Religions in the USA

1. Religions in the USA What We Believe – or Not

2. Demographic maps are from American Ethnic Geography: http://www.valpo.edu/geomet/geo/courses/geo200/religion.html

9. “No Religion” Identification • Agnostic: 0.5% • Atheist: 0.4% • “No religion”: 13.2% So – secularists aside for the moment, we are a religious country. But how do we believe, area by area?

11. World Religions Distribution

12. Most Unified to Most Diverse • Baha'i • Zoroastrianism • Sikhism • Islam • Jainism • Judaism • Taoism • Shinto • Christianity • Buddhism • Hinduism

13. How Are Religions Counted? In order to rank religions by size, two parameters must be defined: • How is "size" determined? • What constitutes a "religion"? Source: http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html

14. Meaning and End of Religion • Faith – the substance of religious life The subjective experience or transformation of our relation to reality For the philosopher, the important thing is to understand “what it is like” to live as a believer (p. 27) For Smith, the universal goal of religion is to introduce a person to “that which is without limits.” (p. 29)

15. Meaning and End of Religion, 2 • Cumulative Religious Traditions – the external embodiment of religions There is no “essence” of either Religion or religions (p. 30, 31) What is called religion is really religious history – an “…evolving context of observable actualities…” (p. 33)

16. The Seven Dimensions • The abstract or non-physical dimensions • Practical/ritual – practices through which a community shares its religious life • Experiential/emotional – the numinous something, mystical experience, conversions, etc • Narrative/mythical – unifying stories of beginnings (universe, the religion itself), founding or emulative figures, defining events, etc • Doctrinal/philosophical – formalized or rationalized theology/doctrine validating and clarifying the significance of myth • Ethical/legal – principles, laws and values of a religion

17. The Seven Dimensions, 2 • The embodied or material dimensions • Social/institutional – the ways interpersonal relations are organized within a religion; how religions relate to the rest of society • Material – the physical forms of a religion (buildings, art)

18. Comparing the Definitions Both question the idea that there is an “essence” of religion – a trait or set of traits that all religions must have to count as a religion This suggests that there is not just diversity, but a diversity that is irreducible to some common ground. Both minimize the propositional content of religion Smart: this is only one of 6 other dimensions Smith: all Gods are idols

19. Smart focuses more on the observable or describable aspects of organized religion Smart eschews reference to the transcendent, studying religion as a way in which humans conceive of themselves and act in the world Smith focuses more on pairing the phenomenal experience of religious persons with an historical study of the “externals” of religious traditions Smith includes reference to the transcendent, suggesting a purpose of religion Contrasting the Definitions

20. Assessing the Definitions A good definition will: Focus only on what is essential to the definens (the concept being defined) Help us distinguish between things which are, and things which are not, members of the class named by the definiens.

21. Applying the Definitions How do either or both of these approaches to religion help you better understand: The true richness and diversity of human religions? The problem(s) we can encounter in trying to find an “essence” of religion? The aspects of religion that are most important to you – and why?