Module 2 1
Module 2 1
Interconnectedness of Geography,
Culture,
and Religion
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Hello there! Have you ever been to a mountainous place? What d o you notice
about the topography? Do you feel the variations of climate in every specific location?
How do you think these climates affect the way people speak their language; create
their own clothing fashion, traditions, and economic activities? How do people live in
the lowland; what about those who are in the upland? Or near the riverbank, or those
who are living along the shores? Do you think there would be a proverbial difference
in terms of their understanding about life, about their surroundings, and about the
existence of one Supreme Being?
You see, you’re already g iven the hint how all things are interconnected. All
you need is to discover the details for yourself for it will be fun, exciting, and very
Read now and do your task of creating your own way of life.
ll. OBJECTIVES:
much enriching.
Be ready to learn and accomplish the tasks ahead. I know that you are
excited to learn new things. Let’s start!
Let us find the meaning of words that you will encounter in the succeeding texts.
Word Definition
Adonai - ancient Hebrew God
Allah - the one God of Islam
- stories or ideas that define our personal sense of reality,
Belief System
and through which we make sense of the world.
- a path of practice and spiritual development that started
Buddhism in India. It strives for a deep insight leading to the nature
of reality.
- a monotheistic faith based on the life, works, and
Christianity
teachings of Jesus Christ.
- both an ancient religion and philosophy of China; it
Confucianism originated as a philosophical system founded on the
teachings of Confucius.
- a Chinese philosopher whose teachings are the basis of
Confucius
Confucianism.
- a system of vital ideas that contains, energizes, and
directs virtually every aspect of social life and a person’s
Culture relationship with the world, and the matrix from which
values, attitudes, motivations, and skills emerge.
V. LEARNING ACTIVITIES
LET’S DO THIS!
Write a brief answer to the following questions below. You may refer to the
internet or any reference material in World History.
B
Source: (A) [Link] (B)
[Link]
1. ______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________.
A B
C D
Source: (A) [Link]
(B) [Link]
(C) [Link] (D)
[Link]
3. ______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________.
5. ______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________.
ANSWER ME
Vl. DEEPENING
How are you today? Are you ready for the next trekking activity? But before we
start, can you share your meaningful discovery on the initial activities you have gone
through? Write it in your journal.
Today, you are going to read the following learning points. As you go over it, you may
take down notes or write questions that you want to be clarified about.
Does Geography influence religion? All religion and culture are based on
Geography.
Examples:
2. When you complete your fasting, if you are in deserts, you will get only dates
and so desert people complete their fasting with dates whereas in regions like
India where milk of fruit juice is used to complete fasting.
3. In hot countries people wear light clothes or with bare chest as part of their
culture and in cold countries people even wear shoes and slippers into their
place of worship due to the impact of cold.
4. In India water plays a main role in rituals as we have multiple rivers in this region
whereas in cold places, fire is used in their rituals.
These are some of the things I had explained. There are other things also which
are affected based on Geography. Without lands, or geography, religion would not
exist.
Geography is everything about people (and their lands) and nature – religion is
part of human environment. Geography is human environment and natural
environment.
Religious people would not just spread their religions but try to convert others.
You don’t need animals follow your religions but other humans.
Humans compete with other human beings – that’s normal. A species is always
competing among itself for all reasons. Peoples of a region are constantly contesting.
That’s geography. When they can reach faraway lands, their religions spread faraway
lands too.
A. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Date Significance
• The importance of Abraham in these three religions lies in the fact that the
patriarch appears as an elemental (primary) figure for monotheistic belief
system and a paragon (exemplar) for extreme devotion.
Then and now, the followers of the three Abrahamic religions are presented
with a choice between good and evil.
4. You have already trekked back in time of Abraham. Do you want to know
and discover more about it? Let us now continue your trekking!
____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________.
• India is one of the oldest surviving civilizations, with its history dating back
to at least 6500 BCE. The many conquerors that came to India were
gradually absorbed into the native Indian religions.
• The Harappan civilization, Aryan influence, local dynasties, and the Muslim
conquest all had their fair share in building the intricate Indian mosaic. As a
result, variety and complexity characterize Indian culture.
Hinduism
• It has no specific founder, no one sacred book, and with innumerable gods and
goddesses that any Hindu can venerate. As such, Hinduism can be considered
as museum of religions.
