Transcript Nanda 3e PPTs Chapter 11

Chapter 11
Religion
PowerPoint Outline
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The major world religions
Difference between cult and religion
Cargo cults
Defining religion
Some functions of religion
Characteristics of religion
Religion and change
Bringing it Back Home: Religion, Art, and
Censorship
Animism
• Belief that all living and non-living things in
nature have a spirit.
• Belief system of many early civilizations.
• Was often combined with ancestor worship.
• Dates back to early humans
Animism
• World religions contain elements of animism
• Anyone with belief in spirituality but not
organized religion
• Animism explains natural things and events
• Characteristics of animistic societies:
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Holy men and women
Dances, trances, visions
Sacred items and places
Animism exists in traditional African, Asian,
American and Aboriginal cultures.
Hinduism
Hinduism
• Founder: No single founder.
• Originated from the mixing of Harappan
and Aryan cultures in ancient India
around 2000-1500 BCE.
• Hindus believe in one unifying spirit,
Brahman.
• Brahman can manifest in many,
polytheistic, forms or in one,
monotheistic, form.
The Four Aims of Hindu Life
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Dharma- Duty
Artha- Wealth
Kama- Pleasure
Moksha- Liberation from Samsara
Other Concepts in Hinduism
Samsara- Cycle of birth and death
Karma is the sum of all your
deeds, good and bad.
Good deeds involve following
your dharma dependent on
your position, gender
and occupation.
The caste system (outlawed since 1948) is an important
part of Hinduism. Castes are social classes into which
a person is born and lives their entire life. If a person
has a good karma they may be reincarnated into a
higher caste.
This life
Next life
Good Karma
Higher caste
Bad Karma
Lower caste
Born into
A caste
Sacred Texts
• Over the centuries Hindu beliefs were
recorded into a number of sacred texts
including the Vedas and the Upanishads.
• Mahabharata (Gita) and Ramayana
Buddhism
Founder
• Siddhartha Gautama in northern India.
• Around 560 BCE.
• Gautama was born into a wealthy Hindu family,
but renounced his wealth to seek spiritual
enlightenment.
~Buddhism spread
through cultural
diffusion to
eastern Asia,
including China,
Thailand, Korea
and Japan.
~In other areas,
Buddhism was
adapted and took
on new forms.
The Four Noble Truths.
1. All life is
suffering.
2. Suffering is
caused by desire for
things that are
illusions.
3. The way to
eliminate suffering
is to eliminate
desire.
4. Following the
Eightfold path will
help people to
overcome desire.
Buddhism and Hinduism
• Buddhism like Hinduism:
• Reincarnation
• Karma
• Dharma
• But not
• Caste system
• Hindu gods
• Hindu priesthood
Sacred Texts
Buddha did not record his teachings, but after he
died, his followers collected them into the
Tripitaka.
Judaism
Origin
• Judaism originated in the Middle East around 20001000 BCE.
• God chose the Hebrews and helped them to escape
slavery in Egypt.
• Judaism was one of the first monotheistic religions.
• Abraham
• Isaac
• Jacob
Basic Beliefs
God gave Hebrews the 10 Commandments
through Moses.
Sacred Texts:
Torah, Talmud,
Midrash
• God made a covenant, promise, with
Abraham to be the god of the
Hebrews.
• Judaism influenced development of
Christianity and Islam
• Abrahamic
Christianity
Origin
• Christianity originated from Judaism
about 30 CE.
• Christians believe that Jesus was a
Messiah, or savior.
• Jesus is the son of God.
• Sent by God to bring eternal life to
anyone who would follow him.
• Jesus accepted the Ten
Commandments.
Sacred Text
• The sacred text of Christianity is
the Bible.
• Monotheistic religion
• 392 CE - Christianity becomes the
official religion of the Roman
Empire.
Islam
Origin
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622 C.E.
Middle East
Muhammad or Mohammad
Born in Mecca and traveled to Medina
Hijra – Hijri calendar
The Haj or Hajj
Holy Book
• Muslim worshippers follow scriptures
called the Quran, or Koran.
• The Quran was revealed to
Mohammad by the angel Gabriel.
• The collection of Islamic laws is also
known as the Sharia.
Five Pillars of Islam
1. Faith in one God, Allah—monotheism
2. Five times daily prayer toward Mecca
3. Help for the poor
4. Fasting during the holy month of
Ramadan
5. Pilgrimage to holy city of Mecca
Spread of Islam--In the 150 years following the death
of Muhammad, Islam spread through trade, missionaries
and conquest into Asia and Africa.
Questions to consider
1. What do all these belief systems have in
common?
2. Which three originated in the Middle East?
3. Which two originated in India?
4. Which religion gave rise to the caste system?
5. How do religions spread?
6. What is the similarity between the Five Pillars
of Islam, the eight fold path in Buddhism and
the Ten Commandments?
7. How are Hinduism and Buddhism alike and
different?
Difference between cult and religion
“A religion is an old cult.
A cult is a new
religious movement.”
New Religious Movements
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“Cults” in the United States
Scientology
People’s Temple
Heaven’s Gate
Branch Davidian’s
Manson Family
John Frum
Cargo Cult
in Melanesia
Cargo Cults
Cargo cults often began with a prophet
who announced that the world would end
in catastrophe, after which God would
appear and bring a paradise on earth.
31.50% Christian
22.74% Muslim
13.8% Hindu
6.77% Buddhist
0.35% Sikh
0.22% Jewish
0.11% Baha'i
10.95% Other
9.66% Non-religious
2.01% Atheist
Questions
• What is religion?
• What tools do anthropologists use to
understand how religion works?
• In what ways is religion both a system
of power and system of meaning?
• How is globalization changing religion?
Religion
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A social process that helps to order society
and provide its members
with meaning, unity, peace of mind,
and the degree of control over events they
believe is possible
Characteristics of Religion
• Sacred stories that members believe are
important
• Extensive use of symbols and symbolism
• The existence of beings, powers, states,
places, and qualities that can not be
measured scientifically
• Include rituals and specific means of
addressing the supernatural
Collaboration Activity
• Pick a religion you/your partner know
something about.
• What are some sacred stories in that religion?
• What symbol/s are used to represent that
religion?
• What are some beings/places in that religion
which are supernatural and which cannot be
measured scientifically?
• What are some ways in which people in this
religion talk to or communicate with the
supernatural?
Sacred Narratives
• Stories of historical events,
heroes, gods, spirits, and the
origin of all things.
Sacred Narratives
• Have a sacred power that is evoked by
telling them or acting them out ritually
• Validate or legitimize beliefs, values, and
customs
Religious Symbols
• Religious symbols include many
different and sometimes contradictory
meanings in a single word, idea, or
object.
• Example: The Christian cross
God (Deity)
Term used for a
named spirit believed
to have created or to
control some aspect
of the world.
God (Deity)
• High gods, gods understood as
the creator of the world, are
present in only about half of all
societies.
• In about 1/3 of these societies,
such gods are distant and
withdrawn, having little interest in
people.
Polytheism
• The belief in many gods
• In Hinduism, there are millions of gods;
yet some Hindus understand that in
some way they are all aspects of one
divine essence.
Monotheism
• Belief in a single god
• In monotheistic religions, one god
may have several aspects.
– In Roman Catholicism: God the
Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit are all part of a single,
unitary god.
Mana
• Mana is religious power or energy
that is concentrated in individuals
or objects.
• Mana gives one spiritual power,
but it can also be dangerous.
Ritual
• Act involving the manipulation of
religious symbols
• Certain patterns of religious
behavior are extremely
widespread, if not universal.
Addressing the
Supernatural
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Prayer
Sacrifice
Magic
Divination
Prayer
• Communication between people
and spirits or gods
• People believe results depend on
the spirit world rather than on
actions humans perform.
• Prayer may involve a request, a
pleading, or merely praise for the
deity.
Sacrifice
• People try to increase their spiritual
purity or the efficacy of their prayers by
making offerings to gods or spirits.
• People may sacrifice the first fruits of a
harvest, animal lives, or — on occasion
— human lives.
• Example: Lent
Magic
• An attempt to mechanistically
control supernatural forces
• When people do magic, they
believe that their words and
actions compel the spirit world to
behave in certain ways.
Magic
• In imitative magic, the procedure
performed resembles the result
desired.
• Example: Voodoo doll
• Contagious magic is the belief that
things once in contact with a person or
object retain an invisible connection
with that person or object.
• Example: A person’s hair or
clothing added to a voodoo doll to
make it more effective
Divination
• A religious ritual performed to find
hidden objects or information
Religious
Practitioners
• Shamans
• Priests
• Witches and sorcerers
Shaman
• Recognized as having the ability to
mediate between the world of humanity
and the world of gods or spirits
• Not a recognized official of any
religious organization
Priest
• One who is formally elected or
appointed to a full-time religious
office
Witchcraft
• The ability to harm others by harboring
malevolent thoughts about them; the practice of
sorcery
• May be done unconsciously
• Wiccan: A member of a new religion that claims
descent from pre-Christian nature worship;
a modern day witch
Sorcery
• The conscious and intentional use
of magic with the intent of causing
harm or good
In Class Activity
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Research the religion
Where did the religion originate?
What is its origin story?
Who is the founder?
Who is/are the God/Gods/Deities?
What are some major rituals?
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Tools to understand religion
Theories influenced by 19th and 20th
century philosophers.
Emile Durkheim
Karl Marx
Max Weber
Emile Durkheim
-French Sociologist
-Sacred (holy) and Profane (unholy)
-Saw religion as social
-Through collective action (rituals) members clarify and
define what is sacred and profane.
Anomie: Alienation experienced when
faced with physical dislocation and
disruption of social networks.
-Religion, especially ritual, is the glue that
holds society together.
Emile Durkheim’s Influence
• Rituals, repeated, create continuity and
belonging
• Rites of passage: Arnold Van Gennep
• Religious rites of passage
– Life transition rituals
– Mark moments of intense change
• Three stages in rites of passage- Victor Turner
– Separation
– Liminality
– Reincorporation
Rites of passage- Communitas
Communitas
• A sense of camaraderie
• A common vision of what is a good life
• Commitment to take social action to move
toward this vision of a good life
Karl Marx
“Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature,
the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless
conditions. It is the opium of the people”- Marx.
-“Highly critical” of
religion
-During upheaval and
stratification, religion
dulls pain
-People don’t realize
seriousness of situation
-Keeps poor from
engaging in social
change
Karl Marx’s Influence
• Connection between religion and power
• Religion and cultural materialism
– Material conditions of a society shape the culture
– Marvin Harris
– why do Hindus venerate cows
– Why do Jews and Muslims abstain from eating pork
– Why do people believe in witches
Max Weber
• The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
• Considered religious ideas key to understanding
societies worldwide
– Why did capitalism emerge in Europe and not
elsewhere?
– Asian religions- beliefs and ethical systems stand in
the way of capitalism
– Western European Protestantism- expressed religious
beliefs and values in daily life
• Thrift
• Discipline
• Hard Work
Weber’s Influence
• “Evolution” of religion
– religion based on magic and shamans
– religion based on persuasive power of prophets
such as Jesus, Moses, Buddha
– religion based on legal codes of conduct,
bureaucracy, and formally trained religious
leaders
– Warned of increase in secularism->decline in
capitalistic spirit
Cosmology
• A system of beliefs that deals with
fundamental questions in the
religious and social order
The Search for Order and
Meaning
• Religions provide a cosmology for
interpreting events and
experiences.
• This may include the creation of the
universe, the origin of society, the
relationship of individuals and
groups to one another, and the
relationship of humankind to nature.
The Social Order
• Through religion, dominant cultural beliefs
about good and evil are reinforced.
• Sacred stories and rituals provide a
rationale for social order.
• Religious ritual intensifies social solidarity.
Religion and Change
• To begin a new religion or modify
an existing religion, prophets must
have a code with three elements:
– Identify what is wrong with the world.
– Present a vision of what a better
world to come might look like.
– Describe a method of transition from
the existing world to the better world.
Religious Movements
• Nativistic movements aim to restore
what its followers believe is a golden
age of the past.
• Vitalism is a religious movement that
looks toward the creation of a
utopian future that does not
resemble a past golden age.
Cults
• Oxford English Dictionary
• A particular form or system of religious worship or
veneration, esp. as expressed in ceremony or ritual
directed towards a specified figure.
• A relatively small group of people having (esp.
religious) beliefs or practices regarded by others as
strange or sinister, or as exercising excessive control
over members.
Cults
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There are over 4,000 cults in the US, with approximately 4
million members. They fall into 4 basic types:
RELIGIOUS: cults that use a belief system as their base
COMMERCIAL: promise you that if you join them and follow
their special program for success then you will become very
rich (aka the "Pyramid Scheme")
SELF-HELP: Offer expensive "enlightenment" seminars,
people manipulated into spending more for "advancement"
POLITICAL: Organized around a political dogma, like rebel
extremists
In Class Activity
• Research the cult you have been
assigned
• Who is its founder?
• What is the main story/message of
the cult?
• What are some of the characteristics
of the cult?
Religious Views
• Messianic
– This view focuses on the coming of a
messiah who will usher in a utopian
world.
• Millenarian
– The belief that a catastrophe will
signal the beginning of a new age
and the eventual establishment of
paradise.
Syncretism
• Merging two or more religious traditions and
hiding the beliefs, symbols, and practices of
one behind similar attributes of the other.
– Example: Santeria
• Slaves in Cuba combined African
religion, Catholicism, and French
spiritualism to create a new religion.
• They identified African deities (called
orichas) with Catholic saints.
Bringing it Back Home:
Religion, Art and
Censorship
• A painting by African artist, Chris
Ofili, depicts a Black Madonna in a
flowing robe, dabbed with a clump
of elephant dung and surrounded
with images of women’s buttocks
and genitals clipped from
pornographic magazines.
Bringing it Back Home:
Religion, Art and Censorship
• A collage by artist Alma Lopez of the
Virgin of Guadalupe clad in a floral
garment resembling a bikini was
included in the CyberArte exhibition at
the Museum of International Folk Art in
Santa Fe.
• Singer Madonna staged a mock
crucifixion, standing on a mirrored
cross wearing a crown of thorns, as
part of her concert in Rome in 2000.
Bringing it Back Home:
Religion, Art and Censorship
You decide:
• Do you find this kind of art
offensive?
– Have you ever seen a representation
of your religion that you found
offensive?
– What, if anything, did you do about
it, and why?
Bringing it Back Home:
Religion, Art and Censorship
You decide:
• Who should decide if the public
representation of a religion is
offensive?
– If the majority in a community find a
religious representation offensive,
should it be censored?
Bringing it Back Home:
Religion, Art and Censorship
You decide:
• Is it relevant that all the artists
mentioned are Catholic?
– What do you think might be the
intent of the artists in their various
representations of their religion?
Quick Quiz
1. Religions provide a ________, a set of
principles or beliefs about the nature of life
and death, the creation of the universe, the
origin of society, the relationship of
individuals and groups to one another, and
the relation of humankind to nature.
a) ritual practice
b) set of rules
c) cosmology
d) written sacred text
Answer : c
• Religions provide a cosmology,
a set of principles or beliefs about
the nature of life and death, the
creation of the universe, the
origin of society, the relationship
of individuals and groups to one
another, and the relation of
humankind to nature.
2. The liminal stage of ritual is generally a
temporary state that may be characterized
by all EXCEPT which of the following?
a) Temporary state of equality amongst
those of other castes, classes or
kinship groups
b) Women and men acting in nonconventional manner
c) Behaviors that reflect and reinforce the
status quo
Answer: c
• The liminal stage of ritual is
generally a temporary state that
is not characterized by
behaviors that reflect and
reinforce the status quo.
3. Trying to develop a definition of “religion” is
complicated by all EXCEPT which of the
following factors?
a) The distinction between “natural” and
“supernatural” varies across societies.
b) Ideas on the nature of life vary whether
we live once or repeatedly.
c) All peoples have beliefs and/or engage in
processes that provide meaning to their
lives and the world.
Answer: c
• Trying to develop a definition of
“religion” is not complicated by the
following factor:
– All peoples have beliefs and/or
engage in processes that provide
meaning to their lives and the world.
4. Examples of contagious magic are
illustrated by all EXCEPT which of the
following?
a) The practice of the Asaro of New
Guinea in burying the newborn’s
umbilical cord
b) The reading of a chicken’s entrails in
seeking a cause of illness
c) A sorcerer’s obtaining a fingernail
clipping of someone he or she wishes
to harm
Answer: b
• The reading of a chicken's
entrails in seeking a cause of
illness is not an example of
contagious magic.
Creating Your Religion- Part I
1) describe the founder
2) describe the founder’s “origin
story” (how and why they found a
religious vocation)
3) describe their early followers, and
4) describe “sacrifice and stigma”
mandated by the prophet in keeping
with his or her religious visions
Sacrifice and Stigma
• Your founder must require something from his/her
followers that most people would be reluctant to do. For
example- give away material possessions, associate
with disreputable people (i.e. prostitutes and tax
collectors), aggressively promote the religion in socially
deviant ways, follow unusual dietary requirements or
consumer habits, wear unusual clothing, pray multiple
times a day (possibly while prostrating in or some other
physical posture), or enter marriages with multiple
wives/husbands. These requirements should not be
random but should somehow fit into the larger vision of
your founder. In other words, they may seem silly from
the outside but should not seem silly from the inside.
Creating Your Religion- Part II
1) Give their movement a name
2) invent an organizational structure
3) find a way to relax the requirements of
sacrifice and stigma set down by the
founder.
If possible, this compromise had to be
done in a way that could be justified using
the logic of the religion.
Creating Your Religion- Part III
1) a new founder with a fictional history and
origin story
2) a name for the sect to distinguish it from the
church
3) at least one objection to one of the church’s
practices or social views
4) The sectarian movement should try to return
to the standards of the founder and may even
demand a stricter lifestyle than that of the
movement’s original followers.