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Animism – Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life.
Autonomous religion – A religion that does not have a central authority but shares ideas and cooperates informally.
Branch – A large fundamental division within a religion.
Caste – The class or distinct hereditary order into which a Hindu is assigned according to religious law.
Cosmogony – A set of religious beliefs concerning the origin of the universe.
Denomination – A division of a branch that ur1ites a number of local
Diocese – The basic unit of geographic organization in the Roman Catholic Church.
Ethnic religion – A religion with a relatively concentrated spatial distribution whose principles are likely to be based on the physical characteristics of the particular location in which its adherents are concentrated.
Fundamentalism – Literal interpretation and strict adherence to basic principles of a religion (or a religious branch, denomination, or sect).
Ghetto – During the middle Ages, a neighborhood in a city set up by law to be inhabited only by Jews; now used to denote a section of a city in which members of any minority group live because of social, legal, or economic pressure.
Hierarchical religion – A religion in which a central authority exercises a high degree of control.
Missionary – An individual who helps to diffuse a universalizing religion.
Pagan – follower of a polytheistic religion in ancient times. Pandemic Disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects a very high proportion of the population.
Pilgrimage – A journey to a place considered sacred for religious purposes.
Polytheism – Belief in or worship of more than one god.
Sect – A relatively small group that has broken away from an established denomination.
Solstice – Time when the Sun is farthest from the equator.
Universalizing religion – A religion that attempts to appeal to all people, not just those living in a particular location.
