The United States offers a quality case study on religious diffusion. Most Americans don’t choose their religion. Instead, people routinely adopt the faith of their parents. This process has been repeated over hundreds of generations, back until at some point in history, perhaps somewhere in Latin America, Europe or the Middle East, a conversion to a new religion occurred. For some, adopting a faith is a voluntary act, but for others conversion came at the blade of a sword. In fact, religious conversion was one of the driving forces behind the colonization of much of the world: it was the God part of the “Three G’s” of the colonial age: God, Gold and Glory. Saving souls was a very real purpose for those who colonized the world as missionaries. Religion also helped to salve the conscious of those who recognized the crass, brutal economics of colonial expansion.
Figure 6-14: Canoga Park, CA - Church Sign. In ethnically diverse regions, religious and ethnic tolerance is evidenced by the tendency of multiple, diverse congregations to share the same sacred space.
The United States is largely Christian because most of the people who migrated here from Europe were Christians. Religious intolerance in Europe against religious minorities drove many Christians to migrate to the New World. Africans brought to the US as slaves, and many American Indians who were already here, were forced to convert to Christianity by militarily powerful, intolerant and often genuinely faithful Europeans. For many generations, Americans had little choice in terms of religion. There could be strong social and even legal sanctions against adopting new beliefs, even though the US Constitution guarantees the right to religious choice. For generations Americans knew little of other religions or practices. To them Christianity was the only choice available.
Figure 6-15: Shreveport, LA - Billboard. Evangelicals in many parts of the country exhort others to follow Christian religious doctrine. Some considered the message on this sign blasphemous because a person signed it as "God".
Religious affiliation changes slowly. Most people inherit their religious practices and ideas from their parents. Few consider adopting a new religion, or even new ideas, which inhibits rapid changes from one generation to the next. When people do adopt a different faith, or even when they diverge from strongly held familial practices, it often signals significant life changes for those making the change. Major events, like marriage to someone from a different faith, long distance migrations, wars, or some other major upheaval within a family count among the few forces powerful enough to seriously the disrupt the continuity of religious practice. Slow changes are the rule, especially in isolated regions protected from outside idea and practices.
Figure 6-16: San Gabriel, CA - Grape Vine. Spanish missionaries introduced viticulture in California. Today California remains largely Catholic and viticulture forms a significant part of California's agricultural economy.
The map of denominational affiliation is a little harder to explain. Some of the pattern can be explained by ethnicity. The Spanish converted many Indians living in what is now Latin America and the American Southwest. The fact that places like California already had many established Catholic churches, has surely been attractive to Catholics considering migrating to California over the years. Other largely Catholic areas of the US exist where Catholic immigrants to the US from Europe found jobs. If those already there were tolerant of the arriving Catholics, incoming Catholic migrants often became a majority, and in the process attracted additional Catholics through a process known as chain migration.
Lutherans, largely migrated from the Germanic countries of Northern Europe. It’s hardly surprising that Germans and Scandanavians found the colder climates of Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas much to their liking. When they migrated here, they brought their religion. So, at least for one group, cultural preadaptation to specific environmental conditions seems to have played a role in creating the religious landscape.
Baptists are clearly predominant in the US South, but they were not the first group to migrate into there. In fact, Baptists were rare in the South during the Colonial era. Their numbers grew as a result of their denomination’s focus on spoken/oral religious services. This set them apart from the Anglican/Episcopal churches dominant in the South during the Colonial era. Because many of the later immigrants to the South could not read; and schooling was far less common in the southern US than elsewhere in the US, Baptists found the greatest appeal there. Therefore, ordinary people of the South became Baptists. Prior to the Civil War, American Baptists split into two large groups over the practice of slavery. The Southern Baptist Convention favored slavery and increased in popularity in the South.
Figure 6-17: Winter Haven, FL: This large modern church attests to the popularity of religion in the Deep South, where much of the population belongs to a Baptist congregation.
