Notes on Religion

Introduction

 Religion is defined, according to Wallace, as belief and ritual concerned with supernatural beings, powers, and forces.  So defined, religion is a cultural universal.

 Neanderthal mortuary remains provide the earliest evidence of what probably was religious activity. Animism  Tylor first studied religion anthropologically, and developed a taxonomy of religions.  Animism was seen as the most primitive, and is defined as a belief in souls that derives from the first attempt to explain dreams and like phenomena. Mana and Taboo

 Mana is defined as belief in an immanent supernatural domain or life-force, potentially subject to human manipulation.  The Polynesian and Melanesian concepts of mana are contrasted.  Melanesian mana is defined as a sacred impersonal force that is much like the Western concept of luck.

 Polynesian mana and the related concept of taboo are related to the more hierarchical nature of Polynesian society. Mana and Taboo

Magic and Religion  Magic refers to supernatural techniques intended to accomplish specific aims.  Magic may be imitative (as with voodoo dolls) or contagious (accomplished through contact). Anxiety, Control, Solace

 Magic is an instrument of control, but religion serves to provide stability when no control or understanding is possible.  Malinowski saw tribal religions as being focused on life crises. Rituals

 Rituals are formal, performed in sacred contexts.  Rituals convey information about the culture of the participants and, hence, the participants themselves.  Rituals are inherently social, and participation in them necessarily implies social commitment. Rites of Passage  Rites of passage are religious rituals which mark and facilitate a persons movement from one (social) state of being to another (e.g. Plains Indians’ vision quests).

 Rites of passage have three phases:  Separation – the participant(s) withdraws from the group and begin moving from one place to another.  Liminality – the period between states, during which the participant(s) has left one place but has not yet entered the next.  Incorporation – the participant(s) reenters society with a new status having completed the rite. Rites of Passage

 Liminality is part of every rite of passage, and involves the temporary suspension and even reversal of everyday social distinctions.  Communitas refers to collective liminality, characterized by enhanced feelings of social solidarity and minimized distinctions. Totemism

 Rituals play an important role in creating and maintaining group solidarity.  In totemic societies, each descent group has an animal, plant, of geographical feature from which they claim descent.  Totems are the apical ancestor of clans.  The members of a clan do not kill or eat their totem, except once a year when the members of the clan gather for ceremonies dedicated to the totem.  See discussion of clans and lineages in Chapter 15.  Totemism is a religion in which elements of nature act as sacred templates for society by means of symbolic association. Totemism

 Totemism uses nature as a model for society.  Each descent group has a totem, which occupies a specific niche in nature.  Social differences mirror the natural order of the environment.

 The unity of the human social order is enhanced by symbolic association with and imitation of the natural order. Sacred Cattle in India  Ahimsa is the Hindu doctrine of nonviolence that forbids the killing of animals.

 Western economic development experts often use this principle as an example of how religion can stand in the way of development.  Hindus seem to irrationally ignore a valuable food source (beef).  Hindus also raise scraggly, thin cows, unlike the bigger cattle of Europe and the US.  These views are ethnocentric and wrong as cattle play an important adaptive role in an Indian ecosystem that has evolved over thousands of years

 Hindus use cattle for transportation, traction, and manure.  Bigger cattle eat more, making them more expensive to keep. Sacred Cattle in India Social Control  The power of religion affects action.  Religion can be used to mobilize large segments of society through systems of real and perceived rewards and punishments.

 Witch hunts play an important role in limiting social deviancy in addition to functioning as leveling mechanisms to reduce differences in wealth and status between members of society.  Many religions have a formal code of ethics that prohibit certain behavior while promoting other kinds of behavior.  Religions also maintain social control by stressing the fleeting nature of life.

Revitalization Movements  Religious movements that act as mediums for social change are called revitalization movements.

 The colonial-era Iroquois reformation led by Handsome Lake is an example of a revitalization movement.

Syncretisms  A syncretism is a cultural mix, including religious blends, that emerge when two or more cultural traditions come into contact.  Examples include voodoo, santeria, and candomlé.

 The cargo cults of Melanesia and Papua New Guinea are syncretism of Christian doctrine with aboriginal beliefs.  Syncretisms often emerge when traditional, non-Western societies have regular contact with industrialized societies.  Syncretisms attempt to explain European domination and wealth and to achieve similar success magically by mimicking European behavior and symbols. Syncretisms A New Age

 Since the 1960s, there has been a decline in formal organized religions.  New Age religions have appropriated ideas, themes, symbols, and ways of life from the religious practices of Native Americans, Australian Aborigines, east Asian religions.