Religion and Society Flashcards
1
Q
Anthropology Definition
A
Anthropology is the study of humankind
2
Q
Religion Defined
A
- The realm of culture that concerns the sacred supernatural
3
Q
4 Major Fields in Anthropology
A
- Cultural (largest)
- Linguistic
- Archaeological
- Physical
4
Q
possible work for anthropologist
A
- surveying land, history
- government research - homeless, cultural issues
- study of sacred land and water (Dakota pipeline issue)
- immigration - how to make canadian society more inclusive to incoming immigrents
5
Q
Etic Perspective
A
Term for “the study of a society using concepts that were developed outside of the culture”
6
Q
Ethnography
A
Term to describe “the descriptive study of human societies”
researchers observe and/or interact with a study’s participants in their real-life environment.
7
Q
Ethnocentrism
A
- judging and intrpreting another culture with one’s own cultural lens
- to be avoided as it brings bias into understanding other cultures
8
Q
Emic Perspective
A
- Study society through the eyes of the people being studied
- fewer key understandings overlooked
9
Q
Cultural Relativism - definition
A
- way to study cultures without a biased lens, from a neutral perspective that does not pronounce societies as immoral or primitive
- beliefs as being appropriate for those people in that society
10
Q
Definition of Culture
A
human beliefs, customs and behaviours of a society that are learned, transmitted from one generation to the next, and shared by a group of people
11
Q
Smart’s 6 dimensions of religion
A
- Ritual (e.g. rites of passage)
- Institututional (organization, leadership)
- Narrative (myths, creations stories..)
- Social (religion as group bonding activity)
- Experiential (e.g. Altered State Consciousness)
- Ethical (customs, moral rules)
12
Q
Definition Holism
A
Study of human societies as sytematic sums of their parts, integrated wholes
13
Q
Animism, Definition
A
Belief in spirit beings, supernatural powers and souls in plants, objects as well
14
Q
Characteristics of Religion (6)
A
- supernatural beings
- supernatural power
- rituals
- Worldview
- Sacred supernatural
- Social Bond or Social Control
15
Q
Evolutionary Approach - define
A
- spirits&ghosts/Gods&Souls/Science
- linear approach
- religion as evolving from “primitive” societal” beliefs in spirits and ghosts to a more “evolved” belief in Gods and Souls and then to a more scientific view
- Tyler
16
Q
Problem with evolutionary approach
A
- thinking it begins and ends somewhere can lead to superiority (i.e. “primitive” then, now more “rational”)
- can be demeaning to other cultures
- supremist
- ethnocentric
- specultative - don’t know how religion or magic began or where religion is going
- BUT: do see evolution
17
Q
Functional Approach
A
Relgion serves a purpose
(Durkheim saw that pupose as bringing people together for common goal)
- Individualism vs. clan - too much choice, if something goes wrong only blame self
- Excessive hope - anyone can be the boss
- Too much freedom - fewer social norms, society doesn’t care what you do
- Atheism - thought religion had become implausible but appreciated the inclusivness
- Weakening of nation and family - less tied to parents as adult, no larger sense of belonging
Durkheim
18
Q
Limits Funtional Approach
A
- not all the same religion so harder in multicultural society
- doesn’t address the extraordinary experiences associated with religion
- crutch for reality
19
Q
Interpretive Approach
A
- religion as made up of symbols that, when interpreted or studied will represent the culture of the society and their beliefs and practives
- 2 stages: a) symbols that supposedly make up a charter for culture’s ideas, values, way of life then b) see how relates to social structure
- Geertz
20
Q
Criticism of Interpretive Approacch
A
Not much time spent on stage 2 - seeing how the symbols relate to the social structure
21
Q
Psychological Approach:
A
- religion as defense mechanism to avoid realities of society and life and to avoid anxieties
- Freud
22
Q
Marxist Approach
A
- religion is a human construct with social function and a reaction to stress
- religion as a way to keep people in check
- obedience to authority
- a group of ruling elite in power that led to an obedient and oppressed people
- can be used to justify war (“holy war inspired by God)
23
Q
Criticism of Marxist Approach
A
- activists also religious but they challenge the societal norms
- religion can be used for revolution (not always to keep people in check) e.g. 1979 Iranian Revolution
- can be catalyst for social change - unites and directs people’s actions (Martin Luther King)
24
Q
Essentialist Approach
A
- system of beliefs and behaviors that deal with the relationship between humans and sacred supernatural - spirit guide, god, mysticism
- looks at the essential nature of the religion
- things beyond the commonplace / natural - e.g. mysticism
25
Postmodernist View
* all knowledge is human construct that we have to try and deconstruct
* emphasizes limitations of science
