinduism and Social Equality– India caste system steeped in Hindu religious belief

– Brahman, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, Shudras

– Outcasts – untouchables

– Leading a good life increases chances of rebirth in a higher caste

– Also linked to occupations

Religious Wars• Ireland– Divided 5/6 independent Eire, 1/6 Northern Ireland

(Great Britain province)

– Northern Ireland 58% Protestant / 42% Catholic

– Protestant Land Owners / Catholic Blue collar workers

• Palestine– Series of conflicts over the creation of Israel have

presented an intractable conflict since 1948

Conclusion• Religion is a key driver of cultural decisions

• Differences in belief and the strong conviction of “what God demands” drives conflicts

• Interpretations of meanings of beliefs fuel warfare and violence, often complicated by territorial imperatives

• Curious human behavior tied to strong beliefs in God and afterlife