RELIGION
WHAT IS RELIGION?
Any set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices pertaining to supernatural power, e.g. forces, gods, spirits, ghosts, or demonsThe supernatural elements are outside the
observable world Non-empirical Accepted on faith
The supernatural elements differ within and between societies
THE ETIC APPROACH
Anthropology’s concern is not which religion is superior Its concern is WHY religions exists and
HOW and WHY it varies from culture to culture
ORIGINS AND REASONS FOR RELIGION Neandertal & early Homo sapiens
Burial of the dead, art, decoration
REASON #1: THE NEED TO UNDERSTAND Edward Tylor & R.R. Marett Religion was born as people tried to
understand conditions and events that normal experience could not explainDual existence: physical/visible and
psychic/invisible Animism: the belief in souls Animatism: the belief in the impersonal
supernatural forces Preceded the creation of spirits
REASON #2: REVERSION TO CHILDHOOD FEELINGS Freud Totems and taboos represent projected
oedipal desires
REASON #3: COPING WITH ANXIETY AND UNCERTAINTY Bronislaw Malinowski Religion helps us deal with death, stress, and
anxiety Can be a very therapeutic, positive aspect
Jung, James, Maslow
REASON #4: THE NEED FOR COMMUNITY Emile DurkheimCommunitas Religion is social It helps us feel part of a
communityAffirms our place in societyEnhances feelings of
communityGives people confidenceFights alienation
REASON #5: SOCIAL CONTROL
Religion mobilizes people and their emotionsCrusades JihadThe TalibanWitch crazes
ELEMENTS AND VARIATION IN RELIGION Supernatural forces
Mana: a sacred, impersonal force (i.e., luck, karma)
Taboo: things not to be touched, places not to be entered, animals not to be killed, etc.
Gods: named personalities, often anthropomorphic
Spirits: beneath gods, closer to humans
Ghosts: beings that were once human (ancestors)
MONOTHEISTIC VS. POLYTHEISTIC
Monotheistic Religion: One supreme god Polytheistic Religion: Many gods, none
supreme over all others
RITUALS AND RITES OF PASSAGE
RitualsConvey information
about the participants and their traditions
Generally very formal
Rites of PassageCustoms associated
with transition from one stage of life to another
INTERACTING WITH THE SUPERNATURAL Prayer Physiological Experience Simulation/Divination
Getting the supernatural to provide guidance
Ouija boards, fortune tellers
Feasts Sacrifices Magic
The belief that a person’s action can compel the supernatural to act in some particular way
WITCHCRAFT
Witchcraft: using thought and emotion to evoke supernatural malevolence
Sorcery: using materials and objects to evoke supernatural malevolence i.e., voodoo doll
RELIGIOUS PRACTITIONERS Priests: full-time, usually male
Highly educated and specializedHigh standing in societyCan communicate with the supernatural
Shamans: part-time specialist, generally a healerOften enters into trances to communicate
with gods or spirits Mediums: generally female, thought to
heal while possessed or in a trance Sorcerers and Witches: low economic
or social status, generally feared in society
RELIGION AND ADAPTATION
Syncretisms: cultural mixesCargo Cults
Fundamentalism (or anti-modernism) i.e., the Taliban
Revitalization i.e., early Christianity,
the Protestant Reformation
RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD
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