Religion WHAT IS RELIGION? EXPRESSIONS OF RELIGION

Religion & Expressions of Religion Miss Asma Yunus Prepared by: Group#01 1.Sonia Niaz (Roll#BSOF16M014) 2.Anam Riaz (Roll#BSOF16M018) 3.M. Sami-ur-Rehman (BSOF16M019) BS Sociology (5 th ) University of Sargodha, Sargodha.

Contents Key concepts; Natural and Supernatural Religion; a quick glance. Definitions of Religion. Expressions of Religion  Spiritual Beings.  Powers and forces.  Magic and religion.  Uncertainty, anxiety and solace.  Rituals and rites of passage.

Natural & Supernatural Natural Those things that we can observe and touch or feel through our five senses are natural. All of the animals, plants, and other things existing in nature and not made or caused by people. Natural world is our empirical world.

Supernatural Supernatural comes from the Latin word “supernaturalis”, meaning beyond nature. Supernatural attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature. Supernatural beings are deities, ghosts, demons, souls and spirits.

What is Religion? Etymology of Religion The word religion is derived from Latin "religio" (what attaches or retains, moral bond) used by the Romans, before Jesus Christ, to indicate the worship of the demons. Some claims that it comes from Latin ‘religare’ means “to tie, to bind”. Cicero said it comes from "relegere" (to read again, to re- examine carefully, to gather) in the meaning "to carefully consider the things related to the worship of gods“.

Definitions Religion is the set of beliefs, feelings, dogmas and practices that define the relations between human being and sacred or divinity. A given religion is defined by specific elements of a community of believers: dogmas, sacred books, rites, worship, sacrament, moral prescription, interdicts, organization.  A religion may be defined with its three great characteristics:  Believes and religious practices.  The religious feeling i.e. faith.  Unity in a community of those who share the same faith.

Cont…  Anthony F.C. Wallace offered a definition of religion: “Belief and ritual concerned with supernatural beings, powers and forces” By ‘supernatural’ he referred to a nonmaterial realm beyond the observable world. This realm can’t be verified or falsified by empirical evidences.  According to Durkheim: "A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden, beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them."

Cont …  Emile Durkheim’s concept of sacred and profane.  Durkheim stressed the collective, social, shared and enacted nature of religion. He claimed that collective emotional intensity generated by ‘worship’.

Cont…  Communitas, by Victor Turner, an intense community spirit, a feeling of great social solidarity, equality and togetherness.

Anthropology of Religion Anthropologists of religion are not concerned with discovering the truth or falsehood of religion. They are more interested in how religious ideas express a people's cosmology. Cosmology is a system of beliefs that deals with fundamental questions in the religious and social order. Anthropologists pay attention to religion as the social phenomenon. They agree that religions exists in all societies; it is a cultural universal.

Expressions of Religion

1. Spiritual Beings “An incorporeal being believed to have powers to affect the course of human events.”  Work of E.B. Tylor. Two entities inhabits the body. One is active during the day and other one is active during sleep. Death is the departure of soul. For soul the Latin word “anima” is used.  Animism, Polytheism and Monotheism.

Cont… Types of Spirits 1.Anthropomorphic: Having a human shape. 2.Zoomorphic: Having an animal shape. 3.Naturalism: Features of the natural world, such as rivers and mountain, with spirit. 4.Anthropo Psychic: Having thought processes and emotions similar to humans.

2. Powers and Forces Powers in people which they can control under certain conditions. In early 20 th century, R.R. Marett coined the term animatism, belief in an impersonal spiritual force that infuses the universe. Today animatism is best known as Mana. Mana is the religious power that is concentrated in individuals or objects. Forces (charms, talismans, crystals and objects).

3. Magic and Religion Magic refers to the supernatural techniques intended to accomplish specific aims. These techniques include magical actions, offerings, spells and formulas uses with deities or with impersonal forces.  Imitative Magic: Imitating an action in a religious ritual will cause the action to happen in the material world.  Contagious Magic: Belief that things in contact with a person or object retain an invisible connection with that person.

4. Uncertainty, Anxiety, Solace Religion and magic didn’t just explain things and help people accomplish goals. They also enter in realm of human feelings. Prayers, sacrifice and magic are used in the hope that they will aid a particular person or community. Religion offers emotional comfort, particularly when people face a crisis. Malinowski saw tribal religions as concerned mainly with organizing, commemorating and helping people get through such life events as birth, puberty, marriage and death.

5. Rituals A Ritual can be defined as, “Patterned act that involves the manipulation of religious symbols.”

Cont… Rituals are formals, stylized, repetitive and stereotyped. There is a sequence of words and actions in any religious ritual. Examples: Pilgrimage, Prayer, Marriage ceremony (Nikkah), Christmas etc.

6. Rites of Passage Public social events that mark the transition of a person from one social status to another are rites of passage. Such as birth, puberty, marriage, having children, and death.

Phases of Rites of Passage There are three phases of rites of passage. 1.Separation : The first stage of rites of passage in which a person or group is detached from a former status. 2.Liminal: The stage of a rite of passage in which one has passed out of an older status but not yet entered in a new one. 3.Reincorporation: In this phase participants are returned to their community with a new status.