How Geography Influences Religion Ppt

The Affect Of Geography On Political Beliefs

In a work looking at political beliefs and leanings, researchers demonstrated how geography, rather than what one person states as his or her political identity is, has a greater influence.

In fact, it has been shown that in the United States people who identify as having a set of political leanings, such as supporting a left-leaning candidate, may actually have political beliefs or leanings that are more closely aligned to right-leaning candidates.

In other words, people are generally more heavily influenced by their surroundings in their voting or political behavior rather than what they think they identify with.

This is true despite the presence of online communities and virtual interactions that many people now have.

For instance, in more conservative regions of the United States, left-leaning voters may more closely align with right-leaning candidates, even if they self-identify as being more left-leaning.

Such work demonstrates that pollsters should depend less on political identify and look at proximity of voters to others who tend to vote in a given direction to identify likelihood on what someone believes a candidate should characterize.

Interestingly, the results also show that animosity voters sometimes feel towards others with different political identity is often misplaced and many voters, even those who vote for very different candidates, share more common beliefs then they realize.

Iv An Agenda For Future Peace Research

Part IV argues that Western peace research has focused almost entirely on outer peace, but that in future it needs to deal with both inner and outer aspects of peace in a more balanced way. In order to do this, it is suggested that peace research elaborate on the different dimensions and levels of inner peace, just as it has done for outer peace, and that it expand its methodology to include other ways of knowing besides social scientific methods only. Finally, peace research needs to redress the inbalance between negative and positive images of peace by exploring not only what it wants to eliminate, for example war and starvation, but also what it wants to create in a positive sense.

Please note that this paper is an ongoing project that will become a book. At present, some sections of the paper are developed more than others, but the basic framework is here. Please contact the writers in the future for later elaborations of this writing. We offer this version of the paper with humility, aware that further revisions and elaborations are necessary.

I Exoteric/outer And Esoteric/inner Aspects Of Religions

Part I begins by providing a framework for looking at all the world’s religions as having a potential spectrum of perspectives, including: the external, socially-learned, cultural or exoteric part –including different religious organizations, rituals, and beliefs, which are passed down from one generation to the next, and the internal, mystical, direct spiritual experience or esoteric part. In considering the external aspects of religion, principles from the field of intercultural communication are used to explore the creation of tolerance, understanding and valuing of diversity concerning different aspects of socially learned behavior or culture, including religion.

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New Geographies Of Religion

As research on geography and religion has grown, one of the new focuses of geographical research examines the rise of religious fundamentalism, and the resulting impact this has on the geographical contexts in which it develops.

In addition, migration processes have resulted in the development of religious pluralism in numerous countries, and the landscape changes that accompany the movement and settlement of communities defined by religion is a key focus in the study of geography and religion. More work needs to be done to examine the intersections and collisions that occur due to the movement of communities and highlight how these communities negotiate their religious experiences in new spaces. Recent research in this area has been published by Barry A. Vann who analyzes Muslim population shifts in the Western world and the theological factors that play into these demographic trends.

Another new area of interest in the study of geography and religion explores different sites of religious practice beyond the officially sacred sites such as religious schools, media spaces, banking and financial practices and home spaces are just some of the different avenues that take into account informal, everyday spaces that intersect with religious practice and meaning.

How Does Religion Affect Culture

Religion significantly impacts culture as it affects and influences it in many vital ways. It can be proved that religion can considerably define the values, ideas, beliefs, heritage, and lifestyle of a society all of which are essential constituents of culture.

For instance, relationships, marriage, birth, death, homemaking, and farming are usual events in culturesand these normally have a religious significance.

Religion can have an enormous impact on peoples culture especially when those in a certain culture believe intensely in its religion. Their culture appears to accept only those ways of thinking and conducts which are acceptable to their religion.

Before, European societies were zealous Catholics. This had great effects on European culture at the time as most cultural expressions were church-related. Most arts were religious and much of the music produced were as well religious in genre.

In fact, European cultures, especially in the Middle Age, valued religion to the point that people were eager to dedicate major resources to things like building basilicas and supporting monasteries.

Moreover, territories that are strongly affected by Islam have developed cultures that are dominated by men, and in which things such as socializing with members of the opposite sex in public are frowned upon. This, too, reveals the interplay between religion and culture.

