1. Chapter 6.1: Where Are Religions Distributed?

2. Human Geographers study where religions are located and why they spread
Scale (globalization vs. local diversity) causes most religious tensions in the world
People draw their core beliefs from religion
Some are designed for global appeal, while others are intended for geographically limited areas
Religious values affect how cultures organize their landscapes
Most require exclusive adherence so global religions make people abandon local beliefs
Migrants take religions to new locations. While they may learn a new language they often keep their old religion
Identification with a religion leads to pride, but can also lead to conflict with other religions

3. Where Are Religions Distributed?
There are two types of religion: Universalizing and Ethnic
Universalizing religions: attempt to be global, appeal to all people wherever they are in the world not just one location of culture
Three major universalizing religions: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism

4. World Distribution of Religions
Fig. 6-1: World religions by continent.

5. Each religion is divided in three ways
Branches- large fundamental division within a religion (Catholic, Protestant)
Denominations- a division of a branch that unites local congregations (Baptist, Lutheran, etc.)
Sects- small group that has broken away from a religion

6. Christianity Has 2 billion adherents and widest distribution
Three major branches: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox
Roman Catholic- Southwest/East Europe
Protestant- Northwest Europe
Orthodox- East/Russia
In the Western Hemisphere
50% of N. America is Protestant (Baptist, Lutheran)
95% of S. America is Roman Catholic
Some smaller branches exist in Asia, Middle East, and Africa

7. Christian Branches in Europe
Fig. 6-2: Protestant denominations, Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy are dominant in different regions of Europe—a result of many historic interactions.

8. Christian Branches in the U.S.
Fig. 6-3: Distribution of Christians in the U.S. Shaded areas are counties with more than 50% of church membership concentrated in Roman Catholicism or one of the Protestant denominations.

9. Islam 1.3 billion in Middle East, N. Africa, and Asia
Islam means “submission to the will of god”
Five major pillars of faith
There is only one true god and Muhammad is his messenger
Muslims must pray five times a day facing Mecca
Must give generously to charity for purification/growth
Must fast during Ramadan for self purification
Must make a pilgrimage to Mecca
Two major branches: Sunni and Shia
Dominant in Middle East and Asia, also a minority religion in Europe and America

10. Buddhism 365 million people, mostly in China/Southeast Asia
Four Noble Truths (major tenets)
All living beings must endure suffering
Suffering is caused by desire to live and leads to reincarnation
Goal of all existence is to escape suffering and endless cycle of reincarnation into Nirvana which is achieved through self-purification
Nirvana is attained through the eightfold path which is rightness of belief, resolve, speech, action, livelihood, effort, thought, and meditation
Hard to make an accurate count since there are not many Buddhist institutions
It is not an exclusive religion like Christianity and Islam

11. Ethnic Religions Hinduism
97% live in India
Believe it is up to the individual to decide how to worship God
You alone are responsible for your own actions and must suffer any consequences
No central authority or holy book, you select your own rituals
Others include Confucianism, Daoism, Judaism, Animism

12. Chapter 6.2: Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions?

13. Origin of Religions
Universalizing religions have precise places of origin based on events in the life of man
Ethnic religions have unknown or unclear origins, not tied to historic individuals
Origin of Universalizing religions
Christianity: founded on the teachings of Jesus who died around 30 AD in Jerusalem
Islam: founded by Muhammad around 610 AD in Mecca
Buddhism: founded by Siddhartha Gautama near present day Nepal

14. Origin of Ethnic Religion
Hinduism existed prior to written history
Earliest surviving Hindu documents are dated around 1500 BC

15. Diffusion of Religions
Diffusion of Universalizing Religions
Hearths of the three largest universal religions center around 3 individuals
All three of these hearths originate in Asia

16. Diffusion of Christianity
Spread through relocation, hierarchical, and contagious diffusion
First through relocation: missionaries carried the religion through the Roman Empire
Contagious: spread through daily contact between believers and non-believers (Pagans)
Hierarchical: the emperor Constantine converts and encourages spread.
Emperor Theodosius makes it the official religion in 380 AD
Later spread to North/South America through relocation again

17. Diffusion of Christianity
Fig. 6-5: Christianity diffused from Palestine through the Roman Empire and continued diffusing through Europe after the fall of Rome. It was later replaced by Islam in much of the Mideast and North Africa.