It was during the Vedic Period that Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma became
systematized as a religion that preached order and purpose to the cosmos and
human life.
• During this period, universal order became equated with a stable society as
evidenced by the establishment of a centralized government and the integration
of collective traditions into Indian lives.
Buddhism
• It centers its attention on the figure of the Buddha, who was not a god but a
human being who came to discover how to terminate sufferings in order to
escape the painful and continuous cycle of rebirth.
• Buddhist followers revere Buddha in the same way that the members of other
world religions worship their gods.
• The Mahayana sect of Buddhism differs from Theravada school because of its
rich array of buddhas and bodhisattvas who have attained spiritual
enlightenment.
• These beings are already eligible to enter nirvana but choose to delay this
glorious path to guide others to the path of salvation.
• Born near the end of the 6th century BCE, Siddhartha Gautama’s life is closely
linked with the historical and religious development of Buddhism in India.
Gaining new converts due to its mass appeal as compared to the exclusivity of
Hindu beliefs, Buddhism spread far and wide from India to Sri Lanka and to
Southeast Asia.
• The religion was transported to China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Across the
Himalayas, it reached the Tibetan lands.
• Presently, Buddhism has become more popular outside its place of origin while
Hinduism has remained entrenched (rooted) in India throughout many
centuries.
Confucianism
• Even during the olden days, the Chinese had already endeavored to establish
and attain good governance. China adopted Confucius’s ideals and ethics as
the nation developed meritocracy (power goes to those with superior intellects)
as a basis for government officials.
• Confucius dwell upon the theme of the Dao as being the truth or way things out
to be done concordant with specific view to life, politics, and customs.
Daoism
• Mysteries abound the birth and life of Laozi (Lao-tzu) who may have written Dao
De Jing (Tao Te Ching or The Book of the Way and its Power.
• Dao in Daoism means road, path or way in which one does something.
Shintoism
• Japanese people believed that their emperors literally descended from the sun
goddess Amaterasu.
The term ‘Shinto’ was coined around the 16th century CE to distinguish native
belief system from the imported religions of China and Korea, including
Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism.
• The term came from the Chinese words ‘shen’ and ‘tao’ roughly translated as
the ‘way of the gods’.
• Of primal importance were the kami that were often defined as the gods but
could also refer to deities of heaven and earth, or even spirits in human beings,
animals, trees, seas, and mountains.
B. GEOGRAPHY OF FAITH
• Israel remains the only country in the world with a Jewish-majority population
comprising almost 75% of its citizens.
• The Arabian Peninsula, the world’s largest peninsula, consists of countries that
are predominantly Islamic in character. (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait,
United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and Oman). Most West Asian countries follow
Shi’a and Sunni denominations of Islam. Iran and Iraq associate themselves
with the Shi’a sect while Muslims in Saudi Arabia belong to Sunni branch.
Mount Sinai Sinai Peninsula in The peak where Moses received the Ten
Egypt Commandments
Mount Zion/ Jerusalem Known as Known as the city of David and Temple
Mount Moriah the city of Mount
• One of the most sacred sites in the world revered by JCI. Three structures are
found in the present site: Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock, and the Domen
of the Chain. The Jewish people consider the Temple Mount as their holiest
shrine. Mount Moriah is also believed to be the site of sacrifice of Isaac by
Abraham.
• Vast expanse of deserts and bodies of water also played important roles in
biblical history.
Place Significance
Israelites crossed this as they escaped
Yam Suph (Red Sea) from Egyptian lands
Israelites lived here en route the
Sinai Desert Promised Land (spiritual cleansing
• There are more than a thousand synagogues, more than a hundred churches
and more than 70 mosques.
• Jerusalem has been sacred for the Christians for almost two thousand years now.
Important sites include Mount Zion and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which
is the site of the Golgotha (or the place of crucifixion) and the empty tomb of
Jesus Christ.
• Lastly, Jerusalem has been sacred for the Muslims for almost 1400 years now.
For the Sunni Muslims, it is their third holiest city.
• Located at the Temple Mount, the Islamic Dome of the Rock is the most
recognizable structure in Jerusalem. It is believed that the rock is the spot from
which Muhammad ascended to heaven. Likewise, the First and Second Temples
are believed to lie beneath or near the shrine.
• Another Islamic structure is the Al-Aqsa Mosque associated with the night journey
undertaken by Muhammad.
