Religion
(Chapter 10)
The BIG Questions
What is religion and what are the basic features of
religions?
How do world religions illustrate globalization and
localization?
What are some important aspects of religious change in
contemporary times?
Religion in Comparative Perspective
What is religion?
Magic versus Religion
Theories of the origin of religion
Religious beliefs
Religious practices
What is religion?
Religion is beliefs and actions related to supernatural
beings and forces
Includes both beliefs and behaviors
Religion is related to people’s worldview, or way of
understanding how the world came to be, its design, and
their place in it
Magic versus religion
Magic is seen as people’s attempt to compel supernatural
forces and beings to act in certain ways
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Religion, in contrast, attempts to please supernatural forces
or beings
Magic versus religion
Magic and religion have been focuses on anthropologists’ attention
since the late 1800’s.
They developed an evolutionary model.
Science – most “rational” and civilized
Religion
Magic – originally viewed as less spiritual and ethical, and therefore
more “primitive”
Another early religious evolutionary model…
Monotheism – belief in one deity
Polytheism – belief in many deities
Animism – the belief in “souls” or doubles
 Often a belief that animals, plants, and other entities have souls
in addition to humans
Evolutionary Models Today
Today anthropologists do not believe in the evolutionary
model of magic to religion to science or from animism to
polytheism to monotheism.
Why?
Is not very culturally relative
Does not account for the fact that people in a society (and even in a “modern”
society) may believe in magic, religion, and science!
Does not take into account religious pluralism
Can find truth in different religions
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Contemporary Examples of Magic in
“modern” society
Curses – most dreaded form of magic, placed upon people
with the intention of harming them
Cubs curse!
Lucky rabbits foot
Contemporary Examples of Magic in
“modern” society
Professional Sports
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/columns/top10/superstition.html
2005 study of 77 professional baseball players in the U.S. and Japan found 74%
of the players engaged in at least one superstitious behavior before or during a
game
Wearing lucky clothes, sitting in lucky spots, eating certain foods, not talking about certain
things, entering the field a certain way
American baseball players used superstitions to try to improve their individual performance,
whereas Japanese baseball players used superstitions in an attempt to improve their team
performance
Theoretical Perspectives on Religion
Religion may provide ways of explaining and coping with
universal human problems of life and death, illness, and
misfortune
Religion may help reduce anxiety and uncertainty
Religion may provide a way to maintain group continuity
through shared symbols and rituals
Theoretical Perspectives on Religion
Religion may provide a model of life (how to understand
the world) and a model for life (how to behave in the world)
Religion is a “projective system” that expresses people’s
unconscious thoughts, wishes, and worries
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Religion may provide a superficial form of comfort to the
poor, preventing uprisings against the rich
Theoretical Perspectives on Religion
Expressing Beliefs
Religious beliefs are expressed and transferred over the
generations in two main forms
Myths
Stories that convey messages about supernatural forces or beings indirectly
through the story itself
Doctrine
Direct statements about religious beliefs
Myths
Myths express core beliefs and teach morality, often in a
form understandable and accessible to all (including
children)
Often exist in oral form
Myths may contain both moral lessons and practical ones
Myths may store and transmit information related to making a living
and managing economic crises
Doctrine
Doctrine is written and formal
It links incorrect beliefs and behaviors with punishments
Associated with institutionalize, large-scale religions rather
than small-scale religions
May not be accessible to all
Doctrine is often guarded by the powerful and highly educated – e.g.
Catholic popes have the power to change doctrine
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Beliefs about Supernatural Forces and Beings
Supernatural forces and beings range from impersonal
forces to those that look just like human
Supernatural forces and beings range from being allpowerful creators to mischievous annoyances
Beliefs about Supernatural Forces and Beings
Animatism – refers to belief systems in which the
supernatural is conceived of as an impersonal power
Mana – impersonal force that is neither spirit nor deity
Is more like a substance
Something souls are made out of
Manifests itself in objects and people
Luck
Beliefs about Supernatural Forces and Beings
supernaturals – deities in the shape, or partial
shape, of animals
Zoomorphic
e.g Sphinx
Anthropomorphic
supernaturals – deities in the form of
humans
Have emotions
e.g. ancient Greek gods
Beliefs about Supernatural Forces and Beings
– collections of deities responsible for different
areas, different aspects of life
Pantheons
May have hierarchies
Deceased
ancestors can also become supernatural
e.g. Japan ancestor veneration/worship
National holidays in which deceased ancestors are believed to visit living
relatives’ homes and when family members visit gravesites
Mexico’s Day of the Dead
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Beliefs about Sacred Space
Beliefs about sacred space probably exist in all religions, but such
beliefs are more prominent in some religions than others
Sacred spaces can include…
Natural sites – rock formations, rapids in a river, etc.
