Final Flashcards
How does the academic study of religion utilize the concept of ‘non-falsifiable realities?” How does this relate to the popular claim that religions exist only to explain what people could not properly understand prior to the advent of modern empirical science?
Non-falsifiable realities are religious truths or truth claims which, by their very nature, fall outside of the realm material, empirical reality and, thereby, fall outside the possibility of scientific falsification In short, that is to say that a non-falsifiable reality is that which cannot be proved or disproved in a material or empirical way. Examples of non-falsifiable realities would include the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the indigenous belief in complimentary dualism, the Iroquois Creation Myth.
In this regard, the popular claim that religions exist as a sort of primitive science is false, because religion explains, not so much that which is a thing in material reality, but rather that which transcends material reality.
Discuss ways in which the term ‘primitive’ when used to describe religious groups can entail, on the one hand, unhelpful pejorative conotations, or even, on the other hand, unhelpful romantic connotations?
The term ‘primitive’ is unhelpful, and untruthful, insofar as it relies upon the notion that indigenous people are unchanged or unchanging. In this regard, the term primitive implies that indigenous people are, essentially, like primitive Europeans who have either not progressed (i.e. they are illiterate, superstitutous, bakwards) or who have not been corrupted (i.e. they are not capitalistic, Christian, etc.). Both of these views falsely place the indigenous in an unchanging past that is either demonized or romanticized.
A common feature of many indigenous religions is orality. What are some special precautions one must take in the academic study of religion when it comes to assumptions about orality vis-a-vis literacy?
In the academic study of religion, one must take the precaution of not equating orality (or illiteracy) with primitiveness or simplicity. That is, one must not assume that because a particular group (i.e. religious group) is illiterate that they are, therefore, less sophisticated or less intelligent than those religious groups that are literate.
Provide a working definition of ‘myth’ in the study of religion. Why/how does this term apply to religions in general and not exclusively (or primarily) to indigenous groups?
Myths are narratives that are used by a religious tradition to convey ultimate meaning or truth. That is to say, myths (like the Iroquois myth of creation or the creation accounts in Genesis) convey, through story, non-falsifiable realities. In this regard, all religions (not just indigenous religions) have and use myths, which are passed on orally and/or in writing and are represented in ritual.
What is syncretism, and why is this a critical concept in the study of religion?
Syncretism is the blending of the beliefs, practices, etc. of one religion/culture with those of another religion/culture.
This concept is critical to the study of religion because it recognizes the fact that religions have changed and are still changing (i.e. they don’t emerge or exist in a vacuum). One example of syncretism includes the Voodou religion, which blends traditional Yoruba religion with Catholicism.
What is complementary dualism? Note some specific examples within indigenous mythology that illustrate its function and importance.
Complimentary dualism is the belief, common among indigenous religions,, that there exists in the cosmos positve and negative forces (not good-and-evil) and that these forces must be balanced for the cosmos to be.
One example of complementary dualism is seen in the Iroquois creation myth in which the creator goddess gives birth to two sons (one positive and one negative). Another example is seen in the trickster story of the red Willow, wherein the gluttony of the trickster (i.e. his negative act) produces the Red Willow (the positive that comes from and balances the negative).
How does ritual commonly correspond with myth? Give some specific examples that illustrate why this conceptual connection is of great importance.
Ritual is, commonly, a re-presentation of myth in which the individual and the community are, if you will, caught up into the myth and journey from one state of reality to another.
One example, from indigenous religion, of the ritual connection to myth may be seen in the Sun Dance. The Sun Dance is a communal, sacrificial ritual in which members of the community partake in or re-present the creation of the cosmos by sacrificing (e.g. fasting, dancing, piercing) themselves in much the way that they creator god sacrificed himself in the act of creation.
What does the term taboo mean? Give some examples as to how this concept can underscore group identities (such as class and/or gender) in ritual proceedings.
A taboo is a ritual prohibition or obligation. Taboos instruct/inform those who are ritually journeying from one state of reality to another where they ought and where they ought not to, metaphorically speaking, step. Additionally, taboos tell those within the community not just where to step and where not to step, but also who may undertake the particular ritual journey. Hence, in indigenous communities, taboos with regard to carving require that those who are taking part in the ritual are male and (by fasting, refraining from sex, and refraining from dead things) ritually pure. Likewise, weavers must be women and be ritually pure.
