However, we are not unfortunate victims of our geography, and other factors have been shown to shape beliefs on a variety of topics. In addition, migration processes have led to the development of religious pluralism in many countries, and the landscape changes associated with the movement and establishment of religion-defined communities are central to the study of geography and religion. [9] More needs to be done to examine the overlaps and collisions that occur during the movement of communities (e.g. B the migration of Muslim communities to Western countries) and to show how these communities negotiate their religious experiences in new spaces. [5] Recent research in this area has been published by Barry A. Vann, who analyzes changes in the Muslim population in the Western world and the theological factors that fuel these demographic trends. [10] For example, a study conducted in Nigeria showed that clergy who wanted to build a library or have access to a library were not only influenced by their broader religion, but that other clergy, including other clergy, would influence attitudes about what is appropriate for a library or access to information for the clergy. Geography defines our way of life. If you live near a river, you probably have a job related to fishing. Geography influences religion by transforming people`s beliefs into what they have experienced or encountered. Religion can be a starting point for studying issues of ethnic identity formation and the construction of ethnic identity.[5] Geographers who study the negotiations of religious identity within different communities often deal with the open articulation of religious identity, for example, how adherents in different places establish their distinctive identities (religious and cultural) through their own understanding of the religion. and how they present their religious affiliation (in terms of religious practice, ritual and behaviour) externally.
As a general theme, the articulation of religious identity deals with the material aspects of symbolizing religious identity (such as architecture and establishing a physical presence), negotiations and struggles in asserting religious identity in the face of persecution and exclusion, and personal practices of religious rituals and behaviors that restore one`s own religious identity.[3][6][7] Filipino Roman Catholic, when it comes to Catholicism, the Filipino Catholic is known to have very different practices. Like what they call “Simbang Gabi,” no other Catholic nation has this kind of practice. The Philippines also has the longest Christmas in the world and one of the reasons for this is that it`s about how culture interacts with it. With the growth of geography and religious research, one of the new focal points of geographic research examines the rise of religious fundamentalism and the resulting impact on the geographic contexts in which it develops. [8] Geography not only influences the location of certain religions or belief systems, such as the world`s major religions, but it can also influence how certain beliefs are practiced and the behaviors it promotes. Some cultural geographers argue that beliefs are more complex and that factors that include communities and our geography, as well as personal free will, shape the types of beliefs that ultimately emerge. [2] In a paper that examined political beliefs and inclinations, researchers showed how geography, rather than what a person claims to be their political identity, has a greater impact. Another new area of interest in the study of geography and religion explores different places of religious practice beyond the “officially sacred” – places such as religious schools, newsrooms, banking and financial practices (e.g., Islamic banking), and domestic spaces are just some of the different ways that take into account informal and everyday spaces that straddle practice and meaning. Religious. [9] While beliefs in general and religions in particular have been influenced by geography, other geographers also criticize the use of geography as the main driver of beliefs. Thus, geographers are less concerned about religion per se and more sensitive to how religion as a cultural characteristic influences social, cultural, political and ecological systems.
The focus is not on the specificities of religious beliefs and practices, but on how these religious beliefs and practices are internalized by adherents and how these processes of internalization influence and are influenced by social systems. .