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Take a journey through the history and heritage of faith in Southeast Tennessee.
Religion is the life of the spirit, the life of the mind. Religion is belief not in things, but in forces, in thoughts, in the will, and in beings not of common matter. One cannot go for a drive to "look" at religion, but one can see certain physical manifestations for the experience and through that looking may come to a greater understanding.
Religion is manifest in myriad ways. The houses of worship, the graveyards, the roadside signs and memorials may be seen and touched. Oratory, song and prayer in its many forms may be heard. There is
dance. There are shrines and hoards of books.
Visiting these places and seeing these incorporations of religious life in the greater landscape can give a fuller appreciation of the nature and importance of religious life and how it develops and grows in a place. Visiting can give an understanding of how religious thought - and religious confilict - shapes a place.
Religion is the underlying force driving much popular expressive culture. Our popular music, food ways, dress, dance, literature are all heavily drived from, or a reaction to, our religion and beliefs. To understand a people's religion is to understand a people's culture.
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