Chapter 14
Religion
Chapter Outline

What Religion Does in Society
 Characteristics of Religion
Religion

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.
A Human Universal

Religion dates back to the beginnings of the
human species.
 No religion is more evolved than another.
 E. B. Tylor,one of the founders of
anthropology, saw religion as beginning with
animism, animism, the notion that all objects,
living and non-living are imbued with spirits.
Question

Trying to develop a definition of "religion" is
complicated by all except which one of the following
factors?
a) a distinction between "natural" and "supernatural"
varies across societies
b) ideas on the nature of life itself vary, for example,
whether we live once or repeatedly
c) noting that all peoples have beliefs and/or
engage in processes that provide meaning to
their lives and the world
d) significant variation in the ways in which humans
are engaged in what might be considered religion
Answer: c

Trying to develop a definition of "religion" is
not complicated by the following factor:
– noting that all peoples have beliefs and/or
engage in processes that provide meaning
to their lives and the world.
Functions of Religion in Society
Explains aspects of the physical and social
environment.
2. Helps people understand the world.
3. Preserves the social order.
4. Includes practices aimed at ensuring
success.
1.
Cosmology

A system of beliefs that deals with
fundamental questions in the religious and
social order.
Natural (secular or profane) and
the Supernatural
Religion Preserves Social Order

Sacred stories and rituals provide a rationale
for the present social order.
 Ritual creates an atmosphere in which people
experience their common identity in
emotionally moving ways.
 Religion is an important educational
institution.
Sacred Narratives

Stories of historical events, heroes, gods,
spirits, and the origin of all things.
 Have a sacred power that is evoked by telling
them or acting them out ritually.
 Validate or legitimize beliefs, values, and
customs.
Ritual

Act involving the manipulation of religious
symbols.
 Certain patterns of religious behavior are
extremely widespread, if not universal.
Religious Symbols

Religious symbols are multivalent, they include many
different and sometimes contradictory meanings into
a single word, idea, or object.
– The Christian cross.
• The cross means life, death, love, sacrifice,
identity, history, power, weakness, wealth,
poverty, and much more besides.
• Because it carries so many meanings, it has
enormous emotional and intellectual power for
Christians.
Religious Spirits


Most religions populate the world with nonempirical
beings or spirits.
Types of spirits:
– Anthropomorphic - Having human shape.
– Zoomorphic - Having an animal shape.
– Naturalistic - Associated with the natural world.
– Anthropopsychic - Having thought processes
and emotions similar to humans.
God

A named spirit who is believed to have
created or to control some aspect of the
world.
 Gods understood as the creator of the world
and as the ultimate power in it 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, and prayer to them is unnecessary.
God



Religions may be polytheistic (many gods) or
monotheistic (one god).
Polytheistic religions - many gods may be different
aspects of one god.
– In India, there are millions of gods; yet all Indians
understand that in some way they are all aspects
of one divine essence.
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.
The Trickster Spirit

Trickster spirits come in many guises, but
their key characteristic is that they are
interested in their own benefit, not that of
human beings.
 Some tricksters, such as the Christian Devil,
are personifications of evil.
 They often combine attributes
such as greed, lust, and envy with humor and
wisdom.
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.
 Belief in mana is often associated with an
elaborate system of taboos, or prohibitions.
Addressing the Supernatural

Prayer
 Sacrifice
 Magic
 Divination
Rite of Passage
Three phases:
 Separation - individuals are removed from
their community or status.
 Liminal - stage when one has passed out of
an old status but not yet entered a new one.
 Reincorporation - participants are returned to
their community with a new status.
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.
Rites of Intensification

Rituals directed toward the welfare of the
group or community rather than the
individual.
 Structured to reinforce the values and norms
of the community and to strengthen group
identity.
 In some groups, they are connected with
totems.
Totems


An object, an animal species, or a feature of the
natural world that is associated with a particular
descent group.
Totemism is a prominent feature of the religions of
the Australian aborigines.
Sacrifice



