Naturalism and Supernaturalism: A Conceptual Framework for Geography Explanation and Instruction.

Keywords: religion, belief systems, naturalism, supernaturalism
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 02:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 03:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 11

Abstract

Current scholarship in studies of religion recognizes a wide spectrum of faith systems that includes more than the major world religions. The discipline of geography has begun to recognize this change, and the traditional study of “geography of religion” has increasingly come to be known as the “geography of religion and belief systems.” This paper conducts a brief review of the theoretical basis for this change, and then presents a conceptual framework that organizes religions and belief systems into the broad ideological categories of naturalism and supernaturalism. The paper demonstrates how this conceptual framework produces more coherent explanation and instruction of the conditions, the spatial patterns, and the processes of change and interaction present among religious and non-religious belief systems in the contemporary world.