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Unit 2: Religion and Belief Systems

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Unit 2: Religion and Belief Systems Unit in Brief ● Animism ● Hinduism ● Concepts of Religion (important terms and ● Buddhism definitions) ● Sikhism ● Major Religions ● Confucianism ● Taoism ● Religion and Human Interaction ○ Expansion/Conversion ● Judaism ○ Conflicts between/within faiths ● Christianity ○ Impact on Culture ● Islam ○ Secularism Concepts of Religion Unit 2: Religions and Belief Systems Warm-up With a partner… 1. Define monotheism and polytheism. Give an example of each from a civilization we have learned about this year 2. Define theocracy Important Terms ● Theism ● Religion ● Deity/Deities ● Atheism ● Nontheism ● Agnosticism ● Deism ● Secularism What is Religion? ● A religion is a set of values, morals, rules, and/or traditions that accompany the supernatural or divine ● To date, there are around 4,200 different religions practiced around the world 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 being that has divine power over humans What is religion? ● Theism and religion often work 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 play, just not in the form of a deity What is religion? ● Deities are responsible for natural occurrences and laws ● Not all religions believe in direct involvement from deities ○ Deism: A religion that believes God created the universe 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 nature to have randomly created it. The universe is like the watch—it’s far too complex to have been created by accident. Human beings are so fragile, and so complicated, that someone had to have created them. The watch is the universe and everything in it, and the watchmaker is God. With a partner... What are the purposes of a religion? Brainstorm some different reasons 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 ethics and morals ○ Eschatology Natural Events and Phenomena Moral and Ethical Rules Eschatology (ultimate destiny of humanity) 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 evidence ○ Atheism is different than non-theism, because non-theists still believe in the supernatural Atheism vs. Agnosticism Agnosticism and atheism are not the same ● Gnosis is knowledge of spiritual mysteries (God’s existence, the future, God’s will) ● Agnosticism: The idea that the existence of a deity/deities is unknowable ○ Has nothing 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 matter of faith Secularism ● Secularism: separating religious affairs from non-religious affairs Example: Teachers or other public school officials cannot force students to pray (separation of church and state) Example: Freedom 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 Philosophy 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, morality, 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… .
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