REL 1300 11 Midterm Study Guide Part 1 Rudolf Otto o Definition of religion o Religion is a mystery it can come in sweeping in slow or in bursts Emile Durkheim o Definition of religion o religion is an imminently collective thing o With worship and religion there needs to be a church Jonathan Z Smith o Definition of religion o Religion is the creation of the scholars and the scholars are allowed to define it themselves Mircea Eliade o religion manifests itself in a world that is profane Bruce Lincoln o Wrote the theses on method o Eternal and transcendent discourse normative ideology sui generis functionalism o written or spoken communication or debate o establishing relating to or deriving from a standard or norm bias o the ideas and manner of thinking characteristic of a group social class or individual o this phrase is used to describe the idea that religion is separate from all other institutions the theorists we will look at argue against thinking about religion this way o How religions plays a particular function in society o Martin says we should approach it with a hermeneutic of suspicion method of interpretation that is suspicious of whatever is being studied Russell McCutcheon o Anthropological enterprise o Not theology o Descriptive not making value judgements on the data that is being evaluated o The very word religion has a history behind it o Is a tradition a religion if there is no such word in its accompanying language Theses on method o Bruce Lincoln wrote them o Get the questions like whats at stake here who speaks here who wins what who loses o Bruce gives us a definition of religion that we use in class Hermeneutic of suspicion o method of interpretation that is suspicious of whatever is being studied martin Tomoko Masuzawa anywhere Colonialism classification o Invention of world religions world religions can be found any time o How religions can spread through the colonization s of countries o creates categories and concepts o We label things to make things easier for us Grouping similarities social constructionism o the basic idea is that we as humans make the world what it is for us o Words are tools that humans use to delimit from the stuff of the world what is of interest to them means when we label things we feel like we have more control o The uses of words are variable o There are no intrinsically right or wrong uses of words just different uses o Whether a claim is true depends on the agreed use of the words for a particular o What we are as humans is a result or product of the concepts and practices in our o Social facts are nevertheless real facts if only for the community that recognizes them community society as such New Testament o Birth of Jesus Matthew Jesus was born and was own person o Birth of Jesus john Jesus preexisted and was god o Mark Jesus returning soon identity is a secret o Matthew Jesus is Israel s true messiah supreme torah o Luke Jesus NOT returning soon role of holy spirit in the world o John Jesus is gods made flesh salvation is knowledge about jesus Heresy o Hairesis when used it means a philosophical schools o Comes to be used pejoratively negatively by Christians o Heretic not a true real Christian o opinion contrary to Christian religion Orthodoxy o Means right belief o Ultimately orthodoxy those who won o There are competing claims to orthodoxy o What s at stake is who has the power to define orthodoxy o The proximate other is Jesus as implied by JZ Smith Proximate Other Socialization o Systems of classifications o Social roles o Behavioral practices o These become naturalized and we accept them as we socialized into them Relational Domination o Subjects can be dominated when required to conform to a disproportionate number of arbitrary social codes than subjects in other positions Martin 61 o The makeup tax women who wear makeup earn more and are treated better This has o Legitimations offer some sort of justification for conformity to a practice and they often involve appeals to what the gods say Martin 94 steep costs in both money and time Legitimating o Helping the poor feeding the hungry o Social roles o Moral norms o Legitimation manipulation Authenticating Cultural toolboxes o Concepts norms and values equality the American way in God we trust o Traditions rituals and practices July 4th national anthem before sporting evens o Myths and stories George Washington and the cherry tree o Texts o Icons o Figures Constitution declaration of independence Eagle statue of liberty Jefferson Lincoln Reagan o Ideologies manifest destiny westward expansion Indigenous traditions o What counts as a religion and what counts as an indigenous tradition Peter Kolb and the Hottentots Khoikhoi Nix v Hedden o Tomato is considered vegetable not a fruit tax tariffs didn t wanna pay tax o Nix was farmer said tomato was fruit bc didn t wanna pay tax o Hedden said was veg bc everyone sees it as veg and eats as veg o Port of NY won Hedden o Whats at stake who wins who loses o Court case where Tomato was defined as vegetable Animism o Giving magical or spiritual or humanistic character to something that s not o Moon and sun as god Handsome Lake o Was a native American who had a vision that there should only be one deity creator o What to do heaven and hell confess sins example of indigenous population respond to o had a vision and stated that the sky holder should be worshipped and colonial take over combine elements of Christianity to native American culture no one else and if code was not obeyed the world would burn Ghost Dance o response is of resistance o group of native americans did this dance to expel the white men in their lands bc of hunting o led to wounded knee massacre Syncretism Vedas o Vedas are the foundation for Hinduism a la the bible for Christianity o Supposed to follow the book as laws o For the Brahmins the Vedas are important o Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita criticize the Vedas o codes laws foundation of Hinduism The Brahmans follow Bhagavad Gita o In the Gita authentic Hinduism is doing your duty don t be attached to material things not questioning your role in society cycle of reincarnation that continues until you are liberated from the cycle by doing your duty and practicing karma yoga and having a devotion to the lord Conversation between Arjuna warrior and his chariot driver Dharma it is Arjunas duty to fight because he is a member of the Kshatriya caste o criticized the veda s do your duty don t be materialistic o
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