Sacred Worlds

An Introduction to Geography and Religion

Chris Park

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2002
• eBook ISBN: 9781134877348
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Geography
• Index: Geography

This book, the first in the field for two decades, looks at the relationships between geography and religion. It represents a synthesis of research by geographers of many countries, mainly since the 1960s. No previous book has tackled this emerging field from such a broad, interdisciplinary perspective, and never before have such a variety of detailed case studies been pulled together in so comparative or illuminating a way. Examples and case studies have been drawn from all the major world religions and from all continents from both a historical and contemporary perspective. Major themes covered in the book include the distribution of religion and the processes by which religion and religious ideas spread through space and time. Some of the important links between religion and population are also explored. A great deal of attention is focused on the visible manifestations of religion on the cultural landscape, including landscapes of worship and of death, and the whole field of sacred space and religious pilgrimage.

1
GEOGRAPHY AND RELIGION
Context and content

In matters of religion and matrimony I never give any advice; because I will not have anybody’s torments in this world or the next laid to my charge.

Earl of Chesterfield, Letter to A.C.Stanhope, 1765

INTRODUCTION

At first glance, geography and religion seem to be curious bedfellows.

However, even a brief reflection reveals a myriad of ways in which the two interact—religion affects people and their behaviour in many different ways, and geographers have traditionally been concerned with the spatial patterns, distributions and manifestations of people and environment. Glacken notes how,

in ancient and modern times alike, theology and geography have often been closely related studies because they meet at crucial points of human curiosity. If we seek after the nature of God, we must consider the nature of man and the earth, and if we look at the earth, questions of divine purpose in its creation and of the role of mankind inevitably arise.

(Glacken 1967:35)

None the less, the study of geography and religion remains peripheral to modern academic geography. The Earl of Chesterfield was doubtless correct in insisting that ‘religion is by no means a proper subject of conversation in a mixed company’, but the real reason for this marginality lies more in the assumed rationality of post-Enlightenment science, which dismisses as irrational (thus undeserving of academic study) such fundamental human qualities as mystery, awe and spirituality—reflections of the very essence of humanness.

Yet a geography that ignores what we might call ‘the supernatural’ neglects some of the most deeply rooted triggers of human behaviour and attitudes, is blind to some critical dimensions of humanity and overlooks some profoundly significant implications of geographical patterns of human activity andbehaviour. It is not the intention of this book to advance any particular religion or belief system, nor to propose that geographers should become religious to advance their subject. However, the book does have a missionary objective—and that is to bring the study of geography and religion back on to the geographical agenda, by raising awareness of the richness and diversity of work in the field and highlighting emerging themes and approaches.

A clarion call of some leading geographers recently has been to ‘reclaim the high ground’ for geography, by turning away from empirical reductionism and arid theoretical debate, to the ‘big questions’ that trouble society (Stoddart 1987). Surely questions concerning ultimate meanings and purpose, humanity’s very reason for existence, human suffering and inequality deserve a place on the geographical agenda.

Before we look at how the field of geography and religion has evolved, it is perhaps useful to provide a broad context for the field by reflecting on some of the many ways in which religion affects people and environment.

INTERACTION

This review is not intended to be exhaustive, and many of the themes will be explored in greater depth in subsequent chapters. It does, however, serve to illustrate the manifest variety of links between geography and religion, and perhaps to beg the question ‘Why is the field not more prominent within contemporary geography?’ Examples are drawn from a variety of sources (including Broek and Webb 1973; Morrill and Dormitzer 1979; Wynne- Hammond 1979; de Blij and Muller 1986; Jordan and Rowntree 1990).

Geographical distribution of religions

One of the most obvious areas of interaction is the geographical distribution of religions. This is the focus of Chapter 3, but we can note in passing that each of the major world religions tends to have its own geographical range and territory. For example, Christianity is most common in Europe, America and other regions of European settlement, and Islam is dominant in the Middle East, northern Africa and western Asia. Buddhism is concentrated in central Asia, and India is predominantly Hindu. Even at this coarsest of spatial scales, it is evident that religion exerts powerful influences on human activities and patterns.