18. Diffusion of Islam
Originally spread through the conquest of Muslim armies including North Africa, southern Spain, South Eastern Europe, Turkey
Later spread to Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia through relocation diffusion and trade

19. Diffusion of Islam
Fig. 6-6: Islam diffused rapidly and widely from its area of origin in Arabia. It eventually stretched from southeast Asia to West Africa.

20. Diffusion of Buddhism Spread more slowly than the other two
The Magadhan Empire begins the spread in 257 BC when it sends missionaries to Kashmir, Burma and other parts of India
Merchants introduce the religion to China, which allows missionaries to spread the religion.
Later spreads to Korea and then Japan

21. Diffusion of Buddhism
Fig. 6-7: Buddhism diffused gradually from its origin in northeastern India to Sri Lanka, southeast Asia, and eventually China and Japan.

22. Lack of Diffusion of Ethnic Religions
Most ethnic religions have very limited, if any, diffusion
In some places they actually mix with universalizing religions (Africa-Christianity)
They can diffusion through relocation if the new region does not force them to change religions
Judaism is an exception to this rule
It is practiced in many nations and did not even have a home until Israel was founded 1948

23. Holy Places
Religions sometimes elevate particular places to holy positions
Ethnic religions have less distribution because its holy places are derived from the physical environment of its hearth
Universalizing religion often grants holiness to the cities and other places in their founder’s life, and these areas do not have to be near one another

24. Universalizing Holy Places
Buddhists: 8 places are holy due to important events in Buddha’s life (Birthplace, first sermon, death)
Islam: cities associated with the life of Muhammad (birth: Mecca, Medina: his first followers)

25. Holy Sites in Buddhism
Fig. 6-9: Most holy sites in Buddhism are locations of important events in Buddha’s life and are clustered in northeastern India and southern Nepal.

26. Ethnic Holy Places
Tied very closely to physical geography of one place
Cosmogony: set of religious beliefs concerning the origin of the universe.
Events in the physical universe are more likely to be incorporated into the principles of an ethnic religion (animists, Confucianism).
Universal religions tend to think God is more powerful than nature.

27. The Calendar
Ethnic religions tend to celebrate holidays based on the seasons, while universalizing religions center around the founder
Ethnic Religions
Often celebrate the seasons and their changes
Rituals often pray for favorable environmental conditions or thanks for past farming success
Jewish calendar: two holiest days are in Autumn
Rosh Hashanah - New Year
Yom Kippur - Day of Atonement - this corresponds with the planting season
Many ethnic religions recognize the winter solstice
shortest day of the year

28. Universalizing Religions
Celebrates events of the founder’s life
Easter, Christmas, Ramadan

29. Chapter 6.3: Why Do Religions Organize Space in Distinctive Patterns?

30. Places of Worship
All major religions have some form of buildings for spiritual use
Christian Churches
The Christian landscape has a very high density of churches
Plays a more critical role than buildings in other religions
Believe the structure itself is an image of god
Traditionally the church was the largest building in the center of a town, still applies in rural areas
Churches are very expensive, requires donations from members and rich congregations have more ornate churches

31. Muslim Mosques Considered to be a place for community assembly
It is not viewed so much as a holy place as it is a place for the community to gather and pray together
Mosques are usually found in larger cities, in small villages a simple place is chosen for this role
It is organized around a central courtyard and the pulpit always faces Mecca
A distinctive feature is the minaret, a tower where the Muzzan summons people to worship