Most blacks at that time attended the same church as whites, so today still many black families belong to some version of the Baptist faith, including he National Baptist Convention, which has about 7 million African-American members.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is predominant in the Intermontane West because this was a safe place for the followers of this faith to practice their religion in the 1800s. Latter-day Saints found themselves the victims of extreme religious intolerance in Missouri and Illinois where they had hoped to settle and build their community. After the founder of the church, Joseph Smith, was murdered in 1844, the Latter-day Saints moved to what is now Utah in search of a place isolated from persecution. Although there was a short “war” between Latter-day Saint (Mormon) settlers and the US Army largely over the degree of sovereignty the Utah territory had over its own affairs, the isolation of Utah and Idaho helped these people build and maintain a reasonably unique cultural realm.
Figure 6-18: Salt Lake City, UT - Highway Sign. The beehive symbolizes the exceptional work ethic of Utahans, nearly 75% of whom are Mormons.
While religious persecution may have driven early Latter-day Saints into some of the most desolate, isolated lands in the United States, religious intolerance, and the fear of it violence, keeps other religious minorities in large cities. Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists in the United States tend to be found in many of the same large urban areas. This trend is partly explained by the patterns of economic opportunity and migration. On the positive side, it is easier for those who want to find people of their own religion and culture in a large city than in a small town or rural area. On the darker side, there is also an argument to be made that there is safety in the numbers afforded minority communities in large cities where a critical mass of defensive support can be mustered against discriminatory practices and/or violence. There also tends to be a sort of apathy, or more hopefully, tolerance, in large cities. Big City people are used to diversity and feel little threatened by people different from themselves.
A final spatial pattern discernible in the US is found in the pattern of particularly unusual or novel religious practices, like snake handling in Appalachia. Though similar in outcome to the search for isolation practiced by Mormons; remoteness itself seems capable of fostering innovation in religious practice or doctrinal interpretation. The American West, which at one time featured thousands of isolated towns and villages attracted dozens of Christian splinter groups and fostered, via isolation, the creation of dozens more. Mt. Shasta in northern California, for example, is home to several “new age” cults (or religions).
Figure 6-19: Slab City, CA - Salvation Mountain. This folk-art monument, built in an anarchic settlement in the California’s low desert evokes the strong desire of some Christians to build monuments to their faith.
Islam
Islam is the world’s second largest religion with over 1.8 billion adherents and it’s growing rapidly. Like Christianity, Islam is not monolithic. There are two major subgroups. About 80% of all Muslims are Sunni and they live mostly in Asia and North Africa. The other twenty percent of Muslims are Shia, (Shi’ite) living mostly in Iran and Iraq. There are numerous smaller sects as well, such as the Alawites of Syria. Many other factions exist within the two main groups as well. Americans tend to think that all, or most, Muslims live in the Southwest Asia and North Africa (the “Middle East”), but far more Muslims live in Asia. Muslims in Indonesia (229 million), Pakistan (200 million), Bangladesh (100 million), and India (200 million) easily outnumber the populations in the arid lands of the Middle East. Even Nigeria, in Sub-Saharan Africa, has 100 million Muslims roughly equal to the number living in Egypt, which is the most populous Muslim country in the Middle East. There are even 2.6 million Muslims living in the United States. About 50,000 African-American Muslims belong to the Nation of Islam (NOI), a somewhat controversial group, which rose to national prominence during the Civil Rights era under the leadership of Malcom X. Members of the Nation of Islam remain visible in America’s largest black communities, easily recognizable by their characteristic suits and bow ties.
Figure 6-20: Mecca, Saudi Arabia - The Kaaba is the holiest location in Islam. It is the destination for millions of Muslims from around the world participating in the Hajj, the holy pilgrimage. Source: Wikimedia.
Despite the outsized attention the Islamic world has in the imagination of Americans, many in the US are largely ignorant about Muslims and their faith. Their holy text is the Qur’an (or Koran - there are various spellings of many Arabic words) and within in it, you will find a large number of commonalities with Christianity and Judaism. In fact, Muslims believe that all three faiths are simply variations of the same religion. Muslims recognize Abraham, Moses, and Jesus as early prophets. According to Muslims, the original teachings that form the basis of all three religions were corrupted, and the misinterpretations of Islam evolved into Judaism and Christianity. To Muslims, the Qur’an is the uncorrupted, properly written, version of the same universal truths originally revealed by Allah to Jesus and Abraham, but as it was revealed to the last and true prophet Muhammad it has not been since altered.
