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Home , Agnosticism, Belief, Deism, Deity, Nontheism, Religion

Unit 2: and Unit in Brief ● ● ● of Religion (important terms and ● definitions) ● ● Major ● ● ● Religion and Interaction ○ Expansion/Conversion ● ○ Conflicts between/within ● ○ Impact on ● ○ Concepts of Religion

Unit 2: Religions and Belief Systems Warm-up

With a partner…

1. Define and . Give an example of each from a we have learned about this year 2. Define Important Terms

● ● Religion ● / ● ● ● ● ● Secularism What is Religion?

● A religion is a of values, morals, rules, and/or that accompany the or divine

● To date, there are around 4,200 different religions practiced around the Christianity 2.1 billion Largest World Islam 1.3 billion Religions

Hinduism 900 million Judaism Buddhism 14 million 376 million

Sikhism 23 million What is religion?

● Most religions are theistic, meaning they are based around a deity/deities ● Theism: Belief in one or more deities ● Deity: Supernatural that has divine power over

What is religion?

● Theism and religion often together, but do not have to ● There is such a thing as a non-theistic religion ○ Non-theism: Apathy or silence towards the subject of deities ○ Supernaturality is still at , just not in the of a deity

What is religion?

● Deities are responsible for natural occurrences and ● Not all religions believe in direct involvement from deities ○ Deism: A religion that created the and allowed it to evolve on its own This analogy is a common way to describe the beliefs of deism:

If you are walking down a beach and happen across a watch, your immediate assumption would be that someone created it—it’s far too complex for to have randomly created it. The universe is like the watch—it’s far too complex to have been created by accident. Human are so fragile, and so complicated, that someone had to have created them.

The watch is the universe and in it, and the watchmaker is God. With a partner...

What are the purposes of a religion? Brainstorm some different about why human beings have religion Purposes of Religion

● Religion is typically used for three main things: ○ Explaining natural events and phenomena ○ Providing a set of and morals ○ Natural Events and Phenomena Moral and Ethical Rules Eschatology (ultimate of ) What areas of the world appear to be the most religious? Why might some countries be more religious than others? Atheism vs. Agnosticism

● Atheism is the total lack of belief in deities or the supernatural ○ Usually cites lack of ○ Atheism is different than non-theism, because non-theists still believe in the supernatural Atheism vs. Agnosticism

Agnosticism and atheism are not the same

● is of spiritual mysteries (God’s , the , God’s will) ● Agnosticism: The that the existence of a deity/deities is unknowable ○ Has to do with whether a deity exists or not ● So… ○ An agnostic Christian still believes in God, but doesn’t believe his existence can be proven ○ Becomes a of Secularism

● Secularism: separating religious affairs from non-religious affairs

Example: or other public school officials cannot students to pray (separation of church and state)

Example: of religion in the 1st Amendment; the U.S. gov’t cannot impose religion on its people nor can it infringe on its people’s religions

 A religion with deities and the supernatural is a theistic religion  A religion with the supernatural but no deities is a non-theistic religion  But what is a religion called that has neither deities nor supernatural occurrences? ○ A religion with no supernatural element whatsoever is no longer a religion but instead a philosophy ● Philosophy: a set of values, , rules and/or traditions with no accompanying supernatural belief in a divine being or force Religion can be as simple or complicated as people make it

For example…