Religion Part II

1. Religion Part II

2. Religion and economy • In the economic sphere, religion can: • Guide commerce • Determine which crops and livestock are raised by farmers • Decide what food and beverages people consume • Decide the type of employment a person has • Influence in what neighborhood people reside • Plants and animals tend to spread with a faith when they are in great demand because of their roles in religious ceremonies and traditions

3. Religion and economy • Wine grape diffusion associated with religion • Wine during communion to symbolize the blood of Christ • Diffused to newly Christianized districts beyond the Alps in late Roman and early medieval times • Vineyards of the German Rhine were the creation of monks • Catholic missionaries introduced cultivated grapes to California

4. Religion and economy • Religion can also often explain the absence of crops or domestic animals in an area • Spain and Morocco show the impact of food taboos • On the Spanish Roman Catholic side, pigs are common • In Muslim Morocco –VERY few • Islamic avoidance of pork underlies this contrast • Judaism imposes restrictions against pork and other meats as stated in the Book of Leviticus

5. Religion and economy • Other explanations for Islamic and Judaic pork taboos • Pigs require shade, plus little food they need is found in the desert • Nomads relied on sheep, goats, horses, camels, and in some areas cattle • May have declared pork undesirable in a “sour grapes” reaction • Ages later, Muslim nomads imposed their religion and pork taboo on farming people in river valleys

6. Religion and food preferences • Five Islamic Centers, 82 mosques, and countless halal markets have emerged to serve an estimated 250,000 Muslims in southern California. • Halal refers to food not prohibited by the Koran and includes meat from ritually slaughtered animals.

7. Religion and economy • Food taboos affect on the fishing industry • Roman Catholic avoidance of meat on Friday stimulated fishing • Christian tradition has always honored fishermen • The fish was an early symbol of Christianity • Symbol stimulated fishing industry, especially in Catholic countries • Most Hindus will not eat fish • India suffers food shortages and dietary deficiencies while nearby ocean teems with protein-rich fish • Seventh-Day Adventists have a taboo against fish without scales and will not eat pork • When they converted population of Pitcairn Island to their faith, the island economic self-sufficiency collapsed

8. Pilgrimage • Journey to a sacred place. • Found in both universalizing and ethnic religions. • Offers the reward of soul purification or attainment of a desired objective. • Examples: • Medina, Mecca • Rome, Lourdes • Varanasi – Hindus • Ise—Shintos • Often provide revenue for the community.

9. Pilgrimage Sites

10. Religious pilgrimage • The character of sacred places • Some have been setting for miracles • A few are source regions of religions • Some are areas where founders of the faith lived and worked • Others contain holy physical features — rivers, caves, springs, mountain peaks • Others believed to house gods or are administrative centers where leaders of the church reside

11. Religious pilgrimage • Mass pilgrimages have a major impact on development of transportation routes • Jidda – transport center for Muslims from Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia • One of the largest and busiest airport terminals in the world • In medieval Europe many roads and bridges were built to accommodate pilgrims

12. RELIGION AND THE LANDSCAPE

13. Religion’s impact in history and culture is evident in its centrality in many places Antwerp, Belgium

14. Religious Landscape • Structures of houses of worship are the most obvious contributions to the landscape. • E.g. In Europe, the Catholic church stands at the center of the town or village. • Protestants went for more simple, less ornate structures. • Mosques also dominate the landscape around them, but synagogues often tend to be less visible.

15. Buddhism • Has an enormous impact on the cultural landscape: • Stupas, temples, monasteries, and bodhi or bo trees are all built or planted to honor the Buddha. • Enormous statues honoring Buddha are also found in many places.

16. Buddhist statue in South Korea

17. Hinduism Has an impact on the landscape, either through building or by the pilgrimages believers make to sacred rivers or other places. Temples and shrines are everywhere; constructing them brings merit to those who own them They are built in beautiful and auspicious places, near water since the gods won’t come to other places. All temples have a circular spire as a reminder of sky, the real dwelling place of any god.

18. Hindu temple in Bali Hinduism was once a proselytic religion

19. Varanasi, India

20. Sacred Landscapes of Islam Muslim Mosques Dome of this mosque in Isfahan, Iran demonstrates the importance of geometric art evident in Muslim architecture.

21. Ayers Rock, Australia Sacred to Aborigines

22. Religious ecology • Sacred Mount Lengai - in Kenya’s crater highlands • Lengai is benevolent as the black god of rain and evil as the red god of the sun. • “Mountain of God,” last erupted with a plume of ash in 1982. • Maasi pilgrimage here to pray for rain, cattle, and children.

23. Mount Shasta – New Age Cults

24. What affect does Christianity have on the cultural landscape?

25. Cathedral at Aix en Provence

27. Two Southern Baptist Churches

28. Both in North Carolina

31. Protestant and Catholic Landscapes in the United States Scandinavian Lutheran Church (on left) St. Mary’s Catholic Church (on right)

32. A marae and a Christian church right next to each other – New Zealand

33. Religion and Names on the Land

34. Landscapes of the dead Yucatan, Mexico

35. Landscapes of the dead • Hindus and Buddhists cremate their dead • Some Zoroastrians leave their dead exposed to be devoured by vultures • Pyramids in Egypt • Muslim cemeteries mostly modest, except for some aristocrats and 

36. Taj Mahal

38. Disposition of the Deceased - Each religion approaches the disposition of the deceased in different ways, and cultural landscapes reflect the religious traditions. Hindu crematorium in Mombasa, Kenya

39. Amana, Iowa – German immigrants preferred order and tidiness

40. Normandy American Cemetery

41. Landscapes of the dead • This cemetery is in an area of Italian immigrants and has many Old World characteristics. • In the Mediterranean region, shallow soils frequently preclude in-ground burial. While soils here are deep, the practice of above-ground internment has continued.

42. Beni Hassan Islamic necropolis – Egypt

43. Jewish neighborhoods in European Cities the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague, the Czech Republic

44. In Vancouver, British Columbia Funerary burner

45. Temples dedicated to ancestors Found in most Balinese homes Daily offerings made BALI, INDONESIA

46. The Color Green • Considered sacred in Islam. Why? • It’s symbolic of the life—vegetation that is green and growing. • In Christianity it is also symbolic of fertility, freedom, hope and renewal. • Water has special meaning in the rituals of all three desert religions: the ability to cleanse and purify the soul.

47. Water Judaism: used for the mikveh, or ritual bath Christianity: baptism Islam: ablution prior to daily prayers and other rituals.

48. Hong Kong Condo:The hole in the center is for the dragon who lives on the hill.

49. SACRED SPACES AND HOLY PLACES

50. SACRED SPACE : An area recognized by a religious group as worthy of devotion, loyalty or fear to the extent that it becomes either sought out or avoided, inaccessible to the non-believer or removed from economic use. • Most religions have them.