Human Geography By James Rubenstein

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Human Geography By James Rubenstein

• Chapter 6
• Key Issue 2
• Why do religions have different distributions?

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Origins of Religions

• Universalizing religions have precise places of
  origin, based on events in the life of a man.
• Ethnic religions have unknown or unclear
  origins, not tied to single historical
  individuals.

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Universalizing Religions

• Buddhism goes back 2500 years.
• Christianity goes back about 2000 years.
• Islam goes back 1500 years.
• Sikhism and Bahái were founded more recently.

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Origins of Buddhism

• Sidhartha Gautama, born about 563 B.C.E. in
  Nepal.
• Withdrew from a privileged life to become the
  Buddha (the enlightened one).
• Preached his views across India for 45 years.

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Branches of Buddhism

• Theravada, the oldest and largest, believe that
  one must renounce worldly goods and emphasizes
  self-help.
• Mahayana, about 2000 years old, is less
  demanding and emphasizes teaching and helping
  others.

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Origins of Christianity

• Founded on the teachings of Jesus, a Jew, who
  preached the coming of the Kingdom of God.
• Was referred to as Christ, from the Greek word
  for messiah (anointed).
• Christians believe that Jesus resurrection from
  the dead provides hope for salvation.

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Roman Catholicism

• Accept the teachings of the Bible, as well as
  the interpretation of the teachings by the
  Church hierarchy.
• Believe that God conveys His Grace directly to
  humanity through seven sacraments.

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Eastern Orthodoxy

• Split from the Roman Catholic in the 5th
  century.
• A collection of 14 self-governing churches in
  the East.
• Accept the seven sacraments, but reject
  doctrines that the Roman Catholic Church added
  after the 8th century.

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Protestantism

• Originated with the principles of the
  Reformation in the 16th century.
• Movement began with Martin Luther, who suggested
  that individuals are responsible for achieving
  personal salvation through direct communication
  with God.

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Origins of Islam

• Muslims trace their story through Ishmael son of
  Abraham and Hagar.
• Based on the teachings of Muhammad, a descendent
  of Ishmael.
• Islam began in Makkah about C.E. 610.

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Islamic Leadership

• Sunnis believe that leadership should go to
  whoever has the greatest ability.
• Shiites believe that leadership should go to a
  descendant of Ali, Muhammads cousin.
• Shiites disagree about the precise line of
  succession of Ali to modern times.

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Origins Sikhism

• Guru Nanak preached a new faith around 500 years
  ago.
• Sikks is Hindi for disciple.
• The 5th Guru compiled and edited the book of
  Sikh holy scripture in C.E. 1604.

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Origins Bahái

• In 1863 a Persian nobleman known as Bahá'u'lláh
  preached the unification of the world through
  peace.
• Bahái means follower.
• The center of the religion is the Seat of
  Universal House of Justice in Haifa, Israel.

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Seat of Universal House of Justice
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Origins of Hinduism

• An Ethnic Religion.
• Originated in the 6th century B.C.E. India as the
  religion of the Aryans.
• Earliest surviving Hindu documents dated around
  1500 B.C.E.

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Diffusion of Religions

• Universal Religions diffused from specific
  hearths to other regions of the world.
• Ethnic Religions typically remain clustered in
  one location.

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Diffusion of three major Universalizing Religions
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Diffusion of Christianity

• First spread through relocation diffusion by
  missionaries, such as Paul of Tarsus.
• Later spread through hierarchical diffusion when
  it became the Roman Empires official religion in
  C.E. 380.

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Missionaries

• Individuals who help to transmit a universalizing
  religion through relocation diffusion.

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Extension of Christianity Beyond The Roman Empire

• As Europeans explored the world starting in the
  1500s, they spread Christianity to the regions in
  which they came into contact.

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Diffusion of Islam

• Muslim armies spread Islam to Palestine, Persia,
  and part of India within 100 years of Muhammad's
  death.
• Next came North Africa and most of Spain.
• Traders and missionaries spread Islam to
  Southeast Asia in C.E. 1300.

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Diffusion of Buddhism

• About 257 B.C.E., Emperor Asoka of in South Asia
  became a Buddhist and missionaries were sent to
  neighboring states.
• Traders exported the religion to China in the
  1st century C.E.
• In the 4th century C.E., the religion diffused
  to Korea and 2 centuries later to Japan.

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Diffusion of Bahái

• Bahái spread to other regions in the late 19th
  century under the leadership of the prophets
  son.
• It spread more rapidly in the late 20th century,
  when a temple was constructed in every continent.

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Diffusion of Sikhism

• Sikhs gained control of the Punjab region form
  the Muslims in 1802.
• Most Sikhs migrated to East Punjab after the
  British divided the state between Pakistan (in
  the West) and India (in the East).

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Lack of Diffusion of Ethnic Religions

• Ethnic religions lack missionaries dedicated to
  converting people from other religions.
• The diffusion of universalizing religions often
  comes at the expense of ethnic religions.

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Mingling of Ethnic and Universalizing Religions

• In Africa, traditional ideas have merged with
  Christianity.
• In Japan, Shintoism has embraced Buddhism.
• The island of Mauritius include Hinduism,
  Christianity, and Islam, all from migrants.

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Shintoism Buddhism in Japan
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Judaism, An Exception

• In C.E. 70, Rome dispersed the Jews throughout
  the empire.
• Jews lived among other nationalities, but
  maintained their traditions.
• Jews were persecuted, and forced to live in
  ghettos.
• After World War II, many Jews returned to Israel.

