Religion

11. Religion

Unit

Objectives

Significance

Morality, direction in life through cross cultural lens

Importance of supernatural beliefs in human communities

Gods

4 elements

Rites

Early signs of Religious Thought

Humans started burying the dead 50 000 years ago → suggests preparation for afterlife

30K years ago: Cave paintings in Chauvet cave → suggests supernatural belief + safety and

success in hunting

Venus figurines expressing ideas of fertility and motherhood → may have been magical

Ancestors try to understand life shaping forces

Defining Religion

supernatural: part of every human culture

challenging to study

Religion: participation in a distinct form of faith, such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, but not a

universally recognized idea

Some cultures do not have a word for religion, and some practices in cultures do not

have a distinct line between religious, spiritual, and other habits part of ordinary life

11. Religion 1

Anthropologists have to cultivate cultural relativism when discussing religion and

supernatural beliefs + understanding from emic perspective (insider)

Misunderstandings happen when we try to impose definitions from one culture onto

another

Sir E.B. Tylor’s The Golden Bough, dismisses many spiritual beliefs he

documented. Narrow’s the term religion as ‘belief in supernatural beings’

Durkheim: Religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, set

aside and forbidden- beliefs and practices that unite, into one single moral community called

a Church, all those who adhere to them

Emphasizes spiritual beliefs for relationships between people

Religion: the means by which human society and culture is extended to include the non-

human

Marcel Mauss definitions of magic and religion: A General Theory of Magic

Suggests religion and magic were 2 opposite ends on a spectrum

Magic: Private, secret individual

Religion: public and oriented toward bringing community together

Many anthros convinced that making a distinction is artificial between the two

Magic: practices intended to bring supernatural forces under one’s personal control

Sorcerers: individuals who seek to use magic for their own purpose

NOTE: magic and sorcery: labels historically used by outsiders (INCLUDING

ANTHROPOLOGISTS), to describe unfamiliar spiritual beliefs. Not always preferable for

representing how people think about themselves

Theories of Religion

In early 20th century: functional approach, how does religion apply to human needs?

Malinowski

Believed religious beliefs met psychological needs

Kula ring

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tradition which men build canoes and sail on long journeys between islands to

exchange ritual items

Rituals performed before this, but not during fishing trips

Concluded that longer trips were more dangerous and people have less control over

them, so religious rituals provided a way to reduce or control anxiety when

anticipating these conditions

religion “is not born out of speculation or reflection, still less out of illusion or

apprehension, but rather, out of the real tragedies of human life, out of the conflict

between human plans and realities.”

Provides shared values and behavioural norms that created solidarity between the

people

Durkheim

Religion provides shared values and behaviours, creates solidarity between people.

Creates shared definitions for sacred and profane

Sacred objects set apart from ordinary and treated with respect

Gods(s), natural phenomenon, animal, etc.

Profane objects or ideas are ordinary and can be treated with disregard or contempt

Celebrating persons or things deemed sacred through rituals → powerful ways to unite

through shared values

Collective effervescence: passion when people share the same thoughts and emotions,

can create social bonds and solidarity

Categories are always arbitrary

Examples:

Douglas’ Purity and Danger analyzes what makes things ‘dirty’ or ‘impure’

thorugh religious beliefs

Kosher dietary rules

Marx

‘Opium of the masses’

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Religion viewed as ideology and a way to justify power and status + an illusion of

happiness to help people cope with life under capitalism

Christian church helped demise and support political economic inequality for working

class for regular working people to work toward the afterlife

Reaching heaven persuaded people not to fight for better economic conditions in this

life, in order to reach comfort and happiness in the afterlife

Examples

Rulers in Egyptian and Incan societies believed to be empowered by the Gods

themselves

US practice have officials take an oath using the Bible or another holy book →

legitimizes role of religion

Freud

religion prevents us from acting upon deepest most awful desires

Oedipus ripped his eyes out once he figured out he was in a sexual relationship

with his mom

Suggested religion was to keep the worst anti-social instincts, like the Oedipal complex,

suppressed. Developed the idea of “totemic religions,” belief systems based on the

worship of a particular animal or object, and suggested that the purpose of these

religions was to regulate interactions with socially significant and potentially disruptive

objects and relationships

Harris

Geertz

Builds on Durkheim, Marx and Freud

Hindu prohibition against killing cows, which are honoured ad treated with respect due

to fertility, gentle nature, and association with some deities.

