Religion and the Supernatural

religion

set of beliefs and behaviors that pertain to supernatural forces or beings that transcend the observable world

supernaturalism

broader range of belief systems

components of religion

• supernatural beings, power, and forces held by faith, no evidence

• division of world into sacred and profane

• worship

• ritual

• moral codes

theism

belief in the existence of a god or gods

atheism

disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of a god or gods

agnosticism

view that the existence of a god or gods, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable

why religion?

• addresses need for intellectual understanding

• address anxiety and uncertainty in events such as death, illness, and accidents

• allows reversion to childhood feelings

• helps meet need for community with a moral code for adherence

expressions of religion

• evidence of early religious activity

  • neanderthal burials

  • representations of shamans of European cave walls

  • we can only speculate about how, when, why, and where religion first arose

first evidence of religion

• linked to:

  • burial sites

  • decorative funeral goods

  • cave drawings

• some funerary rites have no physical evidence

• leaving a body is practical: burying is not

• burying denotes radical change in thinking process

• animal human hybrid figures thought to denote early shamanism

what components of religion does not leave evidence?

• cremation

  • Vikings

• invite scavenging

  • Zoroastrians: prevents world of living from being contaminated by dark forces of the dead.

  • Tibetan Buddhists: generous and compassionate way to return to the circle of life

tylor

religion evolved through stages

animism

belief in spiritual beings

polytheism

belief in multiple gods

monotheism

belief in a single, all-powerful deity

mana

sacred impersonal force existing in the universe

• Melanesian mana similar to good luck

• Polynesian mana attached political offices

what is the function of mana?

to explain events such as why do some people prosper while others fail? (places blame)

magic

supernatural techniques, like magical action, offerings, spells, formulas, and incantations

• imitative (voodoo dolls)

• contagious (accomplished through contact)

function of magic?

accomplish specific aims, do someone harm, to protect

function of religion and magic

emotional needs: reduce anxiety and allay fears, associated with things beyond human control

components of rituals

formal—stylized, repetitive, stereotyped—behavior

• special places

• special times

• liturgical

• convey information

• social acts

rituals

symbolic practice that is ordered and regularly repeated. actions based on belief

• how one shows belief

• not always religions

• serve society as social acts

  • signify common social and moral order

rites of passage

customs associated with a transition from one stage of life to another

3 stages of rites of passage

• separation:

  • anxiety producing

• liminality:

  • past and future position in society ignored and/or reversed

  • collective

  • symbols

• incorporation:

  • anxiety allieviated

belief systems create community

• ceremonies and rituals

  • services

  • altars

  • together or alone

  • individuals feel support from group

belief systems instill values

• texts and oral tales teach ethics to guide behavior and what punishment may ensue

• myths

myths

sacred stories that explain events, such as the beginning of the world or the creation of the first people

belief systems provide reasons

• explain life events

• provide reasons for behaviors

  • shows why we do things certain ways and why bad things happen to good people

  • people might not know the origins of behaviors or restrictions

• many systems: everything is predetermined

cosmology

system, often religious, for imagining and understanding the universe

belief systems solve problems

• supernatural beings cause events

  • people can also seek help from them when problems arise

• prayer is a common way to request assistance

  • communal or private

supernatural beings

personified or embodied gods, demon, spirits, or ghosts

• have many genders

• may be known (ancestors) or unknowable (all-powerful gods beyond comprehension)

• may exist in everyday world or world beyond human comprehension

supernatural forces

disembodied powers that exist in the world. culturally accepted existence of beings or forces that exists beyond the observable world

• may bring good or bad luck

• could exist in nature or an item

deities

distant, powerful beings

monotheism

worship of one god or goddess. posits single, omnipotent, omniscient deity as absolute ruler of the universe

polytheism

worship two or more gods and goddesses in a pantheon

gods and goddesses

• often found in hierarchal social organization

• society’s belief systems reflect its social organization

deities and gender roles

• male-dominated, authoritarian society

  • masculine, authoritarian god

• women perform more labor

  • male and female deities

• gender roles change

  • codified religions tenets may not

ancestral spirits

• believe humans made of body and soul. body and soul separate at death

• family spirits may live on. soul may live in house, community, visit on certain days

• may be pleased and angered. spirits can impact health or success of living

ancestor veneration

practice of honoring one’s ancestors. reinforces social values regarding family and kinship

spirits of nature

• individual spirits that inhibit natural objects and phenomena. common with non-industrial people, lives connected to natural world

• more equal relationship with spirits. can influence lives of people. spirits can be negotiated with and won over

2 main systems of spirits of nature

animism and animatism

animism

belief that spirit beings inhabit natural objects

animatism

belief that supernatural forces reside in everyday things

• impersonal, non-spiritual beings with control over people’s lives

priest/priestess

full-time religious practitioners:

• often in stratified societies

• may be divinely called

• must earn position

shamans

part-time religious practitioners who specialize in communicating with spirits, ancestors, or deities

• more common in less stratified societies

• may experience visions or dreams

• trained by more experienced individuals

totemism

totem: animals, plant, or geographic features associated with specific social group, to which that totem is sacred or symbolically important

• members of each totemic group believe themselves to be descendants of their totem

  • uses nature as a model for society

religion and cultural ecology

certain activities that are motivated by religion can help people survive in their physical environment

• sacred cattle in India

sacred cattle in India

ahmisa: Hindu doctrine of nonviolence forbidding the killing of animals

• functions of cattle/manure

  • pull plows and carts

  • fertilize fields

  • fuel for cooking

• biologically adapted

  • poor pasture land

  • marginal environment

social control

• moral and ethical beliefs

• real and imagined rewards and punishments

• mobilizing its members for collective action

• promote change through blending old and new beliefs to help people adapt to changing conditions

Protestant values and capitalist

Max Weber linked the spread of capitalism to values central to the Protestant faith:

• ascetic

• entrepreneurial

• capitalism required that traditional attitudes of Catholic peasants be replaced by values befitting an industrial economy

revitalization movements

social movements that occur in times of change

• Jesus inspired a new, enduring major religion during a time of social unrest

syncretisms

cultural, especially religious, mixes, emerging when two or more cultural traditions come into contact

• cargo cults: syncretic revitalization movements arising in colonial situations that attempt to achieve success magically by mimicking European behavior and symbols

religion and cultural globalization

• the rapid spread of certain religions offers an illustration of cultural globalization and hybridization

• local people always assign their own meanings to the messages and social forms they receive from religion

Evangelical Protestantism, and Pentecostalism

• Evangelical Protestants stress conservative morality, Biblical authority, and a personal conversion experience

• many are converts to Pentecostalism, which may be the fastest-growing religion in history

  • several factors may explain its rapid spread

    • community and personal support

    • values of self-discipline, hard work, and thrift

    • belief in magic and ritual for material success

Pentecostalism’s spread illustrates contemporary cultural globalization

• core doctrines, across nations and cultures, retain their basic shape

• global and local features appear with equal intensity

• active evangelizing is an important features

antimodernism

rejective the modern in favor of what is perceived as an earlier, purer, and better way of life

• fundamentalism: advocating strict fidelity to a religion’s presumed founding principles

  • asserts an identity separate from that of the larger religious group

  • seeks to rescue religion from absorption into the modern