Religious imprint on the cultural landscape

Religion is often strongly imprinted on the cultural landscape, through distinctive styles of architecture (see Chapter 7). The most obvious imprints are centres of religious worship (such as mosques, temples, churches and cathedrals) and other religious symbols (shrines, statues) and structures (cemeteries), whichoften give a distinctive identity and character to an area. Many settlements, such as the cathedral or abbey towns of Europe, were founded and have evolved for religious reasons.

Many religions recognise sacred space and sacred places such as caves, groves, lakes, mountains (such as Mount Fuji and Mount Sinai) and rivers (such as the Ganges and Jordan). These reflect the formative influence of environment in the evolution of different religions and in turn encourages the preservation of sacred landscapes (see Chapter 8, pp.). Landscape also bears the imprint of religion through the duplication of facilities by different religions or denominations. For example, many countries (such as Britain and the United States) have separate school systems for Roman Catholics and Protestants, and in Israel there are separate schools for Jews and Arabs.

Impacts of religion on lifestyle and commerce

The list of interactions between religion and geography goes much further than just visible landscape elements. Spatial variations in religious belief influence and are influenced by social, economic, demographic and political patterns in many different ways. Religion prohibits certain activities, restricts others, and encourages others. So as well as shaping people’s philosophy of life, religion also exerts powerful influences on their behaviour and patterns of activity.

Visible manifestations of religion on lifestyle include the adoption of codes of dress (such as the wearing of veils by many Muslim women, and turbans by Sikh men), and personal habits (such as the beards worn by Sikh and Jewish men). Differences in religion within a country might be associated with differences in language, ethnic identity, educational achievement and opportunity, economic security, occupational distribution.

Religion can exert strong influences over commerce. In medieval Europe, for example, the Christian Church was strongly opposed to money-lending at interest (usury), and because Jews were not bound by these religious rules they took on the role of money-lenders. Until quite recently banking institutions have not developed among Muslims because the Prophet prohibited acceptance of interest from borrowers. On the other side of the coin, literally, are the vast sums of money exchanged by religious pilgrims to holy sites (see Chapter 8, pp.). Pilgrimage plays a significant role in the economy of religious centres such as Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Lourdes in France, and Banaras in India. Religion can also strongly influence what type of employment a person has, particularly in Hindu society where caste prescribes certain duties and occupations by birthright rather than suitability.

Religious taboos on food and wildlife

Religious beliefs, particularly amongst the primitive religions, often include taboos on the use of certain plants and animals. Some plants, for example, arecult symbols of specific religions—examples include the lotus and pipal (bo) tree in Buddhism, the conifer in Shinto, and the oak and spruce in ancient Germanic ritual (hence the Christmas trees widely used today).

As well as encouraging the preservation of specific species of plants and animals, such taboos can determine which crops and livestock are raised by farmers (Simoons 1961). Pig-rearing is uncommon in Muslim countries and Jewish areas, for example, because Muslims and Jews regard the pig as an unclean animal that cannot be eaten. Similarly Buddhism prohibits stock-raising for meat and wool, thus creating a distinctive farming landscape in Japan and dominantly Buddhist parts of India, China, and Sri Lanka. Hindus do not generally eat fish, eggs or meat, and this also translates into visible differences in the farming landscape.

The distribution of wine-growing areas has also been associated with religious factors. Stanislawski (1975) suggests that the diffusion of vines across southern Europe almost 3,000 years ago was closely associated with the spread of the Great Mother cult (with which Dionysus—later to be the Greek god of wine—was affiliated) in pre-Christian Europe. Religious prohibition prevents Muslims from drinking wine, and so eastern parts of the Mediterranean—which have favourable climates but are predominantly Muslim—have no welldeveloped wine industry. The heavy dependence of post-colonial Algeria on its traditional wine industry for valuable foreign exports has created serious dilemmas for this Islamic country, and encouraged the conversion of many vineyards to other land uses (Sutton 1990). The dispersion of the citron from Palestine by the Romans has also been associated with religious diffusion because the citrus fruit was used in some Jewish celebrations (Isaac 1959a, 1959b).

