Religion
Vocab, Models, and important facts
Religion is faithfulness to codified beliefs and rituals that generally involve a faith of a spiritual nature, a system of beliefs guiding behavior.
There are many different types of religions. Monotheistic religions worship one supreme being, but polytheistic religions worship multiple deities(gods).
Religions are either universalizing or ethnic.
Religion affects gender roles, diets, ethics, morals, schools, social media, etc.
Vocabulary
Theocracy: A state whose government is under control of a ruler who is deemed as divinely guided or under control of a group of religious leaders.
Fundamentalism: Literal interpretation and strict adherence to basic principles of religion.
Extremism: Religious movement whose objectives are to return to the foundation of faith, but are carried to the point of violence.
Interfaith Boundaries: The boundaries between the world's major faiths.
Intrafaith boundaries: The boundaries within a major religion.
Secularism: a philosophy or world view that stresses human values without reference to religion or spirituality
Global religion: Religions that hae been spread accross the globe.
Universalizing Religions:
- Universalizing religions attempt to be global to appeal to all people, wherever they may be in the world, not just those of one culture or location. AKA. Proselytic religion.
- The three universalizing religions are Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism.
- Found all over the world, not just in one country. Rapidly spread.
- Specific origin/founder.
Branch: A large and fundamental division within a religion.
Denomination: A division within a branch of a religion.
Sect: A relatively small denominational group that has broken away from an established church.
Christianity:
- A monotheistic religion centered around the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as presented in the New Testament.
- Official religion of the Roman Empire.
- Monotheistic
- Place of worship: Church
- Holy scripture: The Bible
- Followers: Christians
- Spread through relocation diffusion and missionaries.
- Originated in Palestine (Israel)
- Denominations: Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox.
- The largest denomination(esp in US).
- Spread throughout western Europe.
- Spread throughout northern Europe and England.
- Spread throughout eastern Europe and Russia.
- Caused by a split between Roman and Eastern churches.
- A monotheistic religion associated with the teachings of Muhammad.
- 2nd largest universalizing religion.
- Monotheistic. GOD IS ALLAH.
- Place of worship: Mosque
- Holy scripture: Quran
- Followers: Muslims
- Origin: Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Spread by Muhammad and followers.
- Pork and alcohol forbidden.
- Follows the Five Pillars of Islam:
–Five daily prayers facing Mecca
–Generous alms (help to poor)
–Fasting during the holy month of Ramadan
–Pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj)
Sharia Law: The legal framework where public and some private aspects of life are
regulated for those living in a legal system based on Muslim principles.
Pilgrimage: A journey for religious purposes to a place considered sacred.
Hajj: The pilgrimage to Mecca made at least once in the life of a Muslim.
- Sects: Sunni and Shiite
- Believes the blood relatives of Muhammad should be the next caliph.
- Make up 15% of Muslims.
- Believes the next caliph should be the leader of the church.
- Make up 85% of Muslims.
- Religion based on the teachings of the Buddha, the Enlightened One, to reach Enlightenment.
- The original Buddha was Siddhartha Gautama.
- Origin: India
- Place of worship: Temple
- Followers: Buddhists
- Believes in reincarnation.
- Doesn't believe in any specific God.
- Follows Four Noble Truths:
–Cause of suffering is desire
–Elimination of desire ends suffering
–Right thinking and behavior eliminate desire
- Branches: Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana
- Located in South Asia
- Located in East Asia.
- Practiced in Central Asia.
Nirvana: Buddhism's way of living that achieves release from reincarnation and suffering
Ethnic Religion:
- An ethnic religion is a religion with a relatively concentrated spatial distribution whose principles are likely to be based on physical characteristics of the particular location in which its adherents(followers) are located.
- No specific founder.
- Limited diffusion and adherents.
- Includes Hinduism, Judaism, Animistic religions, and smaller, localized religions.
- Origin:
- Place of worship: Synagogue
- Followers: Jewish/Jews
- Holy Scriptures: Torah
- Oldest monotheistic religion.
- Eats Kosher meats.
- Israel is the homeland created for Jewish people in 1948 after the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
- Follows Moses and Abraham
Hinduism:
- Created in India with approximately 1 billion followers. Highly based off of the principle of Karma, "an eye for an eye".
- Origin: India
- Place of worship: Temple
- Polytheistic, worships many gods.
- Almost exclusively in India.
- Oldest religion is Asia.
- Not allowed to eat from cows.
- Believes in reincarnation
Shintoism:
- Beliefs focused primarily on nature and ancestor worship.
- Japanese traditional religion
- Origin: Japan
- Worship of the Kami
- The doctrines of a monotheistic religion that combine Hinduism and Islam.
- Origin: Punjab, India
- Founded by Guru Nanak in 16th century.
- Belief that objects or natural events discrete spirits and life.
- the belief that all objects, animals, and beings are “animated” or possess a spirit and a conscious life.
Shamanism:
- Range of traditional beliefs and practices that claim the ability to cure, heal, and cause people pain.
- Closely related to animism.
- A philosophy that focuses on morality, family order, social harmony, and government.
- Based on moral code.
- Founder: A Chinese man named Confucius.
- Origin: China
- Focuses on form of political rule and oneness of humanity and nature.
- Harmony and balance
- Origin: China
- Believes everything on Earth has a soul. Purpose of this religion is to cleanse to soul.
- Origin: India, branched off from Hinduism.
- Founded by Mahavira.
- A term used to describe religious, ideologic, and cultural aspects of the various denominations of the Latter Day Saints movement