Human Geography Chapter 7

Shamanism

Community faith in traditional societies in which people follow their shaman a religious leader teacher healer and visionary. At times an especially strong shaman might attract a regional following. However most shamans are local figures.

Ethnic religion

A religion that is particular to one culturally distinct group of people. Unlike universalizing religions adherents of ethnic religions do not actively seek converts through evangelism or missionary work.

Sunni

Adherents to the largest branch of Islam called the orthodox or traditionalist. They believe in the effectiveness of family and community in the solution of life's problems and they differ from the Shiites in accepting the traditions of Muhammad as authoritative.

Eastern Orthodox Church

One of the three major branches of Christianity

Protestant

One of the three major branches of Christianity

Sacred Sites

Place or space people infuse with religious meaning

Christianity

based on the teachings of Jesus. According to Christian teachings Jesus is the son of God placed on Earth to teach people how to live according to God's plan.

Diaspora

forceful or voluntary dispersal of a people from heir homeland to a new place. Originally denoting the dispersal of the Jews is increasingly applied to other population dispersals.

Theocracy

A state whose government is under the control of a ruler who is deemed to be divinely guided or of a group of religious leaders as in post-khomeini Iran. The Opposite of a theocracy is a secular state.

Shi'ite

Adherents of one of the two main divisions of Islam. Also known as Shiahs the Shiites represent the Persian variation of Islam and believe in the infallibility and divine right to authority of the Imams descendants of Ali.

Animistic religion

The belief that inanimate objects such as hills trees rocks rivers and other elements of the natural landscape possess souls and can help or hinder human efforts on earth

Landscapes of the Dead

The certain areas where people have commonly been buried

Secularism

The indifference to or rejection of formal religion

Zionism

The movement to unite the Jewish people of the diaspora and to establish a national homeland for them in the promised land

Zionism

The movement to unite the Jewish people of the diaspora and to establish a national homeland for them in the promised land.

Hajj

The muslim pilgrimage to Mecca the birthplace of Muhammad

Religious Hearths

The place where a certain religion originates

Caste system

The strict social segregation of people specifically in India's hindu society on the basis of ancestry and occupation.

Sharia Law

The system of Islamic law sometimes called Qu'ranic law. Unlike most Western systems of lawthat are based on legal precedence. Sharia is based on varying degrees of interpretation of the Qu'ran

Islam

The youngest of the major world religions Islam is based on the teachings of Muhammad born in Mecca in 571 CE. According to Islamic teaching Muhammad received the truth directly from Allah in a series of revelations during which Muhammad spoke the verses of the Qu'ran the Islamic holy book.

Minarets

Tower attached to a Muslim mosque, having one or more projecting balconies from which a crier calls Muslims to prayer.

Cult

a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.

Religion

a system of beliefs and practices that attempts to order life in terms of culturally perceived ultimate priorities.

Taoism

believed to have been founded by Lao-Tsu and based upon his book entitled Tao-te-ching or Book of the way Lao-Tsu focused on the proper form of political rule and on the oneness of humanity and nature

Shintoism

located in Japan and related to Buddhism Shintoism focuses particularly on nature and ancestor worship

Roman catholic church

one of the three major branches of Christianity arose out of the roman empire

Monotheistic religion

pertaining to, characterized by, or adhering to monotheism, the doctrine that there is only one God:

Judaism

religion with its roots in the teachings of Abraham who is credited with uniting his people to worship only one god. According to Jewish teaching Abraham and God have a covenant in which the Jews agree to worship only one God and God agrees to protect his chosen people the Jews.

Universalizing religion

religions that actively seek converts because members believe they offer belief systems of universal appropriateness and appeal.

Ethnic religion

religions whose adherents are born into the faith and whose members do not actively seek converts

Reincarnation

the idea that our soul lives multiple lives and gains experience through them.

Interfaith Boundaries

Boundaries between the world's major faiths

Pilgrimage

Voluntary travel by an adherent to a sacred site to pay respects or participate in a ritual at the site.

Confuscianism

A philosophy of ethics education and public service based on the writings of Confucius traditionally thought of as one of the core elements of chinese culture

Jihad

A doctrine within Islam. Commonly translated as Holy War Jihad represents either a personal or collective struggle on the part of Muslims to live up to the religious standards set by the Qu'ran

Polytheistic religion

Belief system in which multiple deities are revered as creators and arbiters of all that exists in the universe

Indigenous religions

Belief systems and philosophies practiced and traditionally passed from generation to generation among peoples within an indigenous tribe or group.

Intrafaith Boundaries

Boundaries within a single major faith

Feng Shui

Literally wind water the chinese art and science of placement and orientation of tombs, dwellings, buildings and cities. Structures and objects are positioned in an effort to channel flows of sheng-chi life breath in favorable ways

Hinduism

One of the oldest religions in the modern world, dating back over 4000 years and originating in the Indus River Valley of what is today part of Pakistan. Hinduism is unique among the world's religions in that is does not have a single founder a single theology or agreement in its origins.

Buddhism

Religion founded in the sixth century BCE and characterized by the belief that enlightenment would come through knowledge especially self knowledge elimination of greed craving and desire complete honesty and never hurting another person or animal. Buddhism splintered from Hinduism as a reaction to the strict social hierarchy maintained by Hinduism.

Religious Extremenism

Religious fundamentalism carried to the point of violence

Religious fundamentalism

Religious movement whose objectives are to return to the foundations of the faith and to influence state policy