Reading Guide Chapter 6: Religions

Key Issue 3 Why Do Religions Organize Space in Distinctive Patterns?

Pages 206-217
1. In what two ways do religious structures often stand out in a landscape?
tallest and most ellaborate

2. Why does a church, the physical structure, play a more critical role in Christianity than in other religions?
It's an expression of religious principles and created in the image of God

3. Why do many Christian churches vary in architectural style?

many different denominations

4. Identify four specific, visible features of a typical mosque.

1. Central courtyard
2. Open air
3. Pulpit facing Makkah
4. CLoister
5. Minaret

5. Describe the places of worship for the following religions.

Sikh Gurdwaras Jewish Synagogues Baja’i Houses of Worship

Sikh Gurdwaras - come together for
worship at a gurdwara, the most
important one is the Harmandir Sahib or
Golden Temple, in Amristsar, India...most
gurdwaras imitate the layout of the
Golden Temple and is identified by the
Sikh flag
Jewish Synagogues - synagogue comes
from the Greek word "assembly" often
referred to by the Yiddish word Shul
similar to the German word for
"school"...it's a place for study and public
worship as well as for prayer.
Baja'i Houses of Worship - Baha'is have
built Houses of Worship in every
continent to dramatize that Baha'i is a
universalizing religion with adherents all
over the world. All of them are required
to be built in the shape of a nonagon
(nine-sided).

6. What is the religious purpose of a Buddhist pagoda?

they contain relics that Buddhists believe to be a portion of Buddha's body or clothing.

7. What is the religious significance of a Hindu temple? Where do most Hindu religious functions take place?
structure designed to bring individuals closer to their gods. It serves as a shrine to one or more gods and as a place for individual
reflection and meditation according to one's own personal practices within the faith.

8. Complete the chart below with brief notes on the religious settlements indicated.

Utopian Settlements built around a religious way of life. Buildings are sited and economic activities organized to
integrate religious principles into all aspects of daily life.

Salt Lake City, Utah was the founded by the Latter-day Saints (Mormons) beginning in 1848. The layout of the city is
based on the plan for the city of Zion given to the church elders in 1833 by the Mormon prophet
Joseph Smith. The city has a regular grid pattern, unusually broad boulevards, and church-related
buildings situated at strategic points.

Puritans generally migrated together from England and preferred to live near each other in clustered
 settlements rather than on dispersed, isolated farms. They put the church at the center of their
settlement, usually adjacent to a public open space known as a common, because it was for
common use by everyone.

9. Look at figure 6-41 on page 208. Describe the differing toponyms in Quebec versus Ontario, New York, and Vermont.
Place names near Quebec's boundaries with Ontario and the US have a large # of settlements are named for
Saints...Quebec's predominantly Roman Catholic population. Very few religious toponyms are found in
predominantly Protestant Ontario,New York, and Vermont.

10. Where else in the United States might you find Roman Catholic toponyms?
US Southwest

11. Read “Doing Geography: Distribution of Religion” on page 209. What two religious groups are in conflict in Ireland?
Roman Catholics and Protestants
12. Describe the conflict between the two groups and how it has affected the spatial distribution of religions in Belfast.
Ireland achieved independence in 1937 but the majority of the northern part of Eire (island where Belfast is located) voted to remain
in the United Kingdom. Within Northern Ireland, Roman Catholics were victimized by discriminatory practices, such as exclusion
from higher-paying jobs and better schools.

13. List the Roman Catholic hierarchy, indicating geographic region and leader who heads it.

Pope, Archbishop, Bishop, and priest

14. Why are parishes in Latin America so much larger than in Europe?
lower population density than in Europe

15. In the absence of a hierarchy, what is the only formal organization of territory in Islam?
the coincidence of religious territory with secular states.

16. Complete the chart below to categorize other religions and their denominations.

Autonomous Religions Hierarchical Religions

Baptists and United Church of Christ are organized into self- Episcopalian, Lutheran, and most Methodist churches
governing congregations. comparable to the Roman Catholic Church's hierarchy except
they are led by bishops, not by a single leader such as a pope.