Suggests religious ideas about cows were based in economic reality, as cows are more

valuable alive for their milk and fieldwork than when they are dead and eaten as meat.

Symbolic approach: system of symbols to establish powerful, persuasive and long

lasting moods and motivations

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Religion was a way to make visible important cultural ideas

Cross, a cow, symbols can be read by anthropologists to discern cultural values

Religious beliefs: a text or performance that can be determined by outsiders

As with other perspectives, can come with some misinterpretations, as religious beliefs

combines personal and social values + feelings that cannot be recognized by outsiderse

Large gap between emic and etic makes religion one of the hardest things to study

Elements of Religion

1. Cosmology: explanation of origin or history of the world

big picture explanations of how human life was created

2. Supernatural: realm beyond direct human experience

God(s), not a requirement.

Some more abstract

3. Rules governing behaviour: define proper conduct for individuals and for society as a

whole and are oriented toward bringing the individual action into harmony with spiritual

beliefs

4. Ritual: practices, ceremonies that serve a religious purpose

supervised by specialists

May be toward supernatural, but may address needs of individuals and community,

provides rules and guidelines

Funeral rituals: designed to ensure passage of dead to afterlife

Religious Cosmologies

Cosmology can be an origin story, explanation for history, present and possible futures of the

world + origins of peoples, spirits, divinities,

Ancient Greeks

Act of creation from Chaos, first thing to exist

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Dieties representing and night were born from Chaos

Nyx (night) gave birth to Aether (light) and Hemera (day)

Hemera and nyx took turns existing, day and night

Aether and Hemera created Gaia, mother of all life

Promethius shaped humans of mud

Reflects cultural ideas, gods at the top + humans obligated to honour them

Traditional Navajo

World = 14 ‘platters’

Creation at the lowest level, spread to the top

Lower levels: insects, animal-people + bird-people

Fully formed worlds _ societies

Top level: First Man and First Woman emerged. prepared for other humans.

During a special ceremony, first human men and women formed and created those

who followed

Like Greek origin: humans have a huge debt they owe to their supernatural ancestors

Biblical Book of Genesis

Foundation of Judaism and Christianity

God responsible for creating the world, a six day process

Began with division of light ad dark, land from water, heaven from earth

5th day, God created all creatures that moved

6th day, God created the first two humans in his own image

Differs from others in describing creation as a single deity, but still shares the emphasis

of relationship between people and their creator

Cosmologies raises questions on interpretations: are these stories literal truth or are they

metaphorical and symbolic?

Cultural relativism requires anthropologists avoid making judgments whether any cultural

idea + religious beliefs is correct or true

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Try to understand multiple ways people make sense of their beliefs

Funcrion of cosmology in wider society

Belief in the Supernatural

Supernatural, spirits, divinities, forces governed by natural laws

Some entities are anthropomorphic, having human characteristics

Other are more generalized seen in phenomena like power of the wind

Abstract Forces

Supernatural force, religion is known as animatism

Mana

Oceania origin, originally may have meant powerful wind, lightning, storm

Today: more general

Aram Oroi, pastor

Compared mana to a flashlight, something powerful but unseen, click, power is

made manifest

accumulating mana was to become potent or successful

Mana has now spread beyond origin, now in the game Magic: The Gathering

A source of power in WOW

Cultural appropriation: act of copying an idea from another cultural and in the

process distort its meaning

Spirits

Line between natural and s. natural can be blury

Humans having supernatural element within their natural bodies

Christianity: soul

Hinduism: atman

Tausug: group who live in the Philippines, soul made of 4 parts

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Ghosts and spirits: deceased who remain on Earth, some well intentioned and others