Culturally constructed sites
Marked or unmarked sites
Temporarily sacred site or permanently sacred sites
Contested sacred spaces
Claims to sacred space are frequently the basis of conflict between people of different faiths and
between believers and commercial interests
Ritual
A ritual is a patterned form of behavior that is focused on the
supernatural realm
Many rituals are the enactment of beliefs expressed in myth and
doctrine
Ritual is religion in action!
Secular ritual – patterned forms of behavior with no connection to
the supernatural realm
Sorority or fraternity initiation
Some ritual events combine both secular and sacred elements
Thanksgiving
Sacred elements – give thanks to God (originally for the survival of the pilgrims)
Secular elements – watching football
Ritual
Rituals can be periodic
Periodic rituals are performed annually to mark a seasonal
milestone such as planting or harvesting or to commemorate some
important event
e.g. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Buddha’s Day
…or nonperiodic
Nonperiodic rituals occur irregularly, at unpredictable times, in
response to unscheduled events
e.g. funerals, weddings, birth, last rights, puberty ceremony
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Some Common Types of Rituals
Life-cycle rituals
Life-cycle rituals are rites of passages that mark a change in status
from one life stage to another of an individual or group
Usually involves a period of…
Separation
Transition (liminality)
Reintegration
Examples include…
Puberty rituals
Marriage
Some Common Types of Rituals
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is round-trip travel to a sacred place or places for purposes of
religious devotion or ritual
Often involve hardships
The more suffering that is involved, the more merit the pilgrim accumulates
Often involves separation, transition (liminality), and reintegration as well
Example
Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca
Every able bodied Muslim is supposed to go on a pilgrimage here at least once in their lifetime
Demonstrates devotion to Allah and solidarity with other devotees of the Islamic faith
communitas – a sense of collective unity out of individual diversity
Some Common Types of Rituals
Rituals of Inversion
A ritual of inversion is a ritual in which normal social roles and
relations are temporarily inverted.
Are believed to allow for social pressure to be released and to
maintain social order
Examples
Carnival – Brazil, France, Italy
Mardi Gras – New Orleans
Halloween
A night of disguises and reversals
Allows kids to play bad and evil for a night in the dark
Eat lots of candy and get candy from random strangers
Shifts adult-child power balance
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Some Common Types of Rituals
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of something for transfer to the
supernaturals
Probably one of the oldest forms of rituals
May involve human sacrifice (whole human or body parts), animal
sacrifice, offering fruits, vegetables, grains, flowers
Example
Aztec human sacrifice
Religious Specialists
Rituals may require informal knowledge gained through
everyday enculturation or they may require extensive formal
training to be done correctly
Some specialists include…
Shaman/shamanka
Priest/priestess
Diviner
Prophet
Witches
Religious Specialists
A shaman/shamanka is a part-time religious specialist who gains
status through a direct relationship with the supernaturals, often by
being “called”
Is an openly available role
More often associated with nonstate societies
Most often associated with non-periodic rituals
A priest/priestess is a full-time religious specialist whose position is
based mainly on abilities gained through formal training
More often associated with state-level societies
Most often associated with periodic rituals
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Other Religious Specialists
A diviner is a religious specialist who is able to discover the
will and wishes of the supernaturals through techniques such
as reading animal entrails
Those in Azande culture who interpret the oracles
Tarot card reader
Palm reader
Tea leaf reader
Other Religious Specialists
A prophet is a specialist who conveys divine revelations
usually gained through visions or dreams
Attractive and powerful personality
May be able to perform miracles
Status as a prophet might be contentious
Other Religious Specialists
A witch is someone who uses psychic powers and affects
people through emotion and thought
Mainstream society often views witchcraft as a negative, but there
are real life “good witches”
Wicca – religion based on ancient witchcraft practices, neopagan
nature-based religion
Strives for harmony, balance, and peace
Spells strive for healing and harmony
World Religions
A world religion is a religion with many followers that cross country
borders
Major contemporary world religions include…
Christianity
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism
Other contemporary world religions include…
Judaism
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Confucianism
Taoism
Shintoism
African belief systems
Hinduism
Around 900 million people in the world are Hindus
About 80% of all Hindus live in India
Hinduism does not actively seek converts
Core sacred texts are four Vedas
Polytheistic religion with a diversity of sacred sites, large and small
A variety of different pilgrimage sites associated with various deities and their
shrines
Are varieties (e.g. between the way different castes worship the various deities)
but there is a “unity in diversity” of the religion provided by some core elements
in the Vedas (e.g. belief in reincarnation and karma – fate determined by
previous existence)
Buddhism
Around 400 million people around the world are Buddhists
Founding figure Siddhartha Gautama (566-486 BCE) – the Buddha
Started in northern India where the Buddha grew up
First arose as protest against features of Hinduism such as the
caste system
Share some shared beliefs with Hinduism, such as the belief in
karma
Buddhism is most prevalent today in inner Asia, Southeast Asia,
China, and Sri Lanka
No accepted single text
