Chapter 14
Supernatural Beliefs
What We Will Learn
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What is religion?
What functions does religion perform for
the individual and the society as a whole?
What different forms does religion take
among the societies of the world?
What role does religion play in the
process of culture 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:
• Religious rituals that appease
supernatural forces
• Sets of beliefs concerning what we
would call the soul
• Notions about life after death
Religion in Societies
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Evangelist Timothy J.
Keller thrives in
Manhattan by
embracing the city
and identifying with
its culture.
Religion
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Animism
• Belief that people have souls or spirits
in addition to physical, visible bodies.
Polytheism
• The belief in the existence of many
gods.
Monotheism
• The belief in only one god.
Religion
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Animatism
• Belief in a generalized, impersonal power
over which people have some measure of
control.
Mana
• An impersonal supernatural force, inhabiting
certain people or things, which is believed to
confer power, strength, and success.
Question
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______ is a set of beliefs in supernatural
beings and forces directed at helping
people make sense of the world and
solve important problems.
a) Belief
b) Religion
c) Ritual
d) Superstition
Answer: b
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Religion is a set of beliefs in supernatural
beings and forces directed at helping
people make sense of the world and solve
important problems.
Supernatural Healing
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A traditional healer
from Jamaica uses
supernatural powers.
Magic
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Vodoo, a form of
imitative magic, is
practiced in Togo.
Magic
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Supernatural beliefs that involve manipulation
of supernatural forces to intervene in human
activities and natural events.
Imitative magic
• Based on the idea that the procedure
performed resembles the desired result.
Contagious magic
• Based on the premise that things, once in
contact with a person continue to influence
that person after separation.
Sorcery and Witchcraft
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Witchcraft is an inborn, involuntary, and
often unconscious capacity to cause harm
to other people.
Sorcery is the performance of certain
magical rites for the purpose of harming
other people.
Wicca
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A modern-day movement of witches and
pagans.
Covens are local groups of witches found
in major cities in the United States, which
are presided over by high priestesses.
Satanists are individuals belonging to a
group of people who worship Satan.
Wicca
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Led by Amy Krinner,
a coven of Wiccans
practices magic in
Bayshore, New York.
Question
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_______ involves the manipulation of
supernatural forces for the purpose of
intervening in a wide range of human activities
and natural events.
a)
Magic
b)
Witchcraft
c)
Sorcery
d)
Religion
Answer: a
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Magic involves the manipulation of
supernatural forces for the purpose of
intervening in a wide range of human
activities and natural events.
Question
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Unlike magic or witchcraft, ________,
stories of a culture's gods, their origins,
and such, serve to explain the large
questions surrounding human existence.
a) legends
b) myths
c) religion
d) tales
Answer: b
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Unlike magic or witchcraft, myths, stories
of a culture's gods, their origins, and
such, serve to explain the large questions
surrounding human existence.
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
• Provides an intellectual framework for
explaining parts of our world that we do
not understand.
Emotional
• Helps reduce anxiety by prescribing
straightforward ways of coping with
stress.
Question
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By helping individuals cope with the
anxieties often accompanying deaths,
accidents, illnesses and other
misfortunes, religion serves a/an:
a) group identity function.
b) cognitive function.
c) positive function.
d) emotional function.
Answer: d
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By helping individuals cope with the
anxieties often accompanying deaths,
accidents, illnesses and other
misfortunes, religion serves a/an
emotional function.
Classifying Religions:
Anthony Wallace
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Wallace identified four principal patterns of
religious organization based on what he calls
cults.
Wallace uses the term cult to refer to forms of
religion that have their own set of beliefs,
rituals, and goals.
This use of the term should not be confused
with the definition used to refer to an antisocial
religious group that brainwashes its members
before leading them to mass suicide.
Classifying Religions:
Anthony Wallace
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Four forms of religious organization:
• Individualistic cults
• Shamanistic cults
• Communal cults
• Ecclesiastical cults
Individualistic Cults
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The least complex form of religious organization
in which each person is his or her own religious
specialist.
• Vision quest
• A ritual found among a number of Plains
Indian cultures wherein through visions
people establish special relationships with
spirits who provide them with knowledge,
power, and protection.