malevolent

Universally, spirits of deceased: needy to make demands on the living

Many cultures try to venerate the dead. rituals to honour deceased

Ancestors can be messengers to gods and act on behalf of living to receive prayers

and requests

Displeased ancestors: wreak havoc on the living through illness and suffering

Offerings of food, gifts made to spirits

Filial piety: living continue to care for ancestors

Logical to think that non human entities have their own sparks of the divine

Animism: religion based on plants, animals, inanimate objects, natural phenomena

have own spiritual element

Tylor

Experiences + questions were basis for all religious systems

Animist religions evolved into ‘more sophisticated’ religious systems involving a God/

gods

Today, views are misguided

No belief systems are more sophisticated than others

Gods

Most poweful non human spirits

In practice, no universal definition of a god that is recognized by all people

Gods: extremely powerful + not part of nature (not human or animal_

Many gods still have personalities + qualities relatable to humans

Anthropomorphic or zoomorphic

Some, gods directly interact with humans, others do not

zoomorphic gods: imagined in animal form

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Monotheistic

One Supreme God

Christianity, Islam, Hudaism

Polytheistic

several gods

Hinduism

Pantheon of deities, with different concerns

Rules of Behaviour

Religious beliefs: element of social control

Define what is acceptable and what is misbehaviour + punishments

Theft, murder, dishonesty, jealousy are prohibited in the major religions while

emphasizig need for honour, respect.

Buddhism

Strong connection between spiritual beliefs and rules for everyday behaviour

teaching of Buddha: an ordinary human who has achieved wisdom through study +

discipline, No god(s) in some forms of Buddhism

Use techniques like meditation, to achieve goal of nirvana: release from suffering

Karma: moral force

Positive karma: kindness

Negative karma: killing an animal

Amount of positive karma determines how an individual’s life will be reborn

Reincarnation: living being can begin another life in a new body after death

Feature in Buddhism, human’s reincarnation depends on the karma they

developed during life

Being reborn in a human form is considered a good fortune, humans can

control their own thoughts and behaviours

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Rituals and Religious Practitioners

Rituals: most easily observed elements of any religious belief system.

Victor Turner

Ritual: a stereotyped sequence of activities… performed in a sequestered place, and

designed to influence pre-natural entities or forces on behalf of the actors’ goals and

interests.”

Have concrete purpose

Wedding ritual

Religiously sanctioned union

Symbolic

White colour in wedding dress: symbolizes purity

Rites of Passage

Ceremony designed to transition individuals between life stages

Arnold Van Gennep

In his description, notes that the rituals were carried out in stages:

Separation

individual removed from current social idenrirt and prepare to enter next stage

Liminality

Individuals often undergo tests, trials, or activities designed to prepare them for

their new social roles

Incorporation

Individuals return to community with new status

Transitions from children into adults: common around the world

Xhosa communities in South Africa

Teen boys transitioned using series of acts which moved them through 3 ritual

stages

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Separation stage: boys leave home and circumcised, cannot show distress or pain

Liminal phase: Live in isolation while they heal, only talk to boys who are also

undergoing rites of passage. Most stressful time → builds bonds between boys.

follow them into adulthood

When leaving: living quarters are burned to the ground, symbolizes loss of

childhood

Incorporation stage: recognized as men, allowed to learn secret stories of the

community

Rites of Intensification

Actions designed to bring community together, usually happens after period of crisis

Used to bind members together, created a sense of communitas/ unity, encouraged to see

themselves as members of a community

Nagol land diving ceremony

Each spring, island of Pentecost, Vanatau, South Pacific

Goals: help ensure good harvest by impressing spirits with bravery

Men construct wooden towers 60-80 ft high

Ropes tied to ankles, and men jump head first toward the ground

Involves almost every member: men spend month building the tower and collecting

vines + women prepare costumes and dances

Everyone takes care of land divers who may be injured during the dive

Ritual is both rites of passage and a powerful rite of intensification

Boys recognized as men by jumping witnessed by elders

Rites of Revitalization

Also often follow periods of crisis in a community, ambitious attempts to resolve serious

problems like war, famine, poverty, through spiritual+ supernatural intervention

ORIGINATE in difficult + catastrophic circumstances

Tanna, South Pacific

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WW2, islands including Tanna used by US military as temporary bases.

Formerly isolated, experienced rapid transformation after military introduced modern

conveniences

Islanders developed variety of theories about the reason for changres

One explanation: foreign materials given to islanders by a powerful deity or

ancestral spirit, who acquired the name John Frum

Name based on a common name islanders would have encountered during the

operation of the base

War ended → residents experienced trauma as goods disappeared. John Frum ritual

began

Every year on February 25, some residents construct copies of airplanes, runways or

towers, march in military formation with rifle replicas and American blue jeans

Intended to attract John Frum back to island

No transformative effect yet, but the participants keep the ritual going.

One village elder explained: ‘You Christians have been waiting 2 000 years for Jesus to

return to Earth, and you haven’t given up hope.’

Cargo cult: term used to describe ritual that seek to attract material prosperity

Term is not preferred by anthropologists because it oversimplifies complex

motivations + ‘cult’ has negative and dangerous connotations. Distorts

understanding of the practice

Religious Practitioners

specialist practitioners responsible for supervising rituals

Often have high social status, treated with great respect

May be wealthy by charging for services, may be impoverished sometimes deliberately

to reject the material world

no universal term. 3 categories

Priests

any gender, full time religious practitioners

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substantial occupational specialization

intermediaries between God(s) and humans

Christian traditions

common for priests to complete a program of formal higher education

Hindu priests (punjari)

must learn sacred language Sanskrit and spend years becoming proficient in Hindu

ceremonies

Strict lifestyle, but changing

people from other castes and women are now joining priesthood

Societies that have full time spiritual practitioners: separation between ordinary

believers and God(s), so priests have authority to set rules associated with worship and

religious rites

Prophets

Person who claims to have direct communication with supernatural realm and can

communicate divine messages to others

Many religious communities originate with prophecies

Islam, prophet Muhammad by God

Christianity and Judaism, Moses: received revelations from God

Difference between priest and prophet

source of authority

Priest gains authority from scripture, formally organized religious institutions

Prophets derive authority from connection to divine and ability to convince

others of their legitimacy through charisma. Can be extremely compelling

David Koresh

Leader of Branch Davidians, extremely charismatic: handsome and good at

speaking. Offered refuge for people in need, while doing so preached about an

incoming apocalypse

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they were milenarians, people who believed major transformations of the world are

coming soon

Influence was strong, gunfire between US govt and the Davidians happened during

a search for illegal weapons. Fire erupted → 86 people (Koresh included) were

killed

‘fulfilled’ apocaluptic vision from Koresh → became a martyr. Davidians evolved

into a new group

Shaman

Part time religious practitioner

carry out rituals when needed, but participate in normal work as well

depends on direct communication with spirits, gods, supernatural realm

Ability to transcend normal reality to communicate with + sometimes manipulate

supernatural forces in an alternate world

Can be learned or inherited

Gives shaman ability to do things like locate lost people/ animals, heal sick by

identifying spiritual cause of illness

Chukchi

shaman role thought to be special calling, people with ‘abnormal’ personality traits

in the context of the community

Young people suffer from anxiety, moodiness, nervousness

Shamanism may be culturally accepted way to deal with conditions like

schizophrenia

Entering altered state. can be achieved through dreams hallucinogenic drugs,

rhythm music, exhaustion through dance, makes it possible for shaman to directly

engage w/ supernatural realm

Shamans of Upper Amazon, South America, use drink made from plants with

hallucinogenic effects

this substance among Shipibo people is thought to allow soul of shaman to

leave body to retrieve a soul that has been lost/ stolen

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Soul loss has been a predominant explanation of illness

Conclusion

Religion: most cultures and the people’s lices revolve around it, but more and more people

state having no religious affiliation

highly dynamic, constantly changing

No single set of theories or vocabulary can completely capture richness of religious diversity

today

Anthropology provides a way of understanding emotional, social and spiritual contributions

that religion makes to humans

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