RELIGIONS AND BELIEF SYSTEMS

MEDIA INFORMATION LITERACY

Religion- Religions and belief systems are important parts of cultures around the world.
MEDIA- -A thereligion
main ismeans of beliefs
a set of mass communication (broadcasting,
and practices that publishing,
is often focused on one and the
or more
Internet),
deities, regarded collectively.
or gods.
- plural form
-Majorofworld
medium.
religions include Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, and
Sikhism.
Literacy -is traditionally meant as the ability to read and write. The United Nations
THEISM
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines literacy as the
"ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using
Monotheistic-Beliefs in one deity.
printed and written materials associated with varying contexts.”
Examples: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
- the ability to read and write.
Polytheistic-Have many deities.
Information and Media Literacy ( IML)
Example: Hinduism
Since the 1990s, the primary focus of information literacy has been research skills. Media
All religions must have:
literacy, a study that emerges around the 1970s traditionally focuses on the analysis and
the
-a setdelivery
of basic of information through various forms of media. Nowadays, the study of
beliefs.
Information Literacy has been extended to include the study of Media Literacy in many
-Scriptures (sacred texts) that communicate the beliefs of a religion. (Bible-Christianity; Koran-
countries
Islam; like UK, Australia and New Zealand. The term Information and Media Literacy
Torah-Judaism)
is used by UNESCO to differentiate the combined study from the existing study of
-Code of conduct,
Information or beliefs
Literacy. about
It is also right and
defined wrong.
as Information and Communication Technologies
(ICT) inofthe
Spread United States. Educators, such as Gregory Ulmer, has also defined the field
Religions
as elect racy.
-Have spread by trade and migration.

-Also by missionaries.
Elect racy is a theory by Gregory Ulmer that describes the kind of skills and facility
6necessary
MAJOR RELIGIONS
to exploit the full communicative potential of new electronic media such as
multimedia, hypermedia, social software, and virtual worlds. According to Ulmer, elect
Buddhism
racy "is to digital media what literacy is to print."
Founder: Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha.
IML is a combination of information literacy and media literacy. The purpose of being
Followers: 4 million
information and media literate is to engage in a digital society; one needs to be able
to use,
Basic understand,
Beliefs: inquire,
People reach create, communicate
enlightenment, or wisdom,and think critically.
by following It is important
the Eightfold to
Path and
have capacity
understanding to effectively
the Four Noble Truths.access, organize, analyse, evaluate, and create
messages in a variety of forms. The transformative nature of IML includes creative works
Hinduism
and creating new knowledge; to publish and collaborate responsibly requires ethical,
Founder: Unknown
cultural and social understanding.
Followers: 860 million
Media Literacy is the ability to access, analyse, evaluate and create media in a variety
of forms.
Basic Definitions,
Beliefs: however,
Souls continue evolve
to be over
reborn. Thetime and
cycle a more ends
of rebirth robust
onlydefinition
when the is now
soul
needed to situate media literacy in the context of
achieves enlightenment, or freedom from earthly desires. its importance for the education of
students in a 21st century media culture.
Christianity

Founder: Jesus of Nazareth

Followers: 2.3 billion

Basic Beliefs: There is one God, and Jesus is the only Son of God. Jesus was crucified but was
resurrected. Followers reach salvation by following the teachings of Jesus.

Islam

Founder: The Prophet Muhammad

Followers: 1.6 billion

Basic Beliefs: There is one God. Followers must follow the Five Pillars of Islam in order to
achieve salvation.

Judaism

Founder: Abraham

Followers: 15 million

Basic Beliefs: There is one God. People serve God by living according to his teachings.God
handed down the Ten Commandments to guide human behavior.

Sikhism

Founder: Guru Nanak

Followers: 25 million

Basic Beliefs: There is one God. Souls are reborn. The goal is to achieve union with God,
which a person does by acting selflessly, meditating, and helping others.