World Religions Chapters 1 4 Chapter 1 Why are there religions Spiritual experiences Formalized responses to sacred reality Where do we go from here what happens next etc Many answers to Why are there religions Note the origin of this question in the European enlightenment Materialist Perspective Humans invented religion Although the stories of creation are interesting and able to be studied they aren t real Examples in the textbook Ludwig Feuerbach or Karl Marx Man makes religion religion does not make man The religious world is but the reflex of the real world Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature the sentiment of a heartless world and the soul of soulless conditions It is the opium of the people Karl Marx Opium reference like drugs it makes them feel better gives them a safe state of mind when you are oppressed it makes you feel better Freud found religion was a form of neurosis it was misguided and directed your attention away from what you should be doing Functionalist Perspective Religion is useful to society and the individual Examples in the textbook Emile Durkheim John Bowker the Dalai Lama Erich Fromm and the Bhagavad Gita If God is love that s a virtue you learn to adapt follow Example in book Hindu text on page 6 He is forever free who has broken Out of the ego cage of I and mine To be united with the Lord of Love This is the supreme state Attain thou this And pass from death to immortality Looking at the quote you find a functionalist perspective would ask what is the point what is the function this religious belief had on the person what did they use it for need it change about them Belief Perspective Ultimate Reality exists Different modes of encountering unseen reality Rational thought non rational modes of knowing Examples S Radhakrishnan Martin Luther William James Mysticism gaining and developing ones own intuitive perception of spiritual truths A way of relating to the sacred through personal experience often bodily The experience of being grasped by reality as the essential basis of religion Otto having an experience that is both slightly frightening and slightly attractive but fundamentally inviting the whole being Religion is thus unpredictable But has some general organization according to Wach a comparative religion scholar in the early 20th Experience of what is considered unseen reality Involves the persons whole being Most shattering and intense of human experiences near death experiences being diagnosed can go one way or another an extreme circumstance showing we cant live in this world by ourselves we need help Motivates the person to action through worship ethical behavior service sharing with others in a religious group Example in the Christian bible it states if you are a good Christian you will act Godly and give your food to the homeless etc Very clear ethical guidelines and basis tell you pretty much exactly what to do QUIZ ON SYLLABUS DUE BY THE 28TH review the perspectives first take notes Understanding Sacred Reality Look at the comparative study of religions words in the textbook Immanent is present ex deity being present in the world w you transcendent is out of the world God being in heaven when you die and you see him etc Phenomenology our study in this textbook and course Explores specifically sacred aspects Requires appreciative investigation of religious phenomena in order to comprehend their spiritual intention and meaning Also thick descriptions Geertz When reading the textbook make sure to read the real world examples to give a better perspective example Q A sociological study interested in ways that religious rituals support widespread social structures such as the nuclear family would likely consider religion in a A Functionalist perspective Worship Express reverence and enter into communion with unseen reality Create atmosphere to ask for help Attempt for some human control over unpredictable events Sanctify and explain meaning of life stage events birth puberty death etc Rituals Predictable and repeated rather than spontaneous worshipful act Could be prayer chants scripture readings singing dancing food sharing purification candles or oil lamps offering of flowers or food etc Symbols Images borrowed from the material world to express communication with the unseen which can be expressed only through metaphor Examples language of love for spiritual merger with unseen reality Father Mother symbolism high places or underworld Archetypal Symbols Symbols may not be just metaphorical and logical expressions of communication Psychologist Carl Jung proposed a collective unconscious a global psychic inheritances of archetypal symbols from which different cultures draw Examples the wise old man the great mother the original man and woman the hero the shadow the trickster Myth Symbols are woven together in stories that are used by communities to explain the universe and their place within it Example myths of the world s creation in many religious traditions Are not lies falsehoods made up or primitive but can be deeply meaningful and transformative forming sacred belief structures supportive of laws and institutions and explaining one s place in the cosmos Example of religious myth the 10 commandments Moses brought them down from a mountain and he got them from God etc Josephs Campbell s work on Myth and Hero with A Thousand Faces Michel Foucault s technologies Technologies as systematic ways a culture acts in specific activities 1 Technologies of production which permit us to produce transform or manipulate things How does this pertain to religion What is produced Sacred texts places of worship temples churches synagogues indulgences People paying in the Catholic religion for a piece of paper that wiped their slates clean to avoid hell 2 Technologies of sign systems which permit us to use signs meanings symbols or signification Examples The cross Star of David etc 3 Technologies of power which determine the conduct of individuals and submit them to certain ends or domination an objectivizing of the subject Examples The Pope Dali Lama Ten Commandments 4 Technologies of the self which permit individuals to effect by their own means or with the help of others a certain number of operations on their own bodies and souls thoughts conduct and ways of being so as to transform themselves in order to attain a certain state of happiness purity wisdom perfection or immortality Examples Fasting meditation makeovers plastic surgery