Religion

What is religion?

• 1.Stories that members believe are important• 2.Use symbols and symbolism• 3.Nonempirical – propose the existence of

beings, powers, places and qualities that cannot be measured scientifically

• 4.Rituals and means of addressing the supernatural

• 5.Society has religious experts• 6.Religions are subject to change

History of study of religion

• E.B. Tylor, a founder of anthropology believed religions progressed– Animism – all objects, living and non-living have

spirits– Polytheism– Monotheism– Evolving to be more logical and rational

History of study of religion

• E.B. Tylor, a founder of anthropology believed religions progressed

• This view now discredited• Anthropologists study how religion operates

within society and how it creates meaning for people

What religion does in society

• Searching for order and meaning– Explain the world and give meaning– Provide cosmology – system of beliefs about

fundamental questions• Nature of life and death• Creation of the universe• Origin of society• Relationships

– Gives the feeling people have some control

What religion does in society

• Searching for order and meaning– Giving meaning to life can be one way to help

survive hard times– The meaning found does not always bring peace• Group suicides eg. Jonestown, Heaven’s Gate• Oppression or genocide

What religion does in society

• Reducing anxiety and increasing control– Rituals, prayer, sacrifice, performed to please

supernatural beings and to control forces– These practices alter the emotional state– Anthropologists are now working to understand

connection between prayer and mental state, health

What religion does in society

• Reinforcing or modifying social order– Religion usually works to preserve society• Rationale for present social order• Brings people together through common identity• Education, passing culture on

– Can also be catalyst for social change when prophets with new ideas change practices

– Or may preserve society by providing an outlet for frustration

Characteristics of Religion

• 1. Stories, Sacred Narratives, and Myths– Stories held to be holy and true by members of a

religion, tell historical events, origins, heroes, gods, spirits. Terms us vs them

– Validate beliefs, reinforce tradition, solidarity– Hopi ancient sacred blue corn farmed by clans

Characteristics of Religion

• 2. Symbols and Symbolism– Multivalent – many different conflicting meanings– Allows people to grasp complex abstract ideas– Evoke emotions, feel close to god

Characteristics of Religion

• 3. Supernatural Beings, Powers, Qualities– Beings apart from humans, not scientifically

measured• Anthropomorphic – human form• Zoomorphic – animal form• Naturalistic – associated with features of nature• Anthropopsychic – personality similar to human

– Spirits can be happy /unhappy, stingy/generous eg. Netsilik Inuit give soul of animal ritual so soul will inhabit another animal and let hunter succeed un hunt again

Characteristics of Religion

• 3. Supernatural Beings, Powers, Qualities– God – a named spirit who is believed to have created

or to control some aspect of the world– High gods- creator with ultimate power- only present

in half of all societies• In one-third of these high gods are distant and withdrawn• For example, Igbo of Nigeria – high god is accessible only

through prayer to lesser gods

Characteristics of Religion

• 3. Supernatural Beings, Powers, Qualities– Polytheistic – many gods– Monotheistic – one god– Combination –• many gods as many aspects of one god eg. India• One god with many aspects eg. Roman Catholic trinity

Characteristics of Religion

• 3. Supernatural Beings, Powers, Qualities– Trickster spirits are interested in their own benefit,

not human• Some pure evil, devil• Some more sympathetic, monkey, hyena, coyote

– Enlightenment – quality or state that is not subject to measurement and verification

– Mana – religious power or energy concentrated in people or objects, can be dangerous-taboos, mana strong in transitional areas, doors, hair

Characteristics of Religion

• 4. Rituals and Addressing the Supernatural– Ritual – a ceremonial act or gesture through which

people enact their religion – Rites of passage– Rites of intensification– Prayer– Sacrifice– Magic– Divination

Characteristics of Religion

• 4. Rituals and Addressing the Supernatural– Rites of passage• Mark the transition from one social status to another• Birth, puberty, marriage, death• Separation, liminal, reincorporation

Characteristics of Religion

• 4. Rituals and Addressing the Supernatural– Rites of intensification• A ritual to reinforce values and norms and strengthen

group identity• Totem – object, animal species, or natural feature

associated with a group• Australian aborigine totemism• College sports

Characteristics of Religion

• 4. Rituals and Addressing the Supernatural– Prayer • Communication between people and spirits in which

people praise, plead or request without assurance of results • If prayers not answered then spirits didn’t want to

Characteristics of Religion

• 4. Rituals and Addressing the Supernatural– Sacrifice • An offering to increase effectiveness of a prayer or purity

of an individual• Offerings of food, animal lives

– cattle sacrifices are community feasts for Nuer, East Africa,

• Sacrifice in form of changed behavior– Giving up for Lent

Characteristics of Religion

• 4. Rituals and Addressing the Supernatural– Magic• A religious ritual believed to have mechanical control over

supernatural forces• If done properly spirits will be compelled to follow • Imitative magic – procedure looks like result

– Voodoo doll– Baptism – wash away original sin

• Contagious magic – object that has been with a person retains a connection– Attach clothing or hair to voodoo doll

Characteristics of Religion

• 4. Rituals and Addressing the Supernatural– Divination • Ritual for getting information from supernatural spirits• Predict future, diagnose disease, learn about past, find

objects, solve crime– Scapulomancy – scorched scapula as map of hunt– Willow branch divination for water

• Helps people make choices when they don’t have enough information, all options are equal, group disagrees

Characteristics of Religion

• 5. Religious practitioners– Shamans • Hunt, garden, live like everyone else• Chosen by and able to enter spirit world by trance• Connection to spirits used for healing, divination• Most societies have shamans, shamans are only religious

leaders in band and tribal societies

Characteristics of Religion

• 5. Religious practitioners– Shamanic curing• Before modern medicine illness seen as spiritual imbalance• In trance shaman finds problem, attacks evil spirits• Pharmacopoeia – traditional medicinal preparations• Model of sickness and health is cultural and ceremonies

reinforce these and help heal

Characteristics of Religion

• 5. Religious practitioners– Priests• Person who is formally elected, appointed, or hired to full

time religious office• In state societies, religion is an institution with ranked

offices• Priests where religion has high gods and lay people are

separated from gods, priest mediates

Characteristics of Religion

• 6. Religion and change– Religion explains the world, gives meaning, order,

relationships– when the ideal is too different from people’s daily

experience change likely– Religious movements• Identify what is wrong with the world• Present a vision of a better world• Describe transition

Characteristics of Religion

• 6. Religion and change– Nativistic – religious movement to restore golden age

believed to have existed in the past– Vitalistic – looks to future utipoa– Messianic – coming of an individual who will usher in

a new stage– Millenarian – a disaster will destroy current world

and establish a just utopia