32. Hindu Temples
Most Asian ethnic and universal religions place little emphasis on collective worship
Important religious functions are more likely to be done in the home in their own shrines
Hindu temples are home to one or more god and are funded by wealthy individuals
These temples contain a dimly lit interior room with a statue of the god and perhaps room for a purification pool
There are no organized services, people come to worship or meditate as they please

33. Sacred Space
Religious land use is typically for burial of the dead and religious settlements
Burial
Christians, Muslims and Jews typically bury their dead in cemeteries
Hindus tend to cremate rather than bury.
They first purify the body in the Ganges River.

34. Religious Settlements
Most human settlements serve economic purposes, but sometimes they are formed due to religion
Examples include utopian settlements: an ideal community built around a religious way of life
Oneida, New York and New Harmony, Indiana are examples of these communities
Colonial settlements were not entirely planed for religious purposes, but Puritans tended to settle in such communities

35. Administration of Space
Members of universalizing religions must be connected for communication and consistency of the religion
Ethnic religions tend not to have these organized authorities
Hierarchical Religions: have a well-defined geographic structure and organizes territory into administrative units
Roman Catholics
Pope- Archbishops (province)- Bishops (diocese)- Priests (parish)

36. Judaism, and Hinduism also have no centralized authority
Autonomous Religions: Self sufficient with little communication with other communities of that faith
Islam provides a great deal of local autonomy
Has no formal hierarchy or territory
Each member is expected to participate equally in rituals
The exception to this is when the government is run by and Islamic majority
Migration to Mecca and a very explicit doctrine keep unity in the religion
Judaism, and Hinduism also have no centralized authority

37. Chapter 6.4: Religious Conflict

38. Religion vs. Government
Government policies can come into conflict with religious beliefs
Religion vs. Social Change
In LDC’s, participation in the global economy brings western influences into society
Westerners do not consider economic development as incompatible with religious values, but many non-Christian religions do

39. The Taliban Take over Afghanistan in the late 1990’s
Impose very strict Islamic principles on the nation
Men are beaten for shaving beards, women stoned to death for adultery, homosexuals buried alive, women wearing nail polish have their fingers cut off
Banned all western activities including TV, kite flying, and music.
Soccer stadiums were converted into execution and flogging arenas

40. Hinduism vs. Social Equality
The caste system divides India into four groups: Brahmans (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaisyas (merchants), and Shudras (farm workers, very low group).
Below these groups are the untouchables or descendants of the natives before Aryan conquest.
Almost no socialization outside of your group, very few rights for untouchables and Shudras
The British rulers and Christian missionaries fight to eliminate the system, succeed in abolishing the untouchable caste

41. Eastern Orthodox Christianity vs. Communism
With the Communist revolution in Russia in 1917, the Soviet Government eliminates the official church-state connection to the church
Religious organizations are banned from social and cultural work and most East Orthodox Christians either abandon the religion or go underground
With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, religions are once again spreading in Russia

42. Religion vs. Religion
Conflict is most likely to occur between borders of major religions
Two long-standing conflicts are in the Middle East and in Northern Ireland
Religious Wars in the Middle East
Jews, Christians, and Muslims have fought for control of this region for 2000 years
Jews consider this area their holy land, Christians consider Jerusalem holy due to Jesus’ death/resurrection, and Muslims regard it as holy since Muhammad ascended to heaven here

43. Jerusalem
Fig. 6-14: The Old City of Jerusalem contains holy sites for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

44. The Crusades
Muslims conquer most of the middle east during the 7th century
150 years of Christian led invasions of the holy land known as the crusades

45. Jews vs. Muslims in Palestine
Divided by the United Nations following WWII into Jewish and Muslim parts
A series of wars between Israel and its Arab neighbors leaves Israel with possession of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, which were originally given to the Palestinians
Jewish settlements in these areas caused open violence between Palestinian groups and the Israelis