Religion
“a system of beliefs and practices that attempts
to order life in terms of culturally perceived
ultimate priorities.”
- Stoddard and Prorak
“perceived ultimate priorities” often translate
into a list of things a follower “should” do and
ways a follower “should” behave.
• Religion lies at the heart
of nationalism-e.g.
Middle East, Northern
Ireland, Bosnia, Kashmir,
Afghanistan, etc.
• Religion in many nonwestern areas practically
constitutes culture.
• Religious cultural
landscapes-churches,
temples, mosques,
shrines, cemeteries,
statues, veils, turbans,
beards and scars
Key Characteristics of Religion
• Set of doctrines or beliefs
relating to a god or gods.
• Structure or hierarchy of
officials
• Rituals for:
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Birth
Death
Reaching adulthood
Marriage
Prayer
Routine services on a Fri,
Sat. or Sun.
• Impact of religioncalendars, holidays,
architecture, place
names, slogans on coins
or flags.
• A major forces in
combating social ills and
promoting
– Education
– Medicine and health care
– The arts
• But also
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Blocked scientific study
Oppressed dissidents
Supported imperialism
Kept women inferior
Religions are divided into
• Branches-a large and fundamental division within a
religion-such as Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox
branches of Christianity.
• Denomination-a division or a branch that unites a
number of local congregations into a single administrative
body-Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist denominations of
Protestantism
• Sect-has several meanings–
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A relatively small group that broke away from an bigger group or
An organized ecclesiastical body or
A dissenting or schismatic religious body or
A religious denomination-such as sects of Islam
Classifications of Religions
• Universalizing religions – religions that actively
seek converts because members believe they
offer belief systems of universal
appropriateness and appeal.
• Ethnic religions – religions whose adherents are
born into the faith and whose members do not
actively seek converts.
Classifications of Religions
• Monotheistic religions – worship a single deity.
• Polytheistic religions – worship more than one
deity, even thousands.
• Animistic religions – belief that inanimate
objects posses spirits and should be revered.
Religious Typology
• Monotheistic-belief in 1 god
• Polytheistic-belief in many
• Animistic-objects have
spirits-trees, mountains,
rivers
• Global or Universal-found all
over the world-seek
converts-aim to be universal
• Evangelical-religions that
seek new converts
• Cultural religion-limited to a
national culture or a single
region-Shinto, Daoism, etc.
Religions of the World
• Shamanism –
a community faith tradition in which people follow
their shaman, a religious leader, teacher, healer, and
visionary.