RELIGION: THE GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECIVE

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RELIGIONTHE GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECIVE
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Hinduism-ethnic religion Ganesh
Shrine, Kathmandu, Nepal

• Chronologically, the oldest of the major
  religions
• Arose in Indus Valley, 4,000 years ago
• No evolving bureaucratic structures
• Reincarnation
• Doctrines allied with India's caste system
• Tied to the physical landscape
• Modernization and Gandhi helped relax the caste
  system

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Hinduism

• Diffusion
• Arose in what is now Pakistan
• No modern expansion diffusion
• Area overtaken by Buddhism and Islam
• Bali outpost has become a syncretic faith
• Relocation diffusion not the foci
• Cultural landscape
• Hinduism is a way of life
• Building a temple gives good Karma
• Shrine location important
• Visual AND emotional

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Buddhism- Universalizing

• Resurgence in India
• Buddha (Prince Siddhartha) spoke out against
  caste system
• Diffusion
• Grew slowly after Buddhas death
• Fragmented today, but experiencing a revival
• Principals keep diffusing, notably in the Western
  world
• Cultural landscape
• The Bodhi tree
• Pagodas

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Chinese religions- Ethnic religions

• Taoism
• Confucianism
• Diffusion
• Confucianism diffused early into the Korean
  Peninsula, Japan, and Southeast Asia
• Taoism more local
• Chinese communist authorities leveled burial
  mounds because they took up too much ground
  suitable for farming
• Cultural landscape
• Confucianism and Taoism help expand impact of
  Buddhist cultural influences

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Shinto ethnic religion of Japan
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Judaism-ethnic religion, exception to the rule,
has diffused

• The oldest major religion to emerge west of the
  Indus Valley
• Diffusion
• Diaspora
• Sephardim
• Zionismhomeland for Jewish people
• Israel created in 1948 by UN
• Cultural landscape
• Synagogues, but no single architectural style
• Star of David appears on most Jewish graves
• The Wailing Wall

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Wailing Wall, Jerusalem, Israel
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Christianity-Universalizing

• Jewish search for deliverance from Romans
  appearance of Jesus
• Pauls role
• Eastern Roman Empire (Constantinople)
• Eastern (Orthodox) Church still one of three
  major branches
• The papacy, second branch
• Protestant movement
• Diffusion
• A combination of expansion and relocation
  diffusion during European colonialism
• Most widespread of the global religions
• Aggressive and persistent proselytism

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http//www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/china_70
5/
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Christianity

• Cultural landscape
• Medieval Europe
• Imprint of death on the landscape
• Uses more land for cemeteries than any other faith

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http//www.mapsofwar.com/ind/history-of-religion.h
tml
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Christianity

• Religions and culture regions in the United
  States
• The Mormon culture region
• Christian culture regions better known

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Islam-universalizing

• The youngest of the major faiths
• Religious and social disarray in Arab world
• Unifying religious faith and set of values
• Mecca, Medina, then Jerusalem became the
  spiritual center
• Believed strongly in education
• Still the heart of Arab culture
• Islamization

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Islam by 900 CE
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Islam Shiite

• Regions and sects
• Division ? conflict-2 BRANCHES
• Sunnis family and community to solve problems
• Shiites Imam is solver
• ImamsShiite Muslims leaders whose appointments
  are regarded as sanctioned by Allah
• Diffusion
• Trading expansions led to conflicts with
  Christianity
• The Crusades
• Continues to attract converts
• Experiencing resurgence expansion will continue
• Classic example of hierarchical diffusion

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Islam

• Cultural landscape
• Mosques dominate the urban landscapes
• Muslim architects very skilled
• Exquisite and distinct architecture
• A symbol for faith and community
• Islam religion and culture are one

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The Alhambraan example of Muslim Architecture
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The Dome of the Rock, Jerusaleman example of
Muslim tile glazing
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Religious Fundamentalism

• A worldwide drive by millions back to the
  basics (in whose eyes?) of religious faith
• Often born out of frustration
• Tunnel Vision
• 9/11 led to many Americans equating terrorism
  with Islam
• Globalization and religions
• 1. strict adherence to the holy text
• 2. pious or religiosity
• 3.

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Religious Fundamentalism

• Christian fundamentalism
• Christian fundamentalism most pronounced in
  Protestantism
• Islamic fundamentalism
• Laws not equally applied
• Inconsistency breeds dissidence
• From Shah to Ayatollah
• 1970s and 1980s most significant
• Afghanistan under the Taliban
• Jihad and Wahhabi
• Extreme Islamic fundamentalists who resort to
  violence are relatively small in number (Usually
  from the Shiites)

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Resources

• De Blij, Harm, J. (2007). Human Geography People,
  Place and Culture. Hoboken, NJ John Wiley
  Sons Inc.
• Domosh, Mona, Neumann, Roderic, Price,
  Patricia, Jordan-Bychkov, 2010. The Human
  Mosaic, A Cultural Approach to Human Geography.
  New York W.H. Freeman and Company.
• Fellman, Jerome, D., Getis, Arthur, Getis,
  Judith, 2008. Human Geography, Landscapes of
  Human Activities. Boston, MA McGraw-Hill Higher
  Education.
• Pulsipher, Lydia Mihelic and Alex M. and
  Pulsipher, 2008. World Regional Geography, Global
  Patterns, Local Lives. W.H. Freeman and Company
  New York.  
• Rubenstein, James M. (2008). An introduction
  to human geography The cultural landscape. Upper
  Saddle River, NJ Pearson Prentice Hall.
• Benewick, Robert, Donald, Stephanie H. (2005).
  The State of
• China Atlas. Berkeley University of
  California Press.