Religions 6 -10
Most people can at least come close to naming the Big Five main religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. I’m not one of those people, as I had to look it up to make sure. These are often called the “Five Great Religions.”
But naming the top 10 religions seems similar to trying to list from memory the first 10 Amendments to the US Constitution, which goes something like: “FREEDOM OF SPEECH, RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS, [pause, shift, look around…] MURMER ….murmer murmer…..something voting…I have to go to the store.”
What are the next biggest religions, those that rank 6-10? Might be good to know the next time you’re talking to Biff, Tad, and Buffy at a cocktail party.
You: “Did you know that Sikhism is the ninth-largest religion?”
Biff: “I was talking about my yacht.”
Tad: “I need another hot toddy.”
Buffy: “Who invited you?”
Okay, so maybe info for a different crowd.
After the Big Five, some classify “folk religion” as number six, but folk religion is just informal versions of the Big Five, so for me anyway, that puts them in the Big Five. Forgive me if I don’t get the following descriptions exactly correct; not only am I not a theologian, there surely are different opinions and views within any given religion.
The sixth largest would be Shinto (神道), focused primarily in Japan. This is an ancient religion that recognizes divine spirits called kami in nature. Kami can exist in prominent natural features like trees or waterfalls. Kami can be revered dead people, entire clans, natural elements, or landscape features. Kami are part of nature and have positive and negative characteristics that are woven into an interconnected universe. The life-giving power of our universe is called Musubi and represents a deep debt to nature for all it provides us, the positive aspects of which followers strive for.
The seventh largest religion is Taoism or Daoism, a traditional Chinese religion which centers on existing in harmony with the Dao, which is “the way” or “the path.” This religion reaches back to at least the 4th century BC. The founder of Taoism is Laozi, a Chinese philosopher who apparently met Confucius once and impressed him. Taoism has three treasures: compassion, frugality, and humility.
The eighth largest religion is Vodun, which can be spelled Voodoo, but is not voodoo, even though Vodun is the basis of Hatian Voodou, which was spelled Voodoo but is now spelled Voodou to separate it from Lousiana Voodoo which is different and to help keep it from western negative views of the term and context of “voodoo.” The group that makes up the eighth largest religion is West African Vodun. Vodun spirits and deities range from those within forces of nature, to spirits of specific rivers, trees, rocks, and also forces of human culture and guardians of individuals, clans, or nations. The devine creator is a female being called Mawu. The dead are highly regarded and each spirit family has its own female preisthood.
The ninth largest religion, as we learned at the cocktail party we couldn’t wait to leave, is Sikhism, the root of which means “seeker” or “learner.” Sikhism originated in and is most popular on the Indian subcontinent. Sikhism is monolithic and most commonly refers to God as Waheguru or “wonderous enlightener,” and is obviously the basis for us using “guru” today. Members of Sikhism are called Sikhs, and believe that Waheguru created everything, and they should keep Waheguru in mind all the time. Waheguru is neither male nor female, but simultaneously represents ideas around the male and female physical genders, and a spiritual gender which is always female. Main ideas are equality, social justice, service to humanity, and tolerance for other beliefs.
The tenth largest religion is - and this was a surprise to me - Judaism! Here I’d just assumed it was the fifth largest religion, but it’s not, it’s the tenth largest. But it’s considered one of the Big Five “main” religions.
Which is interesting. Why are Shinto, Taoism, Vodou, and Sikhism left out of these “lists” of “main” or “great” religions? Seems like the obvious reason is they’re Eastern and African, which isn’t much of a reason. We could get a much better handle on religion, ourselves, and our overall perception of existence if we looked at the contexts of all the world’s religions, their similarities, differences, subsets, and behaviors.
The other weird thing is that I just assumed Judaism was the fifth “largest,” and so when I read the list from largest to smallest, I then just assumed that “folk religion” was number six when really it was number five. Even though Judaism wasn’t on the top five list, my mind put it there because it’s one of the “five great religions.” A good example of how packaging and presentation have an impact on perception.
For clarity, the list by popularity goes like this:
Christianity (2.4 billion)
Islam (1.9B)
Hinduism (1.2B)
Buddhism (0.5B)
Folk religion (0.4B)
Shinto (100 million)
Taoism (12-173 million -heck of a range there)
Vodou (60M)
Sikhism (30M)
Judaism (14.5M)
Photo Wikimedia Commons, by Jordy Meow. The torii gate at Itsukushima Shrine on the island of Itsukushima (popularly known as Miyajima) in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.
