Understanding The Distributions Of Religions - 942 Words

To understand the distributions of religions, beliefs must be separated first. Universalizing religions are religions trying to appeal to all people globally, not just to one culture or location. Ethnic religions appeal primarily to one group of people living in one place. Atheism is the belief that there is no God and Agnosticism is the belief that the fact that there is a God or no God cannot be proven. Christianity is a universalizing religion. It is the dominant religion in North America, South America, Europe, and Australia. Countries with a Christian majority exist in Africa and Asia as well. There are three major branches of Christianity–Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Orthodoxy. In Europe, Roman Catholicism is the dominant†¦show more content†¦In Europe, Muslims account for only 5% of the population, and most of them emigrated from African colonies where they adopted the religion to Europe. In North America, the number of followers varies from 1 to 5 million. Most of these followers emigrated from Asian, African, and Arab countries. Buddhism is clustered in East and Southeast Asia. Similar to other religions, there are three branches–Mahayana, Theravada, and Vajrayana. Mahayana Buddhists live primarily in China, Japan, and Korea and make up 56% of Buddhists. Theravada Buddhists live primarily in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand and make up 38% of Buddhists. Vajrayana Buddhists live primarily in Tibet and Mongolia and make up 6% of Buddhists. An example of an Ethnic religion is Hinduism, which has 900 million adherents. Most of them live in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Other ethnic religions include Confucianism, Taoism, Primal-indigenous, African traditional, Spiritism, and Judaism. Different religions have different origins. Theravada Buddhism believes that Buddhism is a full time occupation, so a Buddhist must renounce worldly goods and become a monk. Mahayana Buddhism split from Theravada about 2000 years ago and claims that it is less demanding and all-encompassing. Vajrayana Buddhism emphasizes the practice of rituals, known as Tantras. Christianity is founded on the teachings of Jesus Christ.