What is the legal meaning of the terra nullius? How did this concept support colonialism?
Terra Nullius means that a land is unowned and, therefore, that it is available to be homesteaded. The concept of terra nullius was used to argue that lands inhabited by indigenous peoples were, in fact, unowned or no man’s land because the indigenous did not have notions of property. In this regard, tera nullius was used to defend the seizing of lands inhabited by indigenous peoples and to, later on, argue against reparations for such seizure.
How, in the face of colonialism, did many indigenous groups re-imagine time itself? How is this, too, an example of syncretism?
In the face of colonialism, many indigenous groups re-imagined time itself by transitioning from the belief in complimentary dualism to cosmic dualism and by, likewise, adopting the Christian belief in a future eschaton in which the cosmos would be set to rights. In this regard, post-colonial indigenous groups often blended the Christian in conflict dualism and the eschaton with their own existing myths (e.g. Iroquois creation myth). The indigenous, thus, began to see time as leading to a final triumph of good over evil and, in some cases, believed that time to be in the near future.
What is the typical nature and function of the trickster character in indigenous myths? Give some specific examples.
Trickster characters are popular within the myths of indigenous religions. In contrast to, for example, Satan, trickster characters are not necessarily bad. Instead, they violate patterns and, in doing so, effectively show what the patterns are, what the value of the patters are, and what happens to those who violate patterns. Out of violating these patters something positive emerges. In this regard, trickster characters are best understood within the context of complimentary dualism, which asserts that there must be balanced opposites (i.e. positive and negative) in order for the cosmos to function. One example of complimentary dualism in a trickster story may be seen in the story of the Red Willows, wherein the trickster character (who is clearly not “bad,” insofar as he cares for his mother) shows no restraint when it comes to eating and, as a result, defecates blood. Yet, out of this gluttonous transgression emerges the red willow.
What is the Talmud, and what is Hadith? Compare and contrast the two.
The Talmud is the Jewish secondary scripture that contains the Mishnah (i.e. the oral law give to Moses at Sinai) and the Gamara (i.e. the rabbinic commentary upon the Mishnah).
The Hadith is the written records of the life and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.
Similarities: Both are important texts within their respective nature and both are supplemental in nature (i.e. they supplement the Torah and Quran respectively).
Difference: The Talmud contains commentary from non-prophetic religious leaders in a way that is more similar to islamic ijitihad than the Hadith.
Compare and contrast the Christian Bible and the Qur’an, noting especially how each relates to the Jewish Bible.
Although both draw extensively from the Hebrew Bible, the Bible and Quran fundamentally differ insofar as the Christian Bible includes the Hebrew Bible (as the Old Testament/Covenant) while the Quran includes neither the Hebrew Bible nor the New Testament. This difference reflects the fact that Christians with the New Testament as a universalized expansion of the Old Testament while Muslims view the covenant, fully expressed in the Quran, as always universal. Hence, the Quran, in a sense, denies that there is an Old Testament and a New Testament. Instead the Quran presents one testament/covenant from Adam to Muhammad.
Prominent modern varieties of Judaism developed in the context of 19th-century Germany. What typical features of Reform and Orthodox Judaism did Conservative Judaism also adopt, and what elements of those two did Conservatism reject?
Similarities between Conservative and Reform: Desegregated worship, accepted validity of the Historical-Critical method.
Differences: Rejected Reform’s abandonement of dietary laws and its use of the vernacular in worship.
Similarities to Orthodoxy: preserve Hebrew worship and believe that traditional Jewish beliefs and practices should not be dropped or ‘evolve’
Differences: reject the Orthodox insistence on segregated worship and their general rejection of the historical-critical method
In what ways is it more accurate to say: Jesus is to Christianity as Qur’an is to Islam, than it would be to say: Jesus is to Christianity as Muhammad is to Islam?
It it is more accurate to say that Jesus is analogous to the Quran than to Muhammad. It is inaccurate to say that Jesus is analogous to Muhammad because Christians believe that Jesus is Godwhile Muslims believe that Muhammad is only a messenger, vessel of God. It is more accurate say that Jesus is analogous to the Quran because Christians believe that Jesus is the Word of God, the eternal reason and revelation of God, in much the same way that Muslims believe the Koran to be the eternal Word of God and full revelation of who He is.