Figure 6-21: Los Angeles - Members of the Nation of Islam sell bean pies to the public on Crenshaw Blvd, a long-standing tradition in South Los Angeles.
Five Pillars of Islam
Islam is strictly monotheistic. To them (and Jews), the Christian’s doctrine of the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) is not strictly monotheistic. Observant Muslims must adhere to an expansive set of Islamic laws covering many aspects of daily life, so it a discussion of that would be unwieldly, but non-Muslims should be familiar at least with the Five Pillars, which represent the core religious duties for observant Muslims.
First, Muslims must “take the Shahada”, meaning they must recite an oath as a basic profession of faith to become a Muslim. The Sunni version of the Shahada translates roughly thus: “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah”. The Shahada is repeated many times, frequently as part of the second pillar, called Salat, which the act of praying five times daily. Prayers are often recited at a mosque, where Muslims worship, but any place will suffice when it is time to pray. The third pillar is alms giving, or donating to money to help the poor and other people in need. It’s not exactly charity, because Muslims who can afford it are obliged to give a certain percentage of their wealth as zakat. Pooled together these monetary obligations made by Muslim likely exceed all other sources of aid to the needy worldwide. The fast (sawm) of Ramadan is the fourth pillar and it requires Muslims of faith and good health to fast (no food or water) from sunrise to sunset for the entire month of Ramadan. There is good food and fellowship at sunset each day during the fast, and a holiday, Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the fast of Ramadan. Some Muslims observe a shortened work day during Ramadan, but basketball fans may recall Muslim NBA players Hakeem Olajuwon and Kareem Abdul Jabbar who played exceptionally well during the fast. The final pillar is the Hajj a pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam’s holiest city. All Muslims, if they are able, must travel at least once in their lifetime to Mecca at a specific time of year and engage in a series of rituals alongside as many as three million other Muslims. Clearly, it is one of the world’s greatest spectacles, but the size of the crowds in recent years has challenged Saudi authorities to ensure the safety of pilgrims. Interestingly, the Arba’een Pilgrimage in Iraq attracts as many as 20 million Shia Muslims, but for various reasons is largely unknown in the United States.
Judaism
The oldest of the Abrahamic religions is Judaism. It is monotheistic, rooted in the Middle East, text-based and fragmented like Christianity and Islam, but unlike it Abrahamic cousins, it is not a universalizing religion, so Jews don’t try to convert people to Judaism for the most part. The Jewish faith is broken into several sub-groups, which are in turn also broken into sub-groups. In the most basic sense, one can divide Jews into three broad categories based on their interpretation of Jewish Law. There are the very conservative, Orthodox Jews, a less conservative group and a more liberal or Reform group. It’s also plausible to add a fourth group: those who are only culturally Jewish, meaning those who engage in many practices common among Jewish people but without actively practicing the religion. Anywhere from about 11 to 15 million people in the world call themselves Jewish. About 40% live in the United States, mostly in New York, Miami, L.A. and other select large cities, and about 40% of Jews live in Israel, the historic Jewish homeland. Jewish people make up a little less than 2% of all Americans, but they have had an outsized effect on American culture. Largely safe from persecution in the US, Jews have thrived here thanks in part to their emphasis on education and career success. Jewish people have for the most part become part of the American mainstream, assimilating to the point of disappearing in some communities. Intermarriage with non-Jewish people, and a low birth rate has contributed to the assimilation process. Some Orthodox communities have remained separate from the mainstream of American life, living for the most part in select neighborhoods in urban areas.
Figure 6-22: Natchez, MS – This abandoned synagogue in Mississippi speaks to the migration of Jews from the Deep South to urban areas elsewhere during the Jim Crow era.
About 10% of Jews live in Europe. Jews who identify as having a relatively recent European ancestry are often called Ashkenazi, and they are by far the most numerous. The other large group of Jews that are defined geographically are those that identify with a Middle Eastern or Mediterranean heritage. They are called Sephardic Jews ; though it should be pointed out that these categories can be slippery and so there is considerable debate about each category.
