11-2 Intro to Religion
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Transcript 11-2 Intro to Religion
November 9, 2012
What is religion?
Religions change and evolve over time
Religions are spread through interaction
Cultural Landscape
The cultural landscape reflects religious preferences,
by houses of worship, cemeteries, shrines, and statues
It is reflected in the sale of alcohol, dress, and personal
habits
Ex: Pakistan requires judges to wear a beard
Religion
A system of beliefs and practices that attempts to order
life in terms of culturally perceived ultimate priorities
It determines how people “should” behave
In some societies, religion determines behaviors during
waking hours, and even in sleep (some sleeping
positions can be sinful)
Most religions have prayers and rituals
Rituals
Rituals mark important events in people’s lives
Births
Death
Coming of age
Marriage
Celebration of holidays
Prayer
Secularism
Some societies are predominantly secular, or non-
religious
Even then, religion seeps into art, history, customs,
beliefs, and even the calendar
Whether secular or not, it is important to have a basic
understanding of religion
Religion is one of the most complex and controversial
aspects of culture
Early Religions
Most religions can be classified into one of three broad
groups:
Monotheistic
Polytheistic
Animistic
History
of
Religion
Up until 3500 years ago, most religions were
polytheistic or animistic
Zoroastrianism was the first monotheistic religion and
laid the foundation for Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam
Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the
belief that there is a single all-powerful good god
(Zoroastro), and there is also an evil being trying to
destroy good
Diffusion
of
Monotheism
Judaism was the second (or first) great monotheistic
religion
However, it was not until Christianity and Islam
emerged that monotheism spread
By 500 BCE, there were four hearths of religion:
Greece (Greek Philosophy)
India (Hinduism)
Israel (Judaism)
China (Chinese philosophies)
World Distribution of Religions
Fig. 6-1: World religions by continent.