Religion Distinctions between Religious and Secular Phenomena?
Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 The KEY Questions n What is religion and what are the basic features of religions cross-culturally? n How do world religions reflect globalization and localization? n What are some important aspects of religious change?
Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 What is Religion and Magic? Religion attempts to please supernatural forces - Frazer All social and cultural phenomena can be divided into two domains: the ‘sacred’ and the ‘profane’ Religion is a “projective system” that expresses people’s unconscious thoughts, wishes and worries - Freud Religion offers a “model of life” - Geertz Religion serves society by giving it cohesion through shared symbols and rituals – Durkheim
Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 Religion and Society as ‘Models of’ and ‘for’ Each Other n Durkheim: Religion was society ‘writ large’. Studied totemism of Australian aboriginals. n Each clan had a totem that was considered sacred –Its sacred character was expressed through prohibitions against hunting or eating the totem. n Supernatural forces of the totem –Kinship system was exogamous clans. –Parallel in the rules of marriage and the rules on hunting.
Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 Rituals n Life-cycle rituals –separation, transition, reintegration n Pilgrimage –e.g. Mecca n Rituals of reversal –Carnival n Sacrifice
Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 Hinduism Over 80% of all Hindus live in India Key texts: the 4 Vedas Incorporates diversity of ways to be Hindu Rich polytheism Deities range from stones to carvings of gods Temples range from magnificent buildings to simple canopies
Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 Buddhism n Founding figure Siddhartha Gautama n Started in India n No accepted single text n Followers honour Gautama’s teachings n Goal is to reach “nirvana” through detachment. n Strong tradition of monasticism
Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 Judaism High regard for human life Emphasis on truth telling Words, both spoken and written are important Christianity A growing religion in Sub- Saharan Africa and Indonesia Islam The youngest religion Culturally constructed differences exist
Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 Directions of Change –Revitalization movements –seek to reconstruct parts of religion threatened by outside forces –Millenarian or millenial movements: Arise in situations of stressful cultural contact, e.g. colonial conquest. Promise ‘a world turned upside down’ Examples: cargo cults of Melanesia, ghost dance of the American plains Charisma and Routinization: (Weber) Most religious movements arise through the actions of a charismatic individual. However, they only become widespread through routinization.
Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 The KEY Questions Revisited n What is religion and what are the basic features of religions cross-culturally? n How do world religions reflect globalization and localization? n What are some important aspects of religious change?