* **rejection of grand, universal schemes or theories which explain other cultures**
* **whole is more than sum of parts**
26
Collaborative Platform
* Platform used to work on problems as they arise
* used for Ebola - **Ebola Response Anthropology Platform**
* 16,000 users
27
Ethnosphere
* cultural web of life
* sum total of all myths, ideas, dreams, thoughts, inspiration brought into being by human imagination
* humanity's great legacy - symbol of all that we are and all that we can be as a species
* eroded at fast rate (used to have 6000 languages and only 1/2 still used & taught
* destruction of cultural diversity on planet
* **Ethnocide: destruction of people's way of life**
28
Theory of Mind - define
* when an individual is able to predict what another's thoughts are, what they might do next
* you can put yourself in the place of that person
29
Worldview - define
* philosophy of life, concept of the world
* the way a society perceives its reality
* shapes our actions, thoughts and beliefs
30
Navaho Worldview
* humans are part of nature
* **all the elements in the universe affect one another**
* **failure to behave properly upsets the harmony in the universe**
* can lead to natural disasters
* will try to resolve an illness with a ritual to re-establish the harmony
31
Myths - define
* **sacred story that provides the basis for religious beliefs and practices**
* they may include the supernatural
* **considered by many to be factual**
* **may make up world views (resurrection)**
* usually in remote past, different world
* often told in religions
* sacred myths were later replaced by secular folktales till died out in "civilized" societies
32
How are myths disseminated
* orally
* music
* dance
* art - cave art
* plays - Passion of Christ, nativity scene
* written (bible)
33
Oral Myth
* long and complex
* not always recited all at once
* frequently altered by each generation so different versions can exist in different families
34
Women in Myth - men as superior
* Eve - original sin
* Adam's rib
* Pandora made as punishmet for Promethius - made as kniving and untrustworthy
* woman as having unleashed all the troubles on the world
* death and disease all blamed on woman (Eve)
35
Structural Study of Myth
* focus on the **underlying structure of the myth and not the content**
* **binary opposites** - black/white, good/bad, day/night, heaven/earth
* **Levi-Strauss (structuralist)**
36
Symbolic Study of Myth
* psychoanalytical study of myths
* **Freud** - myth as symbol and rooted in psychology - **myths as a "shared dream" expressing the unconscious wish of many**; relationship between early experience and later adult projection (Oedipus)
* **Jung** - Myths are born of the projection of the collective unconscious, made up of archetypes, shared by all that relate meaninfully to all (Phoenix - rebirth of Christ - not really collective); **Campbell favored Jung - compatible with science**
37
Evolutionary Study of Myth
* **Myth to folktale to science** (civilized)
* no cross-cultural myths but similarities
38
Functional Study of Myths
* myths have function in society
* ethnographic approach
* **Boas and Malinowski: literal interpretation**; study one culture at a time (problem: not looking at competing narratives)
39
Hero myth sequence of events
1. departure
2. task fulfillment
3. return
Hero usually gives his life to something bigger (sacrifice?); spiritual hero experiences something supernatural then comes back and tells about it; can be thrown into it (drafted into army); Promethius brings fire to mankind; transformed through tests, trials and revelations; landscape matches the hero's readiness
40
Buddah/Moses/Christ as heroes
* Christ: 3 temptations (turn stones to bread, throw himself from the mountain & to bow to the Devil) - he does none of them & lives for God instead of himself
* Moses: climbs Sinai and brings back the commandments
* Buddah - tree of illumination; 3 temptations of lust, fear and submission to public opinion; he passed and remained a teacher on the extinction of ego
41
mythical symbols
* dragon - binding of one's self to one's ego so slay dragon to remove what is holding you back in order to follow your bliss
* rocks: (gold in rocks were her friends)
* Chinese dragon: vitality of swamps, bounty in water
* Quiet places: for athletes it is where the action comes from, for Buddah (Nirvana - only when not compelled by fear, desire or social commitment),
* water - unconscious
42
Folktale
* supernatural
* not religious
* often a moral
* fictional world
* exist independent of time and space
43
Common Themes in Myths
1. Origin Myths - who are we/why are we here; creation myths most sacred of narratives; common element: birth metaphor; emergence myths (creation from under earth); often creation from chaos
2. Apocalyptic: Noah's Ark; often cycle creation and destruction (Aztecs Mexico - 4 previous worlds)
3. Trickster: part human, part animal, often transformers, dishonest, impulsive (Raven wanted to steal light story)
4. Hero: from common world to world of supernatural wonder (departure, fulfillment, return)
