Download ppt - Chapter 15 Religion and Magic The Universality of Religion Variation in Religious Beliefs Variation in Religious Practices Religion and Adaptations Religious

Chapter 15Religion and Magic

The Universality of ReligionVariation in Religious BeliefsVariation in Religious PracticesReligion and AdaptationsReligious Change

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

What is a religion?

ReligionReligion is defined as any set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices

pertaining to supernatural power, whether that power be forces, gods,

spirits, ghosts, or demons.

What do people’s religious experiences around the world tell us about religion for the human experience?

Religion as a WorldviewReligion is Universal and can be described as

an interpretive effort to express a set of shared assumptions about how the world works….

Let’s take a look….. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fBT72-hhTs


How would you explain the Universality of religion?


The Universality of Religion

The Need to UnderstandReversion to Childhood Feelings

Anxiety and UncertaintyThe Need for Community


Variation in Religious BeliefsThere is no general agreement among scholars as to why people

need a religion. Yet there is general recognition of the

enormous variation in the details of religious beliefs and practices

around the world.


Supernatural BeingsGods are named personalities, they can be

conceived in the image of a person, animals, or celestial bodies

Spirits are beings which are beneath the gods in prestige, and live closer to people

Ghosts are supernatural beings who were once human

Ancestor Spirits are ghosts of dead relatives

Types of Supernatural Forces and Beings

Celebrating our ancestors…Aquí no existe la tristeza

Solo existe la alegría El baile de los queridos De los queridos del pasado Mira como baila mi mama Bailando con mi hermano del pasado Sus espíritus se juntan bailando Llenos de alegría y gozando

Cierta gente puede ver Espíritus bailando entre la gente Si pueden verlos bailando mis hermanos Serán bendecidos entre los cielos Mira como baila mi mama Bailando con mi hermano del pasado Sus espíritus se juntan bailando Llenos de alegría y gozando

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUUAgEWeYeI

Variation in Religious BeliefsPolytheistic ReligionsMonotheistic Religions

Can Catholicism be considered a polytheistic religion?


Variation in Religious PracticesWays to Interact with the

Supernatural Various methods have been used

to attempt communication with the supernatural.

Prayer, ethnogens, simulation, feasts, and sacrifices are some

examples.Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Variation in Religious Practices

Magic compelling the supernatural to act in some particular and intended way

Sorcery may include the use of materials, objects, and medicines to invoke supernatural malevolence.

Witchcraft may be said to accomplish the same ills by means of thought and emotion alone.


Variation in Religious PracticesTypes of Practitioners

The ShamanSorcerers and Witches

MediumsPriests


Variation in Religious PracticesPractitioners and Social Complexity

The number of types of practitioners seems to vary with

degree of cultural complexity

The more complex the society, the more types of practitioners.


Religion and Adaptