Anthropology of ReligionWhat is Religion?Belief and ritual concerned with supernatural beings, powers, and forcesReligion is a cultural universalReligion has several purposesIt maintains social orderIt explains the unexplainableProvides a framework for understanding these thingsIt provides cultural cohesionA base for how people explain their relationships and position with othersIt gives context for everyday experiencesExpressions of Religion (not specific religions)AnimismBelief in souls/spiritsIn people and/or all living thingsFirst development of religious behaviorManaBelief in supernatural impersonal forceThat can give some people more power than othersWord comes from PolynesiaChief families have more mana than othersThat’s what allows them to be the chief familyMagicSupernatural techniques intended for specific aimsAccessing supernatural begins through specific techniquesImitative magicEX: voodoo dollsContagious magicEX: objects that are connected with someoneRitual MagicDifferent from ritualsEX: faith healing in the USAll about controlling the uncontrollableSports  magic; the idea about luckBaseball players do rituals with their bats before going up to batRitualsStylized, repetitive social practice set off from the social routine of everyday lifeSocial acts1) Liturgical ordersEX: Church services: stylized, repetitive, predictableAbout the shared cultural experience, it is not an individual actEX: military funeralsEX: The Super Bowl; sporting eventsWe know what is going to happen when we go to these events2) Rites of passageMarks important stages in a life cycleEX: getting married, when you become a parentTotemismBelief that they descend from or are connected through a mythical being or forceHeavily tied with kinshipCreates group solidarityCelebration of descentIn a totem polesEX: in northwest clansTotems tell the story of the descentCollege mascots count as a totemEX: UgaNot about if the descent is true or not, it’s about what the belief in the totem createsKinds of Religion (types not specific religions themselves)ShamanicAnimistic practices with part-time specialistsBeliefs in spirits, have rituals to reach these spiritsNot very structuredThere are not any full time specialistsThey often do something elseAssociated with small and/or private societiesCommunalPretty much the same as shamanic religion but with Community RitualsMore common among horticulturalistsChiefdomsStill have part-time specialistsOlympianBelief in a pantheon of Gods with full-time religious specialistsBelief in more than one GodGods are seenAs supernatural creatures that don’t live in the real world, but can interact with the real worldAssociated with larger groups of peopleStarts with social hierarchy becomes more complexMonotheismFull-time religious specialists, with belief in a single omnipotent deityAssociated with state-level societiesOverlaps a lot with political hierarchyReligious DiversityReligious affiliation and faith variesBoth culturally and geographicallyBy ethnicity and national identityEX: Christianity denominationsReligious CohesivenessVariation in homogeneity of beliefsSome are more structured and organized, while others are more flexibleFunctions of ReligionCultural ecologyEnvironmental adaptationAdapting human behavior to local ecosystemsEX: Sacred cattle in IndiaAhimsaSocial ControlA means for influencing beliefs and behaviorEngages emotional responsesDefining right versus wrongMoralsCodes of ethicsEX: the Ten CommandmentsProvides the basis of what is right and what is wrongStressing the reality of an afterlifeExplains what happens to people after they dieReligion and ChangeCultural changeRevitalization movementsBettering the lives of people through a single religionSyncretismBettering the lives of people that are thereMixture of different faiths and beliefs that are newEX: voodooAntimodernismGoing back to old ideas (or not changing at all)Believe that the way they live is the way that they are supposed to liveEX: the AmishFundamentalismA modernists movementMore interested in creating changeSee a set of beliefs from the past and they try to go back to those beliefs (when live was better)Then to be politically and socially activeNew religious movementsNew age religionsReligions change and people use religions to create cultural changeEx: in situations of povertyReligion and SecularProblems with defining religion versus secularism (secular life)1) beliefs of the supernatural in secular contexts2) Distinguishing the supernatural from the natural worldsAccessing magic or manaBad luck versus good luckThis is religious behavior3) What makes religious behavior, since it varies greatly?4) Distinguishing religion from the secular?EX: Disney WorldThings that you do separately from everyday life, something that you do with your familyIn America religion is separated from politics← Anthropology of Religion- What is Religion?o Belief and ritual concerned with supernatural beings, powers, and forces - Religion is a cultural universal - Religion has several purposeso It maintains social ordero It explains the unexplainable Provides a framework for understanding these thingso It provides cultural cohesion A base for how people explain their relationships and position with otherso It gives context for everyday experiences ←← Expressions of Religion (not specific religions) - Animismo Belief in souls/spirits  In people and/or all living things o First development of religious behavior - Manao Belief in supernatural impersonal force That can give some people more power than otherso Word comes from Polynesia o Chief families have more mana than others That’s what allows them to be the chief family o- Magico Supernatural techniques intended for specific aims o Accessing supernatural begins through specific techniques  Imitative magic  EX: voodoo dolls  Contagious magic EX: objects that are connected with someone Ritual Magic Different from rituals EX: faith healing in the US o All about controlling the uncontrollable  Sports  magic; the idea about luck  Baseball players do rituals with their bats before going up to bat - Ritualso Stylized, repetitive social practice set off from the socialroutine of everyday life Social acts  1) Liturgical orders- EX: Church services: stylized, repetitive, predictable - About the shared cultural experience, it is not an individual act - EX: military funerals- EX: The Super Bowl; sporting events- We