The art of Religious Coloring in! ha!
Religion and geography is the
study of the impact of geography, i.e. place and space, on religious belief. Aspect
of the relationship between religion and geography is religious geography, in
which geographical ideas are influenced by religion, such as early map-making,
and the biblical geography that developed in the 16th century to identify
places from the Bible (Kong, 1990 and Park, 2004).
Old map of the Palestine.
Traditionally, the relationship
between geography and religion can clearly be seen by the influences of
religion in shaping cosmological understandings of the world e.g. the creation
of the universe and the world. From the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the
study of geography and religion mainly focused on mapping the spread of
Christianity. In the latter half of the seventeenth century, the influences and
spread of other religions were also taken into account. Other traditional
approaches to the study of the relationship between geography and religion
involved the theological explorations of the workings of Nature – a highly
environmentally deterministic approach which identified the role of
geographical environments in determining the nature and evolution of different
religious traditions.
Thus, geographers are less
concerned about religion per se, but are more sensitive to how religion as a
cultural feature affects social, cultural, political and environmental systems.
The point of focus is not the specifics of religious beliefs and practices, but
how these religious beliefs and practices are internalised by adherents, and
how these processes of internalization influence, and is influenced by, social
systems.
Areas of focus are:
- Spared spaces (religion and the environment)
- Community and Identity
New Geographies of Religion:
As research on geography and
religion has grown, one of the new focuses of geographical research examines
the rise of religious fundamentalism (radicalists), and the resulting impact
this has on the geographical contexts in which it develops (Stump, 2000). In
addition, migration processes has resulted in the development of religious diversity
in numerous countries, and the landscape changes that accompanies the movement
and settlement of communities defined by religion is a key focus in the study
of geography and religion e.g. the Gaza Strip. More work needs to be done to
examine the intersections and collisions that occur due to the movement of
communities (for example, the migration of Muslim communities to western
countries) and highlight how these communities negotiate their religious
experiences in new spaces.
Another new area of interest in
the study of geography and religion explores different sites of religious
practice beyond the ‘officially sacred’ – sites such as religious schools,
media spaces, banking and financial practices (for example, Islamic banking)
and home spaces are just some of the different avenues that take into account
informal, everyday spaces that intersect with religious practice and meaning
(Kong, 2010).
An all Muslim School.
Critical thought-
I remember learning at university
that the great flood and the building of Noah’s arch is evidence of climate
change and global sea level rise. Religious work has been used by researchers
to correlate with geological evidence, to strengthen this theory. How
interesting is that!
Potential Resource aids.
Journal resource for teacher support:
Website for basic understanding:
Referencing:
- Kong, L (1990) ‘Geography and religion: trends and prospects’. Progress in Human Geography 14 (3): 355–371.
- Kong, L (2010) ‘Global shifts, theretical shifts: Changing geographies of religion’. Progress in Human Geography 34 (6): 755–776.
- Park, C (2004) ‘Religion and geography". In Hinnells, J. Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion. Routledge.
- Stump, R (2000) ‘Boundaries of Faith: Geographical Perspectives on Religious Fundamentalism. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
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