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Ghetto

• Defined as a city neighborhood set up by law to
  be inhabited only by a specific ethnic group
  (Jews in Europe).
• Term originated during the 16th century in
  Venice, Italy.

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Holy Places

• Holy places in ethnic religions derive from the
  distinctive physical environment of its hearth
  (the Ganges River).
• Universalizing religions endow places associated
  with the founders life (Jerusalem, and Mecca)

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Pilgrimage

• A journey for religious purposes to a place
  considered sacred.
• Hindus and Muslims are encouraged to visit
  specific places with recommended itineraries.

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The Locations of the Eight BuddhistShrines
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Four Most Important Buddhist Shrines

• Lumbini, where Buda was born.
• Bodh Gayã, where Buddha reached perfect wisdom.
• Deer Park, where Buddha gave his first sermon.
• Kusinagara, where Buddha died at age 80 and
  passed into nirvana.

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Bodh Gayã, where Buddha reached perfect wisdom.
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Holy Places in Islam

• Makkah (Mecca) is the birthplace of Muhammad.
• Madinah (Medina) is where Muhammad received his
  first support and the site of his tomb.
• Dome of the Rock (Jerusalem) where Muhammad
  ascended into heaven in a dream.

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Makkah (Mecca)
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The Great Mosque at Makkah
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The Kaba
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The Kaba

• In the center of the Great Mosque of Makkah.
• Traditionally the first house of worship of God,
  originally built by Adam.
• Traditionally rebuilt by Abraham and Ishmael.
• Cleared of idols and rededicated to Allah by
  Muhammad.

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The Hajj

• One of the Five Pillars of Islam.
• A pilgrimage to Makkah.
• Healthy Muslims with adequate financial
  resources must make this trip at least once in
  their lifetime.

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The Golden Temple at Amritsar in Punjab
Holy Place of Sikhism
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Holy Places in Hinduism

• The importance of shrines is established by
  tradition.
• The Ganges is considered the holiest river and
  Hindus believe in bathing in it for purification.
• Mt. Kailãs in the Himalaya is located at the
  source of the Ganges.

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Hindu Holy Places
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Bathing in the Ganges
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Cosmogony

• A set of religious beliefs concerning the origin
  of the universe.
• Example is in the ethnic religions of
  Confucianism and Daoism, the universe is made up
  of the yin and the yang.

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Yin and Yang

• Belief that two forces in constant change make
  up the universe.
• The yin earth, darkness, female, cold, depth,
  passivity, and death.
• The yang heaven, light, male, heat, height,
  activity, and life.
• Imbalance results in chaos.

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Christian and Islamic Cosmogony

• God created the universe, Earth, human beings.
• God is more powerful than nature.
• Christians believe that God left humans to
  finish creation.
• Muslims believe that only God is responsible for
  creation.

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Animists and Cosmogony

• Gods powers are mystical.
• Only a few people on Earth can harness the
  mystical powers of medical reasons.
• God can be placated through prayer and
  sacrifice.
• Environmental hazards may be accepted as normal
  and unavoidable.

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The Calendar of Ethnic Religions

• A prominent feature is the celebration of the
  seasons.
• - Knowledge is critical to successful
  agriculture.
• - Rituals are tied to the environment.

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The Jewish Calendar

• Major holidays are based on events in the
  agricultural calendar of the religions homeland.
• The autumn is a time of hope and worry over
  whether the winter rains will be sufficient.
• Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are celebrated in
  the Autumn.

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The Exodus Celebrations

• Sukkot, celebrated final gathering of fruits, is
  related to wandering in the wilderness.
• Pesach, the offering of first fruits, recalls
  the freedom from Egyptian slavery.
• Shevuot, at the end of the grain harvest, is
  related to the receipt of the 10 Commandments.

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The Lunar Calendar

• Israel uses the lunar calendar, instead of the
  solar calendar.
• Since lunar months are only 29 days long, the
  350 day year gets out of sync with the
  agriculture season.
• The Jewish calendar adds an extra month seven
  out of 19 years.

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Solstice

• The Winter Solstice is a major holiday in some
  pagan religions.
• December 21 or 22 in the Northern Hemisphere and
  June 21 or 22 in the Southern Hemisphere.

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Pagan

• A follower of a polytheistic religion in ancient
  times.

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Solstice Aligned Buildings

• Stonehenge is a pagan structure that is aligned
  so the sun rises between two stones on the
  Solstice.
• The U.S. Capital is aligned with the Summer
  Solstice.
• Will future archaeologist think that the capital
  building was part of a religious ritual?

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Stonehenge in Southern England
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The Calendar in Universalizing Religions

• The principal purpose is to commemorate events in
  the founders life.

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Islamic and Bahái Calendars

• Islam has a strict lunar calendar of 19 years of
  354 days and 11 years of 355 days.
• The Bahai calendar is divided into 19 months of
  19 days with 4 intercalary days (5 days in leap
  years).

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Christian Calendar

• Easter and Christmas are the major holidays.
• Easter is celebrated at different times by
  virtue of the calendar used (Gregorian vs.
  Julian).
• Christmas (the birth of Jesus) isnt celebrated
  by all Christians.

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Buddhist Calendar

• All Buddhist celebrate the birth, Enlightenment,
  and death of Buddha.
• Buddhist in different parts of the world
  celebrate these events on different days.

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Sikh Calendar

• Commemorate historical events.
• The major holidays are the births and deaths of
  the religions ten gurus.
• A major holiday celebrates when the holy
  scriptures were installed as the religions guide.