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