Anthropolgy Review Sheet 6

Question 1

Why is the study of religion so important to Anthropology?

Answer 1

Religion=Truths (CORE VALUES)

Question 2

Why do Anthropologists sometimes refer to religion as a worldview?

Answer 2

Because their entire view of the world is combined with religion

Question 3

What is the Navajo (Diné) word for religion?

Answer 3

There is none- EVERYTHING IS SACRED

Question 4

What were the two ethnocentric attitudes of Anthropologists towards the religion of the “other” in the late 19th and early 20th Century?

Answer 4

1. The religion of the “primitive” is superstition (social Darwinism)
2. Only science can explain natural reality. Those who explain through religion were “primitive”

Question 5

What is the rational explanation for the belief in the Sacred?

Answer 5

1. We invent the reality of the sacred-it doesn’t exist outside our mind
2. We discover the reality of the sacred. And they (the diety) are self-sufficient

Question 6

What are three ways that belief in the Sacred
allows for evolutionary success?

Answer 6

1. Commitment to Group
2. Resolves disputes
3. Desire for divine reward and Fear of Divine Punishment

Question 7

Who is Emile Durkheim?

Answer 7

A French sociologist

Question 8

What did Durkheim think?

Answer 8

He thought that all people live in two realities
The sacred and the mundane is the reality beyond the everyday and are attached with three connections

Question 9

What are the three connections (tools/actions) used in the sacred

Answer 9

1. ordinary objects = symbols
2. ordinary actions = rituals
3. (important) EMOTIONAL TRANSCENDENCE - CONNECTED TO SOMETHING GREATER (concerts and games)

Question 10

The three essential elements of the sacred

Answer 10

1. SUPERNATURAL REALITY
   doesn’t operate under the rules of rational reality
2. HAS POWER
   that can have an impact on everyday life
3. WE CAN ACCESS
   ceremonies, symbols, worlds

Question 11

The three types of belief

Answer 11

rational (verifiable evidence)
irrational
non-rational

Question 12

What is ETIC?

Answer 12

From the outside: explaining (social Darwinism)

Question 13

What is EMIC

Answer 13

From the inside: cultural relativism

Question 14

What must the traditional and contemporary cultures share?

Answer 14

A balance between the sacred and the divine

Question 15

How do contemporary cultures divide the sacred and the divine?

Answer 15

rational belief and economics

Question 16

How do traditional cultures divide the sacred and the divine?

Answer 16

Non-traditional beliefs and culture

Question 17

What is Koyaanisqatsi?

Answer 17

When the culture is out of balance

Question 18

What is animism

Answer 18

The sacred and the power of the sacred is in nature

Question 19

What is mysticism

Answer 19

The sacred is separated from nature

Question 20

What is anthropomorphism

Answer 20

Giving human characteristics (physical, intellectual, and emotional) to deities which are. not human.

Question 21

What is the ETIC explanation for anthropomorphism?

Answer 21

We need social networks that make us feel closer to God/gods and out pets.

Question 22

What is the EMIC explanation for anthropomorphism?

Answer 22

This is the way that God/gods looks and feels and how our pets think and feel

Question 23

What is mana?

Answer 23

Objects that have power but they have no intent to help or harm us

Question 24

What are the four contributions of the sacred?

Answer 24

1. The meaning of life
2. Explanation of reality
3. Control over that which we have no control
4. Unity (social networks)