Shamanistic Cults
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Forms of religion in which part-time
religious specialists called shamans
intervene with the deities on behalf of
their clients.
Shaman
• A part-time religious specialist who is
thought to have supernatural powers by
virtue of birth, training, or inspiration.
Shamans
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Piaroa Indian
shaman Miguel
Ochoa is pictured
here with medicinal
plants gathered from
the jungle village of
Aska aja, near Puerto
Ayacucho,
Venezuela.
Communal Cults
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Societies in which groups of ordinary people
conduct religious ceremonies for the well-being
of the total community.
Rites of passage
• Any ceremony celebrating the transition of a
person from one social status to another.
Rites of solidarity
• Any ceremony performed for the sake of
enhancing of social integration.
Ecclesiastical Cults
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Highly complex religious systems employing
full-time priests.
Ecclesiastical cults are characterized by fulltime professional clergy, who are formally
elected or appointed and devote all or most of
their time to performing priestly functions.
Unlike shamans who conduct rituals during
times of crisis or when their services are
needed, these full-time priests conduct rituals
that occur at regular intervals.
Question
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The most complex form of religion is the
________, which is commonly found in
societies with state systems of
government.
a) individual cult
b) communal cult
c) ecclesiastical cult
d) shamanistic cult
Answer: c
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The most complex form of religion is the
ecclesiastical cult, which is commonly
found in societies with state systems of
government.
Major Religions of the World
Rabbi Naamah Kelman
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Rabbi Naamah
Kelman, the first
female rabbi to be
ordained in Israel, is
a full time religious
specialist who works
within a hierarchical
organization.
Number of Adherents of Major
World Religions
Religion
Christian
Roman Catholic
Protestant
Orthodox
Anglican
Independent
Millions
2106
1105
369
218
79
416
Number of Adherents of Major
World Religions
Religion
Bahai
Buddhist
Hindu
Jewish
Muslim
New Religionists
Millions
7.5
375
851
15
1283
107
Characteristics of Different
Religious Organizations
Role Specialization
Individualistic
Shamanistic
Subsistence
Example
None
Food
collector
Crow vision
quest
Part-time
Food
collector
Pastoralism
Tungus
shamanism
Characteristics of Different
Religious Organizations
Role Specialization
Communal
Ecclesiastical
Perform
rites for
community
Full-time
Subsistence
Example
Horticulture
Totemistic
rituals
Horticulture/
Pastoralism
Christianity
and
Buddhism
Religion in the U.S.
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Summary of the findings of two recent surveys
on religion in America:
• Roman Catholicism is the largest single
religious group, comprising 24% of the adult
population.
• Anglicans, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant
churches, comprising some 220
denominations, represent 36% of the adult
population.
Religion in the U.S.
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Summary of the findings of two recent surveys on
religion in America:
• Approximately 1.5% of the population is Jewish.
• The Islamic religion is the fastest-growing organized
religion in the United States.
• The percentage of adults identifying with a religious
group dropped from 90% in 1990 to 81% in 2001.
• The fastest-growing group in the U.S. Is those who
do not identify with any specific religion; this group
went from 14.3 million in 1990 to 29.4 million in
2001.
Globalization of Religion
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Cardinal Bernardin
Gantin represents a
part of the world that
is growing rapidly in
the number of people
practicing
Catholicism.
Liberation Theology
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A form of Catholicism found throughout
South and Central America in which
priests and nuns became actively
involved in programs for social justice for
the poor.
Religious Forces of Social
Change
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Nativistic movements, found among
American Indians.
Cargo cults, found in Melanesia.
Separatist Christian churches are
small-scale churches that break away
from the dominant church to gain greater
political, economic, social, and religious
autonomy.
Religious Forces of Social
Change
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Mahdist movements is a term to
describe revitalization 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:
• rapid change
• foreign domination
• perceived deprivation
Religious Nationalism
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A phenomenon that is occurring in many
parts of the world today in which
traditional religious principles are merged
with the workings of government.
Religion and Nationalism
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On July 4, 2006, this
Statue of Liberation
Through Christ was
consecrated at a
fundamentalist church in
Memphis, Tennessee, as
a way of demonstrating
their belief that
Christianity is the
foundation of American
society.