Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Russians soon proved that
they had not forgotten their faith. The Russian Orthodox Church revived dra-
matically, churches were rebuilt and reopened, Moscow's Cathedral of Christ
the Savior was re-created, and church leaders once again took their place in
national affairs. Religion is a durable, perhaps
the
most durable, element of cul-
ture at all scales, and religious beliefs and behavior are intertwined with pol-
itics, economics, and other components of culture. In this chapter we study
the origins, diffusions, and transformations of the world's great religions, their
regional patterns and cultural landscapes. As we will fi nd, religion can unite and
divide, fl ourish and stagnate, surge and fade. Understanding the changing map
of world religions and the role of religion in culture is essential to appreciating
human geography.
Key Questions
For Chapter 7
1.
What is religion, and what role does it play in culture?
2.
Where did the world's major religions originate, and how do religions diffuse?
3.
How is religion seen in the cultural landscape?
4.
What role does religion play in political confl icts?
The outward display of religious beliefs often reveals
the inward structure of a religion. For example, in the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan, in 1991, the government
proclaimed that possessing a beard would be a condi-
tion for the appointment of judges. The beard require-
ment is an outward display of religion, and it also shows
the inward structure of Islam in Pakistan, where women
are not in a place of judicial power.
Religion
is an extraordinarily diffi cult concept to
defi ne. In the chapter “Geography of Religion and Belief
Systems,” written for
Geography in America
, geographers
Robert Stoddard and Carolyn Prorak defi ne religion as
“a system of beliefs and practices that attempts to order
life in terms of culturally perceived ultimate priorities.”
Stoddard and Prorak explain that the idea of “perceived
ultimate priorities” is often expressed in terms of “should”:
people explain and justify how they and others “should”
behave based on their religious beliefs. From eating habits
to dress codes, religions set standards for how adherents
“should” behave (Fig. 7.3). “Shouldness” goes beyond
religion to other belief systems, but in this chapter we
focus on formal religions, their distribution, and their role
in making and shaping places and cultures. The idea that a
“good” life has rewards and that “bad” behavior risks pun-
ishment has an enormous infl uence on cultures, on how
people behave, and on how people perceive and evaluate
the behavior of others.
WHAT IS RELIGION, AND WHAT ROLE
DOES IT PLAY IN CULTURE?
Religion and language lie at the foundation of cul-
ture: both confer and refl ect identity. Like languages, reli-
gions are constantly changing. Although religious leaders
and bureaucracies sometimes attempt to slow the pace of
change, religions nevertheless change over time.
Religions diffuse through expansion diffusion,
including both contagious and hierarchical, and reli-
gions also diffuse through relocation diffusion. In any of
these cases, leaders or followers of a religion interact with
people who do not espouse the religion, and the interac-
tions sometimes lead to conversion. Spatial interaction
occurs because of migration, missionary efforts, and even
conquest. Along these paths, major religions of the world
have diffused.
The cultural landscape is marked by religion—
most obviously by church, synagogues, temples, and
mosques, cemeteries and shrines, statues and symbols
(Fig. 7.2). Other more subtle markers of religion dot
the landscape as well. The presence or absence of stores
selling alcohol or of signs depicting the human form
in particular ways refl ect prevailing religious views.
Religion is also proclaimed in modes of dress (veils,
turbans) and personal habits (beards, ritual scars).