Religion and demography

Some of the strongest imprints of religion on human geography arise through demographic constraints and practices (see Chapter 6, pp.). Most aspects of population dynamics, from cradle to grave, can be heavily influenced by religious belief. Many religious groups (most prominently the Roman Catholic Church) oppose contraception and encourage large families to safeguard continuity of belief. Islam does not officially oppose contraception, but it is custom in most Islamic countries to have large families. Consequently birth rates (and, in turn, population growth rates) are higher and family sizes are larger in countries where these religions dominate (such as Catholic Italy, Southern Ireland and Latin American countries) than they are elsewhere. Patterns of marriage in many countries are also influenced by religion. Islam, for example, permits polygamy for men whereas Christianity insists on monogamy and most high Hindu castes forbid remarriage of a widow. Intermarriage between religious groups is also tightly controlled in some religions. Some Hindus and Muslims in central India still practise purdah (the seclusionof women from society, particularly from males outside the family; marriages are often still arranged by parents of the same religion and caste).

Religion, politics and conflict

Some of the most widely talked about impacts of religion arise from the political conflict created by the coexistence of religious groups and minorities (see Chapter 6, pp.). This is reflected in geographical patterns at various scales, from the local (such as residential segregation of Catholics and Protestants in Belfast, and the persistence of Jewish enclaves in many Western cities), through the regional (such as the separation of Muslim and Christian areas in Lebanon, the former to the east and south and the latter to the north), to national conflicts (such as the partition of India in 1947 and the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948). The importance of religious differences in shaping the political climate within and between countries must not be underestimated. Brook (1979:513) maintains that ‘it would not be possible to understand many political events in the post-war world without taking into consideration the religious situation in the country in question’.

Religion and culture

Geographers have traditionally been interested in the culture of different places, and there is no escaping the fact that religion is a major determinant of culture. De Blij and Muller define religion as one of the

foundations of culture [and] vital strands in the fabric of societies…. In many societies less dominated by technology than [the United States], religion is the great binding force, the dominant ruler of daily life. From eating habits to dress codes, religion sets the standards for the community.

(de Blij and Muller 1986:181)

For Jordan and Rowntree (1990:190) ‘religion is part of culture…[it] is an essential hue in the human mosaic’ which geographers would be foolish to ignore. Religion has often been the basis for identifying cultural regions, such as The Mormon West and The South in the United States (Shortridge 1982:177).

In many parts of the world (particularly in Africa and Asia, and throughout the Islamic world) religion is a vital and dynamic part of culture, which exerts powerful control over behaviour and attitudes. This is true not just for the people who profess and practise the religion in question, because a dominant religion can set norms for acceptable behaviour that even non-believers are expected to comply with. For example, the ban on drinking alcohol in Muslim countries applies to everyone, whether they are residents or visitors, Muslims or ‘infidels’.

The powerful influence of religion on culture is perhaps nowhere more apparent than in India, where ‘loyalty to one’s religion has coloured the entire political, economic, social and moral life’ (Mamoria 1956:189). In India,

being a Hindu…Muslim, Sikh, Jain, Parsee, or Christian conditions or even determines one’s diet, dress, calendar, holidays, and, even more important, education, social status, and economic activities; in short, religion is the main constraint on one’s code and mode of life.

(Broek and Webb 1973:183)

In contrast, religion is clearly becoming less of a cohesive force in industrialised, urbanised Western societies. Zelinsky (1973:95) notes that ‘unlike most premodern communities of the Old World where daily existence and religion are mixed inseparably, [in the United States] the religious factor does not enter into the layout of town, field, or house, or the shaping of economic activities’. Carl Sauer (1963) had earlier described the community on the Middle Border, where the country church played a key role in social communication (especially among Catholics and Lutherans), parochial schools extended social connections, church festivals were frequent, and Sunday observance was the norm.

Religion and environmental attitudes

Many of the interactions between religion and geography outlined above reflect an indirect influence, via attitudes and through behaviour. Many types of behaviour exhibit some imprint of religious influence if not control.

Environmental theo...

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• FIGURES
• TABLES
• PREFACE
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• 1. GEOGRAPHY AND RELIGION: CONTEXT AND CONTENT
• 2. REFLECTIONS ON RELIGION
• 3. DISTRIBUTIONS: SPATIAL PATTERNS OF RELIGION
• 4. DIFFUSION: RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND ORGANISATIONS
• 5. DYNAMICS: HOW RELIGIONS CHANGE
• 6. RELIGION AND POPULATION
• 7. RELIGION AND LANDSCAPE
• 8. SACRED PLACES AND PILGRIMAGE
• EPILOGUE
• BIBLIOGRAPHY