Slide 1: Class 7b: Geographies of Religion
Slide 2: Religion and culture
• Everyone has values and morals • Religion means worship, faith in the sacred or divine • Mentifacts: individuals’ beliefs • Sociofacts: relationships based on those beliefs
Slide 3: Religion and geography
• • • • Spatial distribution of religions Diffusion of religious beliefs and practices Impact on the landscape Territorial conflicts over religion
Slide 4: • Figure 7.25
Slide 5: Distribution of religions
• Universalizing religions – Christianity, Islam, Buddhism • Ethnic religions – More than a statement of faith – Judaism, Hinduism, Shinto • Tribal or traditional religions – Animism, shamanism
Slide 6: Distribution of Christianity
• Largest religion (2 billion) • Three major branches – Roman Catholic 50% – Protestant 25% – Eastern Orthodox 10% • Others: Pentecostal, Mormon, Armenian, Coptic, Maronites
Slide 7: • Figure 7.25
Slide 8: Diffusion of Christianity
• Began in Jerusalem • Official religion of Rome by 313 • Split Roman Empire and Christian church – Roman Catholicism in West – Eastern Orthodox in East • Protestant Reformation second split – Catholicism in South – Protestantism in North
Slide 9: • Figure 7.29
Slide 10: Diffusion of Christianity
• Spread to New World by colonizers, settlers Figure 7.31
Slide 11: Christianity and the landscape
• Church as center of settlement – Collective worship important – Architecture, layout symbolic • Cemeteries as land use • Hierarchy of spatial organization
Slide 12: Vermont
Paris Sacramento
Slide 13: Christianity and territory: Ireland
• • • • English colony Independence in 1937 6 counties voted to stay North discriminated against Catholics • IRA: terrorism for unity • 1966-1999: 3000 dead
Slide 14: Distribution of Islam
• Fastest growing religion (1.2 billion) • Two major branches – Sunni 85% – Shiite 15% • North Africa, SW Asia, Indonesia
Slide 15: • Figure 7.25
Slide 16: Five pillars of Islam
• There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his prophet • Pray 5 times daily, facing Mecca • Give to charity • Fast daily during Ramadan • Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once (hajj)
Slide 17: Other practices of Islam
• Qur’an or Koran: sacred text – Revealed to Muhammad – Should be read in Arabic • Hadith: sayings and actions of Muhammad – “Chain of reporters” – Open to interpretation (e.g., veiling)
Slide 18: Other beliefs of Islam
• Tolerance of People of the Book – Jews, Christians – Descendants of Ishmael • More egalitarian than Christianity – No intermediaries – Worshippers are equals
Slide 19: Diffusion of Islam
• Began in Mecca and Medina in 622 • Spread rapidly to east and west • Conquered North Africa, Spain, SE Europe within 200 years • Traders spread to SE Asia, Africa
Slide 21: Diffusion of Islam
• Split over succession – Shiites insist on hereditary leaders – Sunnis do not • Iran, Bahrain, southern Iraq: Shiite • Iraq civil war?
Slide 22: Islam and the landscape
• Sacred cities: Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem – Muhammad’s birthplace, Ka’ba – Muhammad’s first “conquest” – Muhammad’s ascent to Heaven • Mosques for community gathering, worship – Mihrab points to Mecca – Minaret: tower for call to prayer
Slide 23: Turkey Burkina Faso
Uzbekistan
Slide 27: Cordoba Granada
Slide 28: Islam and territory: Spain
• Reached France and Vienna; driven back • Ruled much of Spain for 300 years • Driven out by 1492 • Forced conversion sent Muslims, Jews east 1030 1360
Slide 30: arroz (rice) azúcar (sugar) limón (lemon) naranja (orange) ajedrez (chess) almohada (pillow) embarazo (pregnancy) alcabala (tax) alcalde (mayor) barrio (neighborhood) alcohol algebra
Slide 31: Religion and fundamentalism
• • • • Ultraconservative beliefs Reaction to modernism Want to institutionalize their values Them against the world