For more free lectures like this, visit Homepage: Introduction to World Religions and Belief Systems

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A Mystical Experience Organized Religion And Fundamentalism: A Framework For Looking At All The World’s Religions

Before considering the external and internal aspects of religion, it is important to note that within any religion, there is a potential spectrum of possible perspectives on the teachings of that particular religion or spiritual tradition, including how those teachings relate to world peace. First, there is religion as socially-learned behavior, i.e., as part of culture–what can be called “organized religion.” Here religious beliefs, rituals, and institutions are learned and passed down from one generation to the next, and religious institutions are an integral part of the social structure and fabric of culture.

When religious beliefs take the form of rigid dogma, and the believers’ beliefs and behavior are known to be right, while those of non believers, or other religions–or even different variants within one’s own religion–are known to be wrong, this leads into what has been variously called “fundamentalism” or “fanaticism” or “extremism”–a global trend in almost all of the world’s religions today.

Ii Further Explorations Of The Esoteric/inner And Exoteric/outer Aspects Of Religion And Culture

Part II continues the exploration of the inner and outer aspects of religion and culture. Here, three different topical areas are explored: first, the work of Pitirim Sorokin on the alternation historically within Western cultures between ideational/spiritual/inner values and sensate/materialistic/outer values second, the evolution or change historically from female to mixed to male aspects of divinity within different religions and cultures, as this relates to changing values and worldviews and third, the work of Joseph Campbell and the universal theme of “the hero’s journey” in the myths of all cultures–even though the outer form of the journey can vary from one culture to the next.

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B Male And Female Aspects Of Divinity In Different Religions And Cultures

1. In Different Cultures and Historical Periods, People Have Believed in Nature Spirits, Goddesses, Gods and Goddesses, and in One God

At different times in history, and in different cultures, divinity or the sacred or spiritual has been represented in different ways: sometimes as nature spirits sometimes as goddesses, often associated with fertility and the earth sometimes as a balance between male and female gods and goddesses, each representing different aspects or attributes of the one God, and sometimes as a monotheistic, all powerful God who is often portrayed as God the Father or male .

There are a number of books that have been written in recent years–many by feminists who are trying to recapture the spiritual and societal role of women historically–about the factors leading to the above transition from female goddess to male God. There is not space here to explore this subject in greater depth. The important point here is just to note that divinity has been portrayed and experienced differently, at different times in history and in different cultures. Underneath this diversity, however, was a common search for some kind of spiritual meaning in life–whatever the form that this took, which one could argue was at least partly a reflection of the dominant cultural values that existed at the time.

2. In Essence Spirit or God Transcends Polar Opposites or Dualities

Explanations for the Symbols in Figure 3:

Relevance Of Gandhi Today

4. SUMMARY OF RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN INNER AND OUTER PEACE

While various aspects of inner and outer peace have been explored in this paper , it is also useful to ask what the possible linkages or bridges are between inner and outer peace in our lives. At least two suggestions have been made in this paper. First, in the section on “Mythology,” it was noted by Joseph Campbell and Jean Houston that the myths and archetypal hero figures of different cultures can provide road maps for individuals showing how their everyday life in the world can be linked to the inner life of the spirit. Likewise, in the section on “Nonviolence”, it was noted that spiritually-based nonviolence, such as that practiced by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King provides a model of how one can turn to inner spiritual guidance–through meditation or prayer–to seek inner help and confirmation before embarking on action for social justice and social change in the world. Combining these two suggestions, we can thus see two distinct ways to connect inner and outer peace–one leading from outer to inner peace, and the other leading from inner to outer peace in the world. This is not meant to suggest that mythology and nonviolence are the only ways to connect or bridge inner and outer peace, but certainly they are two important ways to do so.

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C Joseph Campbell And Mythology: Universal Aspects Of The Hero’s Journey In The Myths Of All Cultures And East

This section will look at the role of mythology–especially as interpreted in the works of Joseph Campbell, and later Jean Houston–in showing a way to bridge one’s outer life in the world with the inner life of the spirit. It will also look at universal aspects of the “hero’s journey” in the myths of all cultures the stages of the hero’s journey and East-West cultural and historical differences in the hero’s journey.

1. Mythology: A link between Our Outer Lives and the Search for Deeper Meaning and Purpose in Life–including the Inner Life of the Spirit

2. Joseph Campbell: Universal Aspects of the Hero’s Journey in the Myths of All Cultures

3. Jean Houston’s “Sacred Psychology” and the Role of Mythology in it

Jean Houston, who works with mythology in the tradition of Joseph Campbell, talks about “sacred psychology” where our “deepest fulfillment comes from experiencing union with the divine and bringing a sense of the sacred into our everyday lives”–especially in Western society which has become increasingly disconnected from the deeper “waters of life.” Jean believes that we humans are multilevel beings, living in three realms, and that the middle realm helps us connect our everyday outer lives with our inner spiritual selves. These three realms include:

The “THIS IS ME” realm of our everyday self, the space-and-time bound personality that is heavily influenced by habit, social conditioning and cultural patterns.

