Religion Midterm

Habitus

Habits, behaviors, beliefs, and ways of thinking people acquire through their upbringing and social environment. Explains how religious practices and beliefs become second nature through family, community, and cultural traditions.

Colonialism

When one country or people establishes control over another territory and its population, often exploiting its resources and imposing its political or cultural values.

Post-Colonialism

The study of the cultural, political, and social effects of colonialism, both during colonial rule and after independence. How colonized peoples preserve, adapt, or reclaim their religious identities in response to colonial influence.

Syncretism

The blending of elements from two or more religious traditions into a combined religious practice or belief system.

Hybridity

The creation of new cultural or religious identities through the interaction of different traditions. Emphasizes how traditions mix and change, particularly under colonialism, migration, and globalization.

Social Identity Theory

Explains how people define themselves through membership in social groups. In religion, identifying as Hindu, Muslim, Christian, or Jewish can create a sense of belonging while also shaping how people perceive members of other groups.

Tribalization

The process by which people increasingly identify with a particular tribe, ethnic community, or perceived ancestral group, sometimes strengthening boundaries between communities.

Stereotyping

Assigning generalized characteristics to all members of a group, regardless of individual differences.

In-Grouping

The process of identifying with and feeling loyalty toward a group to which one belongs.

Out-Grouping

The process of distinguishing people who belong to other groups from one's own group, sometimes treating them as outsiders.

Nationalism

The belief that a nation, understood as a community with a shared identity, history, or culture, should have political unity, self-determination, or sovereignty.

Religious Nationalism

A form of nationalism that connects national identity and political legitimacy to a particular religion. May seek to make religious traditions central to national institutions or laws.

Patriotism

Love, loyalty, or devotion to one's country.

Zionism

A Jewish national movement supporting the Jewish people's right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland, historically centered on the land of Israel.

Islamism

A broad term for political movements that argue Islam should play a central role in government, law, or public life.

Hindutva

A political ideology of Hindu nationalism that defines Indian national identity primarily through Hindu civilization and culture. Associated especially with modern Hindu nationalist movements.

Mūrti

A sacred image, statue, or representation of a deity in Hinduism. It can serve as a focal point through which devotees encounter and honor the divine.

Pūjā

A ritual act of worship or offering performed to honor a deity. May involve offerings of food, flowers, incense, light, prayers, and other expressions of devotion.

Darśana

Literally associated with “seeing” or “vision,” this term often refers to the sacred encounter between a worshipper and a deity, frequently through viewing the deity's mūrti. The concept emphasizes that worship involves not only seeing the divine but also being seen by it.

Dhikr

In Islam, the remembrance of God through prayer, recitation, or repetition of God's names.

Surah

A chapter of the Qur'an, the central scripture of Islam. The Qur'an contains 114 surahs, which vary in length and address topics including God's nature, moral conduct, prophets, worship, and the afterlife.

Sunnah

The example of the Prophet Muhammad's words, actions, and customary practices, which Muslims look to for religious and ethical guidance.

Hadith

A report describing something the Prophet Muhammad said, did, approved of, or was observed doing.

The Five Pillars of Islam

• Shahāda: Profession of faith that there is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God.

• Ṣalāt: Performing the five daily prayers.

• Zakāt: Giving obligatory alms to eligible recipients.

• Ṣawm: Fasting during the month of Ramadan.

• Ḥajj: Making the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in one's lifetime if physically and financially able.

Orientalism

Referring to ways Western scholars, writers, and institutions have represented Eastern societies as exotic, irrational, backward, or fundamentally different from the West. Helps explain how representations of Islam, Hinduism, and other traditions have sometimes reinforced colonial power and stereotypes.

Subaltern

Describes marginalized groups whose voices and perspectives are excluded from dominant systems of power. In religious studies, it can help scholars examine how colonized peoples, lower-caste communities, and other marginalized groups experience religion and challenge dominant interpretations of their traditions.

Saṃsāra

The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth found in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and other Indian religious traditions. Liberation is a major spiritual goal.

Anātman

A Buddhist teaching commonly translated as “non-self,” which holds that there is no permanent, independent, unchanging self or soul.

Duḥkha

A central Buddhist concept often translated as suffering, dissatisfaction, or unsatisfactoriness. It describes the instability and incompleteness of ordinary existence, including the suffering caused by change, attachment, and the mistaken expectation that impermanent things can provide lasting satisfaction.

Ahiṃsā

The principle of nonviolence or non-harming toward living beings, important in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It can involve avoiding physical violence as well as cultivating compassion and reducing harm through one's words and actions.

Quote 1: Jain Nuns

Theme: Renunciation of material life and achievement of spiritual liberation

Key Concept: Detachment from possessions and worldly status

Quote 2: Theyyam

Theme: Caste in religion

Key Concept: Rituals temporarily reverse social hierarchy / caste

Quote 3: Devadasis

Theme: Gender throughout history

Key Concept: Religious institutional change over time; sexual exploitation

Quote 4: Phad

Theme: Sacred objects and divine presence

Key Concept: Art becomes a mobile temple through religious belief and ritual presence

Quote 5: Qalander Dervishes

Theme: Mysticism and belonging

Key Concept: Religious practice can challenge conventional rules and gender expectations

Quote 6: Tibetan Monks

Theme: Religion and violence / contradiction

Key Concept: Believers may face challenges reconciling their religious goals and actions that they believe are obligatory, but conflicting