The Nature of Religion / Australian Aboriginal Beliefs and Spiritualities

Question 1

Religion as a worldview

Answer 1

Acknowledges the supernatural dimension

• Religion gives direction, acknowledging there is life beyond the natural world
• The supernatural dimension means ‘above and beyond nature’, it describes forces or beings that are misunderstood by the natural world. It comes from the idea of divine revelation and cannot be explained by natural laws.

Has a belief in a divine being or powers beyond the human and/or dwelling within the individual.

• Immanent worldview is to exist or dwell within humanity. - God is present within everyday life e.g. Buddhism, participating in Nirvana/re-birthing
• Transcendent worldview is to climb over or surpass therefore referring to something beyond the physical world. E.g. Judaism, God is above all earthly things.

Question 2

Characteristics of religion

Answer 2

Beliefs and believers
- They are key tenets, doctrines or values, which underpin practice

Sacred text and writings
- Important beliefs are in sacred texts, but were all in oral circulation before being written, consists of explanations of historical/non-historical events or the connection to the supernatural world.

Ethics
- The reasoning behind the moral decision making, a system of standards which regulate this process

Rituals and ceremonies
- Practical expressions of aspects of religion lead to greater understanding.

Question 3

The contribution of religion

Answer 3

• Living → the pursuit of a lifestyle of a specified type.
• Dynamic → characterised by constant change, activity or progress, providing new meaning, also adaptable to context/generations/time periods
  5 existential questions of life:
• Purpose of life → knowledge
• What happens after death → universe
• High power/ beings exist → ethics
• Is there a God → God
• Who am I? → human person
• Ethical guidance → reasoning behind moral decision making
• Sense of belonging → need to feel…, religions have the capacity to bring together people of similar ideals
• Ritual meaning → action or event usually marks important stages in human experience e.g. birth of a child, coming of age, graduation
• Religion is influenced by it cultural context, religion cannot be expressed through any other way
• Religion as a conservative influence, progressive influence.

Question 4

Nature of the Dreaming

Answer 4

• Origins of the universe: the representation of ancestral spirits and how the geographic formations were created due to these spirits. Using natural systems dictated time of year etc. and this was passed through word of mouth.
• Sacred sites: allow connection with their ancestors through song, dance artwork on the site. Aboriginals have a loving relationship with this land as their ancestors did, all pieces of land have their own story.
• Stories of the dreaming: concepts of Ancestors providing power to nature, the connection of people and land is the main focus of stories
• Symbolism and art: drawings or paintings of symbols on sand or painted on sites, brings alive a map. Indicating features of the country or where to find food or how to behave on that piece of land.
• Diversity: Each Aboriginal nation differs and is defined by its dialect and boundaries(geography). They all have one bonding element which is their essential belief → ancestral creative spirit came from a dark world and by his travels created the landscape, landforms, animals, plants etc.
• Importance: answers the questions of existence, have connections to spiritual wellbeing, maintaining status quo and source of identity, along with marriage and clan structures.

Question 5

The inextricable connection of the Dreaming, the land and identity

Answer 5

The dreaming bonds moral and social aspects of humans, ancestral beings and the natural environment. It creates a unique bond between humans and their ancestors as they are respected as their seen to live in the natural world.