Chapter 11
Religion
Cargo Cults
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What conclusions about religion can be drawn
from the development of cargo cults?
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
Characteristics of Religion
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Composed of sacred stories that
members believe are important
Make extensive use of symbols
and symbolism
Propose the existence of beings,
powers, states, places, and
qualities that can not be measured
scientifically
Include rituals and specific means
of addressing the supernatural
Functions of Religion
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Provides meaning and order in people’s lives
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Reduces anxiety and increases control
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Sense of identity
Belonging
Standards of behavior
Prayer, sacrifice and magic…
Reinforces or challenges the social order by
transmitting cultural values and knowledge
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“However, you may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live
among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including
those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing
them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this,
but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way.” (Leviticus 25:44-46
NLT)
The Search for Order and
Meaning
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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.
Reducing Anxiety and
Increasing Control
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Religious practices, such as prayer,
sacrifice, magic, and other rituals, call on
the help of supernatural beings,
particularly where forces appear
unpredictable and risky.
These practices can alter the emotional
state of those who practice them and
reduce or increase their anxiety.
The Social Order
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Through religion, dominant cultural
beliefs about good and evil are
reinforced.
Sacred stories and rituals provide a
rationale for social order and give
social values religious authority.
Religious ritual intensifies social
solidarity by creating an atmosphere in
which people experience their common
identity in emotionally moving ways.
Religious Symbols
Some religious
symbols may have
supernatural power in
and of themselves,
such as the masks
used in African
ceremonies.
What symbols do you
know that contain
supernatural power?
God
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Term used for a named spirit believed to have
created or to control some aspect of the world
High gods, gods understood as the creator of
the world, are present in only about half of all
societies.
In about one-third of these societies, such gods
are distant and withdrawn, having little interest
in people.
Polytheism
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The belief in many
gods
In India, there are
millions of gods; yet
all Indians understand
that in some way they
are all aspects of one
divine essence.
Monotheism
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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.
Ritual
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Act involving the manipulation of religious
symbols
Certain patterns of religious behavior are
extremely widespread, if not universal.
Totem
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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.
Prayer
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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
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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.
Many Americans are familiar with giving up
something for Lent, a form of sacrifice intended
to help the worshipper identify with Jesus, show
devotion, and increase purity.
Magic
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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.
Shaman
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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
Shaman in Indonesia Reading Entrails
Why is
shamanism such
a powerful tool for
curing illness?
What
characteristics
make it
convincing to the
patient?
Priest
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One who is formally elected or appointed
to a full-time religious office
Witchcraft
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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
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The conscious and intentional use of
magic with the intent of causing harm or
good
Syncretism
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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.