8. Conclusion

Influence Of Geography On Society And Culture

The following points highlight the four main factors of geography that have influence on society and culture. The factors are: 1. Motions of the Earth 2. Distribution of Land Mass and Water Mass 3. Climate 4. Natural Resources.

Factor # 1. Motions of the Earth:

Our behaviour-patterns, daily work-schedules as well as festivals and ceremonies are deeply affected by the motions of the earth. Rotation of the earth on its axis gives us day and night. The division of twenty-four hours into day and night determines largely when a work is to be done or how it is to be done.

In a rural society where electrical light is virtually absent, there is a clear-cut division of what work is to be done during sun-lit hours and what work may be reserved for hours after sun-set.

The work-schedule of a ruralize clearly demonstrates this aspect. Hours of meditation or deep contemplation are, for obvious reasons, reserved for hours before sunrise and hours after sunset. The presence of adequate artificial light in modern societies, particularly in urban areas, has radically altered this kind of work-schedule.

Factor # 2. Distribution of Land Mass and Water Mass:

The arrangement of land and water masses has a profound influence upon the life of man. The way of life of those who live in high mountains differs markedly from that of those who live near the sea. The differences are exhibited in their food habits, dresses, occupations and even in the festivals they observe.

Factor # 3. Climate:

:

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Origins And Diffusion Of World Religions

Our worlds cultural geography is very complex with language and religion as two cultural traits that contribute to the richness, diversity, and complexity of the human experience. Nowadays, the word diversity is gaining a great deal of attention, as nations around the world are becoming more culturally, religiously, and linguistically complex and interconnected. Specifically, in regards to religion, these prestigious cultural institutions are no longer isolated in their place of origin, but have diffused into other realms and regions with their religious history and cultural dominance. In some parts of the world, this has caused religious wars and persecution in other regions, it has helped initiate cultural tolerance and respect for others.

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“If a man sings of God and hears of Him, And lets love of God sprout within him, All his sorrows shall vanish, And in his mind, God will bestow abiding peace.” –Sikhism

“A Muslim is one who surrenders to the will of Allah and is an establisher of peace .”–Islam

“The Lord lives in the heart of every creature. He turns them round and round upon the wheel of Maya. Take refuge utterly in Him. By his grace you will find supreme peace, and the state which is beyond all change.” –Hinduism

“The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace.” –Judaism

“All things exist for world peace.” –Perfect Liberty Kyodan “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.” –Christianity

“Peace … comes within the souls of men when they realize their relationship, their openness, with the universe and all its powers and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells Wakan-Tanka, and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.”–From The Sacred Pipe, by Black Elk, Lakota Sioux Medicine Man

Origins Of World Religions

A significant portion of the worlds universalizing religions has a precise hearth or place of origin. This designation is based on events in the life of a man, and the hearths where the largest universalizing religions originated are all in Asia. Of course, not all religions are from Asia. The three universalizing religions diffused from specific hearths, or places of origin, to other regions of the world. The hearths where each of these three largest universalizing religions originated are based on the events in the lives of key individuals within each religion. Together, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism have over 2.5 billion adherents combined. Below are links to websites that analyze the diffusion of Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism.

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A Short Definition For Cultural Geography

The study of the relationship between culture and place. In broad terms, cultural geography examines the cultural values, practices, discursive and material expressions and artefacts of people, the cultural diversity and plurality of society, and how cultures are distributed over space, how places and identities are produced, how people make sense of places and build senses of place, and how people produce and communicate knowledge and meaning. Cultural geography has long been a core component of the discipline of geography, though how it has been conceived, its conceptual tools, and the approach to empirical research has changed quite markedly over time.

While this form of cultural geography is still practised, it was challenged in the 1980s by new thinking that created what has been termed new cultural geography, which led to a broader cultural turn in the discipline. During this period, cultural geographers started to engage with new theoretical ideas within social theory, including humanism, structuralism, post-structuralism, postmodernism, and post-colonialism, recasting cultural geography in a number of significant ways. Most crucially, culture itself was conceived as a fluid, flexible, and dynamic process that actively constructs society, rather than simply reflecting it.

Castree, N., Kitchin, R., & Rogers, A. . “Cultural geography.” In A Dictionary of Human Geography. : Oxford University Press. Retrieved 14 Mar. 2017