Religion

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Religion
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Religion

• Along with language as an important force that
  bond and define human cultures

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Religion (Faith or Belief System)

• Working Definition
• belief concerning the supernatural, sacred, or
  divine, and the moral codes, practices and
  institutions associated with such belief
• total of answers given to explain humankind's
  relationship with the universe

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• Animism
• Ethnic
• Universalist
• Monotheistic/Polytheistic

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Worlds Major Religions

• Systems of beliefs guiding behavior
• Behavior oriented
• Orthopraxy
• Part of Sociological Cultural Subsystem
• Theological/philosophical
• Orthodoxy
• Part of Ideological Cultural Subsystem
• Fundamentalism
• Secularism

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Adherents to World Religions

• Christianity 2.1 billion
• Islam 1.3 billion
• Non-Adherent (Secular/Atheist/Irreligious/Agnostic
  /Nontheist) 1.1 billion
• Hinduism 900 million
• Chinese folk religion 394 million
• Buddhism 376 million
• Primal indigenous ("Pagan") 300 million
• African traditional and diasporic 100 million
• Sikhism 23 million
• Juche 19 million
• Spiritism 15 million
• Judaism 14 million
• Bahá'í Faith 7 million

• Jehovah's Witnesses 6.5 million
• Jainism 4.2 million
• Shinto 4 million
• Cao Dai 4 million
• Zoroastrianism 2.6 million
• Tenrikyo 2 million
• Neo-Paganism 1 million
• Unitarian Universalism 800,000
• Rastafari movement 600,000

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Judaism

• 14 million adherents
• Monotheistic
• Pentateuch
• First five books of the Old Testament
• Sects
• Orthodox, Conservative, Reform
• Israel
• Homeland for Jewish people
• Created 1948
• Conflict between Israel and Palestine

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Christianity

• Emerged from Judaism
• Coptic Church
• Founded in Alexandria in A.D. 41
• Official religion of Roman Empire
• Facilitated geographical spread
• Dark Ages
• Protestant Reformation
• Significant growth in Africa, Asia and Latin
  America

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Islam

• Muhammad
• Allah
• Five Pillars of Islam
• Belief in one God
• Five daily prayers
• Generous alms
• Fasting during Ramadan
• Pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj)
• Sects
• Sunni
• Shiite

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Hinduism Sikhism

• Hinduism
• Most ancient religious tradition in Asia
• Vedas Hindu sacred texts
• Castes
• Brahman, priestly
• Kshatriya, warrior
• Vaisya, tradesman and farmer
• Sudra, servant and laborer
• Untouchables
• Sikhism
• Offshoot of Hinduism
• Guru Nanak

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Buddhism

• Buddha Enlightened One
• Four Noble Truths
• Life involves suffering
• Cause of suffering is desire
• Elimination of desire ends suffering
• Right thinking and behavior eliminate desire
• Nirvana
• Diffused from India

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Other Religions

• Eastern Religions
• Confucianism
• Taoism
• Shinto
• Animism and Shamanism
• Animism
• Belief in ubiquity of spirits or spiritual forces
• Shamanism
• Shaman

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Religion Politics

• Freedom of religion
• Theocracy
• Church rules directly
• Separation of church and state
• Islamic fundamentalists
• United States
• Election Issues in the United States

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Social Impact of Religion

• Gender roles
• Womens rights
• Diet
• Ethics and morals
• Values
• Schools and institutions