44
Legend
* represent events that have occurred, with embellishment
* take place in recent past
* may or may not include supernatural elements
* may or may not be sacred
* (King Arthur, Robin Hood)
45
Urban Legend
* telling as if really happened
* usually in tabloids
* (alligators in New York sewers)
* Fake, not real
46
Judeo-Christian Worldview - define
* **world created for the benefit of humankind**
* **places humans above nature** - have the right to exploit the natural world
* expects nature to serve and provide for it, attempts to control it (e.g. dams)
* anthropocentric view of world: MY room, apartment, etc. and nature is there to provide for me
47
4 principles in the "paradigm of interconnectedness"
1. reverence - part of larger ecosystem
2. respect -maintain balance (hunt and share, acknowledge taking from ecosystem )
3. responsibility - actions re intergenerationality
4. reciprocity - how to rebalance ecosystem
48
Nature as Wilderness
* Judeo: dangerous, unpredictable, have to tame it to provide for our existence
* Gender normative: man's dominion over nature
49
Religious Symbols - define
* symbols that **represent religious traditions or rituals**
* words - spoken and written are critical (Torah)
* will have meaning to a particular religious tradition
50
Arbitrary Symbol Define
* symbols sthat is not connected with the thing it represents - a blue triangle to represent an apple
* have to be learned
51
Displacement
the ability to use symbols to refer to things and activities that are remote from the user
52
Openness
creation of a new symbol to refer to something that no one has ever seen before
53
Psychoduct
* pipe made of brick, through which the person's spirit moves from the tomb into the temple sanctuary during the rituals
54
Pentagram
* pentacle
* used by many religions e.g. Star of David, (Wiccans) to represent fire, air, water, earth and spirit, Christ's five wounds Christians), first 5 books of the Torah (Jews)
* used on religious texts, jewellery, gravestones
55
Swastika
* no inherant meaning
* Sanskrit "good / to exist"
* usually positive meaning - prosperity and good luck
* "reverse swastika" - sauvastika stnads for darkness, misfortune and suffering
56
Meaning of Color
* can have cultural meaning - white for American bride or for Chinese death
* Red for Chinese bride
* Navaho turquoise as ideal blue - for celestial attainment, peace, happiness, success
57
Yoruba Colors
* Funfun - light and shimmering colors (wisdom, respect)
* Pupa - bright colors (pride, quick temper)
* Dudu - dark colors (hunting)
58
Religious Symbolism in Dance
* meaning transmitted through dance
* FNI dance to tell stories, also Hula - story of Gods and Goddesses
* Dances to heal / worship / praise / initiation
* Khmer dance: curves - serpentine - mimic / inspire flow of water (4 hand gestures: tree, leaves, flowers, fruit - cycle of life)
* Whirling Dervish: Islam, guided by Imam, whirl as gateway for divine reception, Qur'an recitations
* Rain dances / Tewa dance to seek, renew or regain life - movements say which
59
Religious Symbolism in Music
* Can set the mood, affect way story told
* used to invoke religious experience or produce an altered state of consciousness - beat drums
* Churchbells / hymns / shofar / gong / drums
* can give emotion (recitations to music - Qur'an)
* Ginans: devotional hymns or poems recited by Shia Ismaili Muslims
* How people communicated with the Gods
* easier to memorize narratives, prayers
60
Religious Architectural Symbols
* **Reflection pools**: to receive divine guidance or blessing
* Lights
* **Gardens**: harmony with nature
* **Crystal dome** - energy
* **Geometric patterns** (Turkey) - divine order
61
Syncretism
* fusion of elements from two different cultures (e.g. importing tribal musical traditions into contemporary music)
62
4 types Instruments
1. Idiophones - rattles, bells, drums
2. Membranophones - membrane or skin incorp.
3. Cordophones - zither, violin
4. Aerophones - pipes, whistles, didjeridu
63
Totemism
* religious system that assigns different plant and animal species to specific social groups
* relationship between the group and the species formed during the period of creation
* totems can be for bands, clans, genders or individuals
* totemic affiliations can organize a society
* On death, soul returns to totemic well which was thought to have housed the spirit that made the woman pregnant
64
Dreamtime
* Aboriginal understanding of the creation of the world
* beginning of knowledge
* Dreaming world - ancestral world
65
Ritual - Definition
* any repetitive sequence of acts
* symbolize particular beliefs and values of the community
* how basic ideas are imparted to a group
66
Religious Ritual - define
* involves the manipulation of religious symbols
*
67
Prescribed Ritual
* ritual that a deity or religious authority requires to be performed
* (set out in text or by deity or tradition)
e.g. circumcision, keeping kosher
68
Situational Ritual
* also called a crisis ritual
* arises spontaneously
* candle lightings after Bataclan e.g.
69
Periodic Ritual
* rituals that are performed temporally, on a schedule
* Ramadan, High Holidays, daily prayers, Sabbath candles, Sunday Mass
70
Occasional Ritual
* performed for a specific purpose when a situation arises that requires the ritual to be performed (marriage, death, birth, bring rain)
71
Technological Ritual
* to influence and control nature
* e.g. for hunting, fishing, farming
* **rain dance for crops, first fruit ceremonies** for food gathering
72
Protective Rituals
* Usually accompany dangerous activities (to protect the safety of the one doing the task)
* OR - in response to unexpected threat like a flood or drought or pests
* OR birth rituals - fire burning for month to keep mothier warm, untying knots to symbolize an open uterus for easy delivery
73
Divination Ritual
* seek information
* e.g. best time to plant, best place to fish
74
Therapy Ritual
* Deals with illness, accident or death
* used to cure these
75
Anti-Therapy Rituals
* Used to bring about death, illness
* e.g. bury something of the person in the ground after reciting a spell, hoping to cause illness or death for that person
76
Cursing Rituals
* Used by e.g. Aborigines - point bone at a victim in public (bone has person's hair entwined in it)
* if not counter charm used it curses the person to die
77
Salvation Ritual
* **The person is "changed" in some way**
* Can be temporary: spirit possession
* Can be permanent: Shaman initiation
* Can be used to counter breaking a tabu
78
Revitalization Ritual
* Return to the traditional way of doing things
* revitalize founding values, beliefs, structure
* e.g. Presidential Inauguration
79
Coming of Age Ritual
* Marks the transition from Childhood to Adulthood
* e.g. crocodile scars from the video or the strength tasks the girls had to do (dancing for hours)
80
Communitas
* sense of community achieved by going through the stages of some initiation or other ritual together (hajj)
81
Rite of Passage - Define
* **Person changes their status** (position in society)
* Alter relationship with other members of society
* Rite of passage imprints the change in status on the minds of the participants
* get **community approval/legitimacy for change**
82
3 Phases of the Rites of Passage Ritual
1. Separation - removed from former status
2. Transition - activities to bring about the change (e.g. engagment party)
3. Incorporation - conclusion of the transition stage (e.g. presen the Mr. & Mrs. to a congregation of people)
83
Liminality
* Stage during which the metamorphosis takes place
* state of ambiguous marginality
* marked by uniform clothes, nakedness, anonymity
* this is the stage between separation and incorporation
84
Secular Rite of Passage
* military training
* Hair cuts, uniforms, elements of "communitas"
* off at a base so "separated from family"
85
Cicatrization
* Scarring, branding
86
Social Rites of Intensification
* **familiar rituals**, usually **prescribed and periodic**
* **delineates codes of proper behavior and articulates the community's worldview - e.g. Sunday Mass, Jewish Sabbath, Daily Salaht of Islam (often involve reading of the sacred texts and sermons about moral issues)**
87
Offering
* **Gift or a bribe designed to influence the supernatural**
* Can be reciprocated with a healing, rain, economic success
88
Sacrifice
* For a sacrifice, blood is shed, an animal (can be human) is killed
89
Ethnobotony
* **anthropological study of medicinal plants** (has led to genuine medical treatments like using foxglove to make digitalis) - heart med
90
Navaho Diagnosis/Treatment of Illness
* Women diagnose - hand tremblers
* Men treat - they heal, often with community present
* use prayers, song, dance, sand paintings
* **Ikaah: summoning of the gods to help to restore balance and harmony, cure the illness**
91
Pilgrimage
* Journey to a sacred place
* **travel to sacred places associated with events from the past in that religion**
* Muslim: Ka'aba in Mecca (have rituals at each sacred place along the way)
* Jews: to the wailing wall
92
Tabu
* **Objects, people and practices that are off limits**
* would bring dishonor or bad luck to break a tabu
* **Menstrual Tabus**: Jews (consider it unclean, can't have sex and have to go to Mikvah after)
* Muslim: menstruating women can't recite from Qur'an, have sex, pray, fast, go to mosque
93
Mana
* Things that possess supernatural power
94
Difference between atheism / agnosticism
* atheism: disbelief in the existence of any god or gods
* Agnosticism: the existence of a god(s) is not knowable and has not been proven