• The subcontinent of South Asia covers an area more than one and a half million
square miles stretching from the Hindu Kush and Baluchi Hills on the west and
the Great Himalayan mountain range on the north, to the Burmese mountain on
the east and the Indian Ocean on the south.
• More than 4000 years ago, a civilization emerged along the Indus River that
developed a unique culture long before the dawn of the Christian era.
• Invasions from people originating in Macedonia and Central Asia have added
diversity to India’s population and complexity to its culture.
• Water also plays a major role as evidenced by Hindus venerating a god of water
and celestial oceans (Varuna).
• The South Asian countries of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh depend on the
rivers of Indus, Ganga-Yamuna, and Brahmaputra. Traversing the great plains of
north India, the Ganga (Ganges) is the holiest river for the Hindus. From its point
• Even Buddhists consider Varanasi as an important religious site. During the olden
days, there was once a deer park in Samath which is now a residential area in
Varanasi. In this park, Siddhartha Gautama gave his first sermon about the
principles of Buddhism. It is presently marked by the Dhamek Stupa shrine.
• The Buddha also met his first disciples at this place which is now commemorated
by the Chaukhandi Stupa monument.
• At the eastern end of the great Asian continent one finds the cultural and political
dominance of China.
• The location of China proper in the valleys of two great bodies of water, the Huang
He and Yangtze, is quite favorable because of the support these streams provide
to the Chinese people that made historic China the center of culture.
• From these river valleys emerged small states now controlled by the first
recorded dynasties, the Shang and the Zhou. It is within this context that the great
Confucius became fascinated with ethical questions and morality in government
officials.
• It was only during the second millennium after the death of Confucius in 479 BCE
that the teachings and ideals identified with his philosophy spread in China. By
the time of the Han dynasty, Confucian teachings had become the state religion.
In Korea, it began to be disseminated extensively around the 15th century. In
Japan, it was accepted by the majority during the 18th and 19th centuries.
• Daoism emerged in response to the widespread warfare and social turmoil that
besieged the Zhou dynasty.
• The entry of Buddhism in Japan between the 4th and 8th centuries had a direct
effect in their religious traditions.
b. Shinto followers acknowledged that the numerous buddhas and bodhisattvas were
revelations of the kami.
C. CULTURAL MILIEU
While Judaism and Islam affirm the presence of one god (Unitarian creed)
Christianity acknowledges one God in three persons (Trinitarian creed): The Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit.
• The basic principles of the Muslim faith are reflected in the “Five Pillars of Islam”.
• Both Christianity and Islam are considered universalizing religions because they
both attempt to operate on a global scale.
• In Hinduism, dharma could mean duty, righteousness, and ethics. In all humanity,
this is common and evident in virtues such as peacefulness, empathy, and
kindness.
• For Buddhism, it means cosmic law and order, or the teachings of Buddha and
the truth of the way things are.
• For the Theravada sect, dharma is sometimes used to indicate all the factors of
existence.
• While the Hindus and Buddhists share similarities in their ideas concerning
enlightenment and liberation, they differ in:
• The elements of cult of heaven and ancestor worship are features of ancient
Chinese culture integrated into the Confucian philosophy and belief. Confucius
had a firm conviction in a natural order that was moral order.
• Apart from having a harmonious relationship between humans and heaven, the
establishment of an ideal human society is also key to Confucian followers. The
five basic social relationships are:
• In Shintoism, divinities are closely linked to nature and natural forces. The sacred
Mount Fuji, an abode of Japanese gods, is surrounded by temples and shrines.
It is one of the three holy mountains along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku.
Based on the readings, what are the 3 things that are related to World
World
Religion
CONGRATULATIONS!
You are now in the last part of this module! But before we part ways, let us try to
sum up the learnings that you got.
At this point, write down on your journal, your significant insights by completing
the following sentence prompts.
MY REFLECTION PAPER
2. If given the chance, which part of geography and culture would you like to
change? Why?
Source: [Link]
CATEGORY 20 15 10 5
What three (3) questions would you like to ask your teacher about
Interconnectedness of Geography, Culture and Religion?
Congratulations and thank you for finishing this module! You’ve just had a
fruitful learning discovery in the interconnectedness of geography, culture and religion,
for sure, you will also do the same in the succeeding modules. Read in advance about
Effects of Religion.