world religon

ASSIGNMENT #1 (3 pages, single space)

Topic: Religious and Social Landscape of the US and the World

60% of the grade (your data)

40% of the grade (your reflection on the data)

Important information:

1.  Use cyberlibrary (or internet) for your research, and mention the website used and the year of population estimate. It is your duty to select credible sources of information (credible web sites)

2. You shall write 3 pages maximum (single space) in total for this paper (3 pages for the data and 1 page for your reflection or reaction to the data)

You shall provide the data of your research and articulate a personal reflection on your discovery. By reflection I mean, for instance, comparing what you thought of our world before and after your research, comparing the population of different religions, comparing the religious population of different countries or continents, identifying what struck you the most in your new found knowledge, reflecting on the social implications, articulating some questions that the data raised in your mind, etc

Explain how this assignment helped you achieve the educational goals of our university and helped you understand the goals of this course. (For the definitions of the educational goals see the syllabus)

3. While addressing the questions of this assignment, the population of believers should be estimated in millions and in % in comparison to the total population of a given country or continent, and you shall specifically mention in your paper the general population of countries or continents concerned.

4. This paper has three parts:

part 1 is about the level of education of the American people;

part 2 deals with the religious landscape

Part 3 deals with Religion and Society

5. For this paper you can work individually or in groups. Each group shall submit a single paper (well stapled) with a cover page containing the names of group members.

Part 1. EDUCATION

How many people have got a college education level in the US and in particular how many have a master degree and a doctoral degree? (in numbers and %)

PART 2. RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE

I. A panoramic view of our world

1) How many countries, people, languages, and religions do we have in the world?

2) How many Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and Jews do we have in the US and in the world?

3) how many Catholics and Protestants do we have in the US and in the World?

4) what is the dominant religion in the US?

5) the large majority of Muslims are found in which continent?

6) what is the dominant religion in Africa?

7) identify the top 10 Christian countries in the world (those having the largest Christian population).

8) how many Atheists and other non-believers do we have in the US and in the world?

9) how many pagans do we have in the US?

10) How many so-called black people (Africans and people of African descent) do we have in the US and in the world? And how many people practice African traditional religions or religions of African origin (Santeria, Vodou,Yoruba, Orisha, Akan, etc) in the US and in the Americas in general

PART 3.

Identify the religious background of all the US presidents,  current members of Congress (Senate and House), and members of the US Supreme Court.

REFLECTION

1)   Is the US the most religiously diverse country in the whole world?

2)   How much power do non-Christians have in the US?

3)   How did the assignment help you achieve the educational goals of our university?