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Culture and Religion
Culture and Religion
A people’s way of life It includes:
◦ Language◦ Literature◦ Music◦ Art◦ Beliefs and Religion◦ Technology◦ Institutions◦ Customs◦ Roles
What is Culture?
How people dress Traditional foods Holidays How they celebrate major turning points:
◦ Birthdays, coming-of-age, marriage, parenthood, death
Customs
Based on rules for the proper behavior of individuals in particular positions and situations
Gender roles – specifically assigned to men and women
Roles
Homogeneous Society: almost everyone belongs to the same ethnic group and shares the same language and traditions
Examples: Saudi Arabia, Japan Multicultural: contains a mix of peoples and
cultures; ethnic groups are often mixed throughout the country
Examples: United States, Brazil
Homogeneous vs. Multicultural
Dispersion of ideas, practices, technologies, language and other cultural aspects
This is how culture evolves and adapts Examples:
◦ Spread of languages and religion◦ Jazz in the United States◦ Columbian Exchange
Cultural Diffusion
Jazz in the US
Spread of American Popular Culture◦ American movies, “pop” music, TV programs,
“fast food,” have all spread around the world
Cultural Diffusion
McDonald’s Tokyo, Japan
McDonald’s Jerusalem
Folk culture refers to a culture traditionally practiced by a small, homogeneous, rural group living in relative isolation from other groups.
Folk Culture
Cultural Convergence – occurs when different cultures exchange ideas and become more similar; led to globalization
Example: Democracy, spread of English Cultural Divergence – occurs when different
cultural influences cause an area to divide into separate parts
Example: India – was once unified by a common Hindu culture; arrival of Islam led it to be divided into Hindu and Muslim areas
Cultural Diffusion
Write about how the Winter and Summer Olympics are an example of cultural convergence/globalization.
How has technology contributed to cultural convergence and globalization?
In your notes…
Christianity – 2.2 billion Islam 1.5 billion Hinduism 1 billion Buddhism 400 million Animism 232 million Judaism 17 million Sikhism 16 million
Major Religions
Holy Book: Bible History: Began 2,000 years ago Geographic Origin-Developed in Judea (now Israel),
located in the Middle East bordering the Mediterranean Sea sometime around the year 30 CE.Currently Practiced-Christianity is the dominant religion in North America, South America, Europe, and Russia.
Beliefs Based on teachings of Jesus
Divided into Orthodox Christians, Catholics and Protestants Monotheistic
Christianity
Christianity Symbol - Cross
Founded by Mohammed around 600 AD Holy Book: Qu’ran Geographic Origin-Developed on the Arabian Peninsula in
the year 622 CE, and quickly spread to other regions.Currently Practiced- Islam is most dominant throughout the Middle East, including Southwest Asia and North Africa
Place of Worship: Mosque Beliefs Five Pillars of Faith
◦ There is not other God but Allah◦ Pray five times a day facing Mecca◦ Must give money to the poor◦ Fast during the holy month of Ramadan◦ Must make a pilgrimage (trip) to Mecca (Hajj)
Islam
Islamic Symbol – Star and Crescent
Allah in Arabic
Most popular religion in modern India Holy Texts: Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads Believe in many gods, each of which is a form of one Supreme
Being Geographic Origin-Developed on the Indian subcontinent. Currently Practiced-Most common in India.
Beliefs Reincarnation: a person’s soul is reborn as another living thing Karma: People who lead a good life will be reborn into a higher
caste, while those who do not are reborn into a lower caste Sacred Objects: believe the cow is sacred; Hindus will not eat
beef; Ganges River
Hinduism
Hindu Holy Symbol
Om
A leading religion in Tibet, Japan, Thailand, and China Follow the teachings of Buddha, who taught that selfish
desires were the sources of all human suffering Geographic Origin-Developed in India. Currently Practiced-Most common in Southeast Asia
and Japan..
Beliefs Do not believe in a Supreme Being; do not have a
primary holy book, but basic beliefs are found in the Sutras
Eightfold Path: Tells Buddhists to give up wealth, act worthily, live righteously, and respect all living things
Buddhism
Buddhist Symbol – Wheel of Dharma
Animism is the oldest known type of belief system in the world. It is still practiced in a variety of forms in many traditional societies.
Geographic Origin-Developed simultaneously in different parts of the world.
Currently Practiced-World-wide, but most common in areas of Africa and the Americas.
Significant Writings-Most traditional cultures that practice Animism also have an oral tradition of story-telling, rather than a developed writing system.
Animism
Holy Books:Torah and Talmud Judaism is the oldest known monotheistic religion
still practiced in the world today. Its fundamental teachings have been influential and are the basis for more recently developed religions such as Christianity and Islam.
Geographic Origin-Developed in the Middle East in and around the area that is currently Israel.
Currently Practiced-Worldwide, but the greatest majority of Jews reside in Israel, the United States, and the former Soviet Union.
Places of worship: synagogue
Judaism
Jewish Symbol – Star of David
Combines both Hindu and Muslim beliefs Geographic Origin: India Currently Practiced: Mainly Northern
India
Beliefs Like Hindus, belief in reincarnation, but do
not have castes Like Islam, believe in one God Equality between men and women
Sikhism
Sikh Symbol - Khanda
In search of light – watch United Streaming video
Video – Sketches of the World