Importance of the Buddha shared
Also believe in reincarnation and karma
Goal is to achieve nirvana = enlightenment and the overcoming of
human suffering in this life
Doesn’t actively seek converts
Strong tradition of monasticism
Monks and nuns renounce the everyday world and spend their lives meditating
and doing good works
Also have important pilgrimage sites
Sarnath – place of Buddha’s first teaching
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Gaya – place of Buddha’s first enlightment
Buddhism originated in India and spread throughout eastern and
southeastern Asia
Jerusalem is the holiest city of Judaism, and also
the third holiest city of Islam and holy to many
Christians as well
The Kotel, or Western Wall, in Jerusalem, a pilgrimage
site especially for Jewish people
Christianity
Are about 2 billion Christians in the world
Largest of the world religions
Majority religion of Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea,
most countries of Europe and of North and South America, and about a dozen
southern African countries
Minority religion throughout much of Asia
Has many ties with Judaism – Christianity sprang from Judaism in
the Middle East
Many branches and denominations worldwide
Three largest branches of Christianity are…
Roman Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox
Belief that Jesus Christ is the messiah who came to earth in
fulfillment of the prophesies contained in the Hebrew scripture
Belief that God sent His Son to earth as a sacrifice for the welfare of humanity
Teachings of Jesus as model for behavior and moral guidance
Basic text is the Bible (both Old and New Testaments)
Does actively try to convert others to Christianity
The Vatican, in Rome, is the center of Roman Catholicism
and also a popular tourist site
Islam
There are about 1.4 billion Muslims (followers of Islam) in the world
The second largest world religion
Most of the world’s Muslims live in South Asia or Southeast Asia
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Muslim-majority nations are located in northern Africa; the Middle
East, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh in South Asia;
and several nations in Central Asia and Southeast Asia
Youngest of the world religions
Based on the teachings of the prophet Muhammad (570-632)
Strive for peace
Monotheistic religion – one God (Allah)
Qu’ran (Koran) is the key text of Islam
Five Pillars of Islam
Profession of faith in Allah
Daily prayer
Fasting
Contributing alms for the poor
Pilgrimage to Mecca (the Hajj)
Sunni and Shi’a are the two major branches
Local variations in ritual practices
Does actively strive for converts to Islam
African Religions
First spread outside of Africa in earlier centuries with the
coerced movement of people as slaves
African diaspora religions are prominent in the U.S.,
Caribbean, Central and South America
New forms emerging especially in the Western Hemisphere
Influenced by world religions such as Christianity and Islam
Some commonalities of African religions include…
Myths about a split between a creator deity and humans
A pantheon of supernaturals – range from powerful gods to lesser
spirits
Elaborate initiation rituals and sacrifices
Elaborate dances, meals, often animal sacrifices
Altars within shrines as focal places where humans and deities meet
Close links with healing
World Religions
No world religion exists as a single, homogenous entity
Each world religion comprises many local variants
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May have religious syncretism – elements of two or more religions blended
together
This may raise a predicament for centrally organized religions in
terms of how to maintain a balance between standardization based
on core beliefs and the local variations
 Example: Virgin of Guadalupe
Religious pluralism – when various religious beliefs coexist
together, but do not blend elements
World Religions
Photographs of the various world religions’ religious
practices
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27857596/
Religious Change
Nowhere are religions frozen and unchanging
Anthropologists look at…
Resurgence of religions that seemed to have been headed toward
extinction through colonial forces, but are now being revitalized
Revitalization of religions in socialist states that were once
suppressed
Religious pluralism and religious syncretism
Religious Change
Revitalization movements
Seek to bring about positive change by reconstructing parts of
religion threatened by outside forces
Often arise in the context of rapid cultural change and appear to
represent a way for people to try to make sense of their changing
world and their place in it
e.g. Ghost Dance movement
Cargo cults
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Religious Change
Contested Sacred Sites
Religious conflict often becomes focused on sacred sites
Jerusalem – holy sites sacred to Muslims, Jews, and Christians
India – sites of conflict between Muslims and Hindus
U.S. – racial, ethnic, and religious conflict
e.g. white racists burning African American churches
Native American’s land being destroyed for the sake of urban growth, petroleum and mineral
extraction, and even recreational sports
Religious Change
Religious Freedom as a Human Right
According to a United Nations Declaration, freedom from religious persecution is
a universal human right
Violations of this right by countries and by competing religions are common
U.S. Patriot act in 2001 - practice denies Muslims their civil liberties by empowering law
enforcement authorities to raid their homes, offices, and mosques in the name of the war on
terrorism
Sometimes people who are persecuted on religious grounds can seek and
obtain sanctuary in other places or nations
Tibetan Buddhist refugees in exile in the U.S., Canada, and India where they attempt to keep
their religion, language, and heritage alive
The BIG Questions Revisited
What is religion and what are the basic features of
religions?
How do world religions illustrate globalization and
localization?
What are some important
aspects of religious
change in contemporary times?
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