Chapter 14, Supernatural Beliefs
Chapter Outline
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Defining Religion
Myths
Functions of Religion
Types of Religious Organization
Globalization of World Religions
Religion and Social Change
Defining Religion
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A set of beliefs in supernatural forces directed
at helping people make sense of the world and
solve problems.
All forms of religion are founded on a belief in
the supernatural.
Religion in Societies
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All societies have:
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religious rituals that appease supernatural forces
sets of beliefs concerning what we would call the
soul
notions about life after death.
Origins of Religion
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Tools, weapons, and artifacts found in
Neanderthal graves led anthropologists to
conclude that they believed in an afterlife.
Paleolithic art includes religious symbols that
may have appeared as early as 200,000 to
300,000 years ago.
Religion and Magic
Similarities:
 Both are systems of supernatural belief and
cannot be empirically demonstrated.
 Both must be accepted as a matter of faith.
 Both are practiced as a way of coping with the
anxieties, ambiguities, and frustrations of
everyday life.
Religion and Magic
Differences:
 Religion deals with the major issues of human
existence: the meaning of life, death, and one’s
spiritual relationship with deities.
 Magic is directed toward specific immediate
problems: curing an illness, bringing rain, or
ensuring safety on a long journey.
Religion and Magic
Differences:
 Religion uses prayer and sacrifices to appeal
to supernatural powers for assistance.
 Magic attempts to manipulate nature or other
people by their own efforts.
 Religion tends to be a group activity; magic is
more individually oriented.
Religion and Magic
Differences:
 Religion is practiced at a specified time, magic is
practiced in response to specific and immediate
problems.
 Religion usually involves officially recognized
functionaries such as priests.
 Magic may be performed by practitioners who may not
be recognized as having supernatural powers.
Myths
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Sacred literature that states certain religious
truths.
Include stories of the gods, their origins, their
activities, and the moral injunctions they teach.
A culture’s mythology is closely connected to
its moral and social order.
Social Functions of Religion
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Social control
Conflict resolution
Intensifying group solidarity
Psychological Functions of
Religion
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Cognitive
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provides an intellectual framework for explaining
parts of our world that we do not understand.
Emotional
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helps reduce anxiety by prescribing straightforward
ways of coping with stress.
Classifying Religions:
Anthony Wallace
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Based on level of specialization of the religious
personnel who conduct rituals and ceremonies.
Cult refers to forms of religion that have their
own beliefs, rituals, and goals:
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Individualistic cults
Shamanistic Cults
Communal Cults
Ecclesiastical Cults
Characteristics of Different
Religious Organizations
Role Specialization
Subsistence
Pattern
Example
Individualistic
No role
specialization
Food collector
Crow vision quest
Shamanistic
Part-time
specialization
Food collector
Pastoralism
Tungus shamanism
Communal
Groups perform
rites for
community
Horticulture
Totemistic rituals
Ecclesiastical
Full-time
specialization in
hierarchy
Horticulture/
Pastoralism
Christianity and
Buddhism
Religion in the U.S.
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Roman Catholicism is the largest with 24% of the
adult population.
Anglicans, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant
comprising 220 denominations, represent 36% of the
adult population.
Approximately 1.5% of the population is Jewish.
Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the U.S. with 1%
of the adult population.
Religious “Outlook” for Americans
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3 out of 4 Americans claim their general
“outlook” is religious or somewhat religious.
16% claim to have a secular or somewhat
secular outlook.
Women (42%) are more likely than men (31%)
to describe their outlook as religious.
Older adults are more likely than younger
adults to describe their outlook as religious.
Religion and Social Change
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When societies experience high stress, new religions
may create social change.
These include:
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Nativistic movements, found among American Indians.
Cargo cults, found in Melanesia.
Separatist Christian churches of southern Africa.
Mahdist movements in the Muslim world.
Millenarian movements found in Christian areas of the world.
Revitalization Movements
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Aim to add new life and purpose into the
society.
Tend to occur during times of cultural stress
brought about by:
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rapid change
foreign domination
perceived deprivation
Revitalization Movements: Process
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A society is pushed out of equilibrium by such forces
as conquest and social domination.
People become disillusioned, the culture becomes
disorganized.
Revitalization movements promise an effort to bring
about a more satisfying society.
Some call for a return to the better days of the past;
others seek to establish a completely new social order.