Hinduism
There are probably around one billion Hindus in the world, making it the third largest religion. Most Hindus live in India, and Nepal, but there are well over a million living in the United States, mainly in large urban areas like Los Angeles and New York City. Hinduism is the oldest of the major faiths and probably has more branches and versions of any as well, making it challenging to describe Hinduism concisely. The Indian Supreme Court has even challenged its description as a “religion”, arguing that Hinduism should be considered simply a way of life rather than a faith. Still, most westerners have trouble understanding Hinduism without framing it within our existing notions of religion. For example, Hinduism doesn’t have people who get kicked out of the faith for having alternative beliefs; there are no heresies. Therefore, some Hindus are monotheistic, some polytheistic, some pantheistic and others still are atheists.
Figure 6-23: Malibu, CA - Hindu Temple. Extraordinary architectural elements mark this Hindu temple near Los Angeles. Architecture is a common means by which religions communicate their commitment to their faith.
There are some ideas and practices in Hinduism that college-educated Americans ought to know a little bit about, especially since we have incorporated some of these notions into our own vocabulary. You’ve no doubt heard people say something like, “bad karma”, if they witness someone doing something mean-spirited. This is a Hindu notion that people get, eventually, the life they deserve, but with a twist on the common American understanding – the good or bad you do in this life may carry over to the next life in a process called reincarnation. People who can adhere to their dharma, or achieve a sort of harmony with an ideal lifestyle (righteousness), may eventually experience nirvana, a state of blissful enlightenment that is the goal for many Hindus. Yoga, what many Americans think of as simply a set of stretching and breathing exercises, is actually a set of practices that Hindus use to help achieve spiritual goals. There are numerous Yogas, each with different elements, but for the most part, they are paths to spiritual well-being, not just physical well-being.
Hindus have loads of holidays, some public and some more private. They have a host of rituals as well. In contrast with Christians, burial is not common, but rather Hindus generally practice ritual cremation. Vast numbers of Hindus make pilgrimages as well. The most famous pilgrimage is by Shakti Hindus to the Ganges River in the holy city of Varanasi, where they believe the water absolves sin. Many Hindus go to Varanasi to die for this reason.
Buddhism
Siddhartha Guatama, more commonly known as Buddha, lived somewhere in India around five centuries ago. Unsettled by the abuses and the injustices within Hinduism, Siddhartha set out to create a new path to spiritual enlightenment. It’s not surprising then that Buddhism, the practice he invented, shares many characteristics with Hinduism, including the notions of Dharma, reincarnation, karma, etc. There are many differences as well. A core element of Buddhism is the Four Noble Truths, which explain why people have trouble achieving an enlightened lifestyle. Essentially, the Four Truths are as follows: 1) We suffer greatly from many things; 2) Our suffering is a result of our ignorance and desires; 3) To cease our suffering we must eliminate our ignorance and desires 4) There is an eight-fold path to achieving liberation from our ignorance and desires.
Buddhism spread out of India and is the dominant belief system in much of East and Southeast Asia, plus Sri Lanka, Bali and Kalmykia in Russia. There are several schools (rather than sects) within Buddhism. The Theravada Buddhists are dominant in Southeast Asia, where a great percentage of the people actively participate in Buddhist practice. In China, Korea and Japan, Mahayana Buddhism is more popular, but the rates of adherence are lower, and Buddhism is heavily interwoven with other local traditions, like Confucianism in China or Shinto in Japan. Tibetan Buddhism is found in Tibet, Nepal and Mongolia, and it is perhaps the best-known version in the US because of the popularity of the Dalai Lama, the best known of all Buddhist leaders.
Figure 6-24: Los Angeles, CA - The Thien Hau Temple near downtown LA functions as a religious temple for the Vietnamese and Chinese communities in Los Angeles is officially a Taoist shrine, but associations with Buddhism and local religions are evident. Source: Wikimedia
In the US, Buddhists live mostly in California and in big cities in the East, where Asian-Americans have migrated. However, because Buddhists don’t “belong” to congregations like Christians, their numbers are hard to discern.
