Religion in Anthropological View

Overview

Chapter surveys anthropological perspectives on religion: definitions, theories, core elements, cosmologies, supernatural beliefs, rules, rituals, and practitioners.

Defining Religion and Scope

• Religion per Jack David Eller: extension of human society and culture to include the supernatural.
• Sacred vs profane: sacred set apart, revered; profane ordinary, disregarded.
• Distinctions among religion, magic, spirituality often blur across cultures.

Anthropological Approaches and Theories

• Cultural relativism and emic perspective are essential to avoid misinterpretation.
• Sir James Frazer (The Golden Bough) and Sir Edward Brunett Tylor (Primitive Culture): early broad surveys; limitations from outsider bias and narrow definitions.
• <span>Émile </span>Durkheim: religion as practices around sacred; creates moral community and collective effervescence.
• Marcel Mauss: spectrum from private magic to public religion; distinction seen as artificial by many today.
• Bronislaw Malinowski: functionalism; religion reduces anxiety and meets psychological needs.
• Dame Mary Douglas: purity/impurity classifications structure beliefs (e.g., kosher rules).
• Karl Marx: religion as ideology legitimizing inequality; directs focus to afterlife, obedience.
• Sigmund Freud: religion suppresses antisocial desires; totemism regulates disruptive relations.
• Marvin Harris: materialist reading; sacred cow reflects economic value, later religious legitimation.
• Clifford Geertz: symbolic system creating moods, motivations; symbols enact cultural values.

Elements of Religion

• Cosmology: origin/history explanations; frame human-divine relations.
• Supernatural: entities/forces beyond natural laws; anthropomorphic or abstract.
• Rules of behavior: moral codes align conduct with spiritual beliefs.
• Rituals: ceremonial acts with religious purposes; supervised by specialists.

Cosmologies: Examples and Interpretation

• Greek: from Chaos to gods; Prometheus creates humans; hierarchical order.
• Navajo: fourteen layered worlds; emergence of First Man/Woman; preparation for humans.
• Genesis: single deity creates cosmos in six days; humans in God’s image.
• Interpretation varies within cultures; focus on functions rather than literal truth judgments.

Supernatural: Forces, Spirits, Gods

• Animatism: impersonal power (mana); potency in places/acts; popular culture appropriations.
• Spirits/souls: multiple-soul concepts (e.g., Tausug); ancestor veneration, filial piety duties.
• Animism: spirits in plants, animals, objects, phenomena; Shinto kami and torii mark sacred space.
• Gods: monotheism (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) vs polytheism (e.g., Hindu pantheon); forms anthropomorphic/zoomorphic.

Rules of Behavior: Case of Buddhism

• Buddhism emphasizes discipline toward nirvana; some forms lack gods.
• Karma as moral force; actions shape rebirth; Noble Eightfold Path guides conduct.
• Reincarnation: rebirth based on accumulated karma; human rebirth valued.

Rituals: Types and Purposes

• Ritual: stereotyped, sequestered performances symbolically influencing preternatural forces.
• Rite of passage: separation, liminality, incorporation; Xhosa initiation as example.
• Rite of intensification: builds communitas; Vanuatu land diving ensures harvest, marks manhood.
• Revitalization rites: resolve crises via supernatural; John Frum movement seeks return of cargo.

Religious Practitioners

• Priests: full-time intermediaries; authority via office/scripture; regulate worship access.
• Shamans: part-time; direct spirit communication; altered states enable healing, soul retrieval.
• Prophets: direct revelation; authority via charisma; influential in upheaval (e.g., Muhammad, Moses, Joseph Smith).
• Koresh case: millenarian leadership, Waco siege, martyrdom narrative for followers.

Religion and Social Change

• Majority worldwide identify religiously; unaffiliated segment growing.
• Religions are dynamic; interpretations and allegiances shift over time.

Key Terms & Definitions

• Animatism: belief in impersonal supernatural force.
• Animism: belief that beings/objects/nature have spiritual elements.
• Anthropomorphic: having human characteristics.
• Cargo cult: rituals seeking material prosperity; term often avoided.
• Collective effervescence: shared emotional energy in group rituals.
• Cosmology: origin/history explanation of the world.
• Cultural appropriation: copying/distorting cultural ideas from another culture.
• Filial piety: caring for elders/ancestors as duty.
• Magic: practices to control supernatural forces personally.
• Millenarians: expect imminent world transformation.
• Monotheistic: recognizing one supreme God.
• Polytheistic: recognizing several gods.
• Priests: full-time religious practitioners.
• Profane: ordinary, treated without special respect.
• Prophet: conveys divine messages from direct revelation.
• Reincarnation: new life after death in another body.
• Religion: extension of society/culture to include the supernatural.
• Revitalization rituals: spiritual attempts to solve serious social problems.
• Rite of intensification: actions to unify a community, often after crisis.
• Rite of passage: ceremony moving individuals between life stages.
• Sacred: set apart, treated with great respect.
• Shaman: part-time practitioner using altered states to interact with spirits.
• Sorcerer: uses magic for personal aims.
• Supernatural: entities/forces beyond natural laws.
• Zoomorphic: having animal characteristics.

Structured Summary Table

Action Items / Next Steps

• Compare strengths/weaknesses of Durkheim, Marx, Freud for analyzing unfamiliar religions.
• Identify local secular rites of passage/intensification; assess community-building roles.
• List sacred/profane items in own culture; note handling rules and sanctions.