17. Complete the chart below on how universalizing and ethnic religions differ on the types of places that are considered holy.

Ethnic Religion Universalizing Religion

typically has a less widespread distribution than a with holiness cities and other places associated with the
universalizing one in part because its holy places derive from founder's life. It's holy places do not necessarily have to be near
the distinctive physical environment of its hearth, such as each other, and they do not need to be related to any particular
mountains, rivers, or rock formations. physical environment.
18. Read the section about Holy Places and make notes on three case studies: Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism.

Holy Sites

Buddhist

Islamic

Hindu

19. Give at least three examples of how religions have incorporated characteristics of cosmogony.

Chinese traditional ethnic religions believe the universe is made up of two forces yin (earth, darkness, female, cold, depth, passivity,
and death) and yang (heaven, light, male, heat, height, activity, and life) to achieve balance and harmony. An imbalance leads to
disorder and chaos. Primal-indigenous animists, the powers of the universe are mystical and only a few people on Earth can harness
these powers for medical or other purposes. Spirits or gods can be placated, however, through prayer and sacrifice. They accept
environmental hazards as normal and unavoidable. Christianity and islam consider that God (or Allah for Islam) created the universe,
including Earth's physical environment and human beings. A religious person can serve the Creator by cultivating the land, draining
wetlands, clearing forests, building new settlements, and otherwise making productive use of natural features that the Creator
made.

20. Christians practice burial of the dead. Complete the flowchart below to indicate the history of this practice.
1 - Ancient Rome underground passages known as catacombs were used to bury early Christians (to protect religious when it was
illegal) 2 - after it became legal Christians were buried in the yard around the church...once overflowing they had to create
cemeteries outside the city walls. 3 - Public health and sanitation considerations in the 19th century led to public management of
many cemeteries. Some cemeteries are still operated by religious organizations.
21. Complete the chart below with brief notes on the disposal of the dead in other ways other than burial.

Hindus
bodies are washed in the Ganges River and then set atop a funeral pyre and slowly burned...burial is
reserved for children, ascetics, and people with certain diseases. Cremation is considered an act of
purification, although it tends to strain India's wood supply.

Parsis
to strip the body of unclean portions they expose the body to scavenging birds and animals. The ancient
Zoroastarians (Parsis) did not want the body to contaminate the sacred elements of fire, earth, or water. The
dead are exposed in a circular structure called a dakhma (tower of silence).
 Micronesia disposal at sea...less common now than in the past. Bodies of lower-class people would be flung into the sea;
elites could be set adrift on a raft or boat...thought to safeguard the living being contaminated by the dead.

22. What is the principle purpose of the religious calendar in a universalizing religion?
to commemorate events in the founders life

23. What is the most prominent feature of the calendar in an ethnic religion?
celebration of the seasons which help with planting and harvesting seasons

24. Both the Jewish and the Muslims use a lunar calendar, yet in a different way and with very different results. Explain.
Jews - calendar inserts extra month every few years so holidays fall at the same time; Islam - adheres to strict lunar calendar so
holidays arrive at different seasons from generation to generation.

25. How is the date of Easter related to physical geography (the natural world) through the calendar?
Relates to agricultural cycle as a joyous time of harvest in southern Europe; time of anxiety over planting new crops in northern
Europe & N. America

26. Why do different Christian branches celebrate Easter on different days?

Protestants & Catholics use Gregorian calendar while Orthodox use Julian calendar

27. How is this similar to Buddhism’s major holidays?

Different Buddhists observe & celebrate events on different calendar days as well
28. How is the Jewish calendar typical of the ethnic use of the calendar?

Holidays are based on agricultural events as well.

29. What is the solstice?

either of the two times in the year, the summer solstice and the winter solstice, when the sun reaches its
highest or lowest point in the sky at noon, marked by the longest and shortest days.