1. Thinking about Religion
Thinking about Religion

2. What was your main takeaway from appiah’s tedtalk?

3. Clifford Geertz, Religion as a Cultural System
More Definitions of Religion
“a religion is (1) a system of symbols which act to (2) establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in [humans] by (3) formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and (4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that (5) the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic”
Clifford Geertz,
Religion as a Cultural System

4. What does that even mean???

5. Translation of Geertz’s definition
“Religion is something that a group of people do that make them feel like things are meaningful and the emotional effects make it feel real”
Dr David Bell

6. TalaL ASAD Critique of Geertz’s definition: Interiority is the locus
Problematizing the project of defining religion
TalaL ASAD
Critique of Geertz’s definition:
Interiority is the locus
Translation: definition focuses on interior belief, feelings, and the individual and ignores embodied practice, ritual, and community
Religion is not a separate category
Entire concept of “defining” religion assumes that religion is a discreet, separate thing from culture

7. Problematizing the project of defining religion
TalaL ASAD Con’t
“Defining” religion is purely Western construct, influenced by the Age of Enlightment and Protestant Reformation
Any definition that privileges one aspect, dimension, or component of the religious necessarily fails, because it normalized some specific traditions, while simultaneously dismissing or stigmatizing others (pg 5)
Conclusion: All attempts to define religion are futile

8. a) institution B) Practice c) Discourse d) Individual e) Community
Which of the following is not part of Lincoln’s categories of religion?

9. Bruce Lincoln’s Response to Asad
Defining religion is connected to historical course
doesn't mean it’s completely futile, just need to keep in mind implications of history/culture
Polythetic and flexible definition of religion, allowing wide variations and attending to at least four domains:
Discourse - spoken and written words
Practice - ritual and behavior
Community - group of people, closely tied to identity
Institution - officials that regulate the discourse, practices and community

10. Two ModelS of Religiosity
Lincoln con’t
Two ModelS of Religiosity
Maximalist — conviction that religion ought to permeate all aspects of human existence
Minimalist — view that restricts religion to a set of chiefly metaphysical concerns, protests its privileges against state intrusion, but restricts its activity and influence to specialized sphere

11. How do you understand the relationship between globalization, modernization and religion?

12. Religion, Globalization & Pluralism
“The problem with religion in the modern world is not that there is no god or that god is dead, as Nietzsche thought at the beginning of the twentieth century. Instead, there are too many gods.”
Peter Berger

13. Secularization theory
Religion, Globalization & Pluralism
Secularization theory
Modernity brings about a decline of religion
actually only characterized Europe and the Western Intelligentsia
Reactions to pluralism
resistance
coexistence, synthesis, creative compartmentalization
Acceptance, dialogue

14. Religion, Globalization & Pluralism
Multiple Modernities
Western secularity is not the only form of modernity
other versions of modernity in which religion is accorded a much more central place

15. Religion, Globalization & Pluralism
What does Peter Berger mean by the statement:
“I’ve described globalization as a gigantic transformation from destiny to choice.”
What are the implications of this transition?

16. Given our discussion the past two days, what are some problems with defining religion?

17. How do we know we’re talking about the same thing?