When people make offerings to gods or spirits to
increase their spiritual purity or the efficacy of their
prayers.
People may sacrifice the first fruits of a harvest,
animal lives or, on occasion, human lives.
Many Americans are familiar with the practice of
giving up something for the Christian holiday of Lent,
a form of sacrifice intended to help the worshipper
identify with Jesus, show devotion, and increase
purity.
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.
Natural (secular or profane) and
the Supernatural
Magic

Two of the most common magical practices
are imitation and contagion.
– In imitative magic, the procedure
performed resembles the result desired.
(voudou 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.
Question

In terms of the importance placed upon
carrying out the ceremony properly, Vodou
and Christian baptism may both be
considered forms of
a) contagious magic.
b) sacrifice.
c) worship.
d) divination.
e) imitative magic.
Answer: e

In terms of the importance placed upon
carrying out the ceremony properly, Voudou
and Christian baptism may both be
considered forms of imitative magic.
Question

Examples of contagious magic are illustrated by all
except which one 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) high value placed upon a document inscribed
with the signature of a famous person
d) attaching a strand of hair to a Voudou doll
e) a sorcerer's obtaining a fingernail clipping of
someone he or she wishes to harm
Answer: b

Examples of contagious magic are not
illustrated by the reading of a chicken's
entrails in seeking a cause of illness.
Divination

A religious ritual performed to find hidden
objects or information.
 Scalpulomancy - Divination using the
shoulder blade of an animal.
Shaman

Individual who is recognized as having the
ability to mediate between the world of
humanity and the world of gods or spirits but
who is not a recognized official of any
religious organization.
Vision Quest


Individual, emotionally intense search
for a spirit that will provide protection,
knowledge, and power.
Although the vision quest was an
intensely individual experience, it was
shaped by culture.
Pharmacopeia

A collection of preparations used as
medications.
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.
 Wiccan - A member of a new religion that
claims descent from pre-Christian nature
worship; a modern day witch.
Religions and Change

To begin a new religion or create a substantial
modification in an existing religion, prophets must
have a code that consists of at least three elements:
1. They must identify what is wrong with the world.
2. Present a vision of what a better world to come
might look like.
3. 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.
– Example: The Ghost Dance
 Vitalism is a religious movement that looks
toward the creation of a utopian future that
does not resemble a past golden age.
Religious Views

Messianic
– Focusing on the coming of a messiah who
will usher in a utopian world.
 Millenarian
– The belief that a coming 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:
– Slaves resisted attempts to suppress African
religions by combining African religion,
Catholicism, and French spiritualism to create a
new religion, Santeria.
– They identified African deities, called orichas, with
Catholic saints and used them for curing, casting
spells, and influencing other aspects of the
worshiper’s life.
Native American Church

A religious revitalization movement among
Native Americans, also known as the Peyote
religion.
 Peyote
– A small hallucinogenic cactus found in
southern Texas and northern Mexico.
 Ghost Dance
– A Native American religious movement of
the late nineteenth century.
Quick Quiz
1. The authors of the text provide a definition of
religion as a ________ that helps to order
society and provide its members with
meaning, unity, peace of mind, and the
degree of control over events they believe
are possible.
a) cultural process
b) Universal
c) rite of passage
d) social process
e) social ritual
Answer: d

The authors of the text provide a definition of
religion as 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
are possible.
2. Religions provide a(n) ________, which is
defined as 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
e) document
Answer : c

Religions provide a cosmology which is
defined as 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.
3. The liminal stage of ritual is generally a
temporary state that may be characterized
by all except which one of the following?
a) role reversals
b) ritual transvestitism
c) temporary state of equality amongst
those of other castes, classes or
kinship groups
d) women and men acting in nonconventional manner
e) behaviors that reflect and reinforce the
status quo
Answer: e

The liminal stage of ritual is generally a
temporary state that is not characterized by
behaviors that reflect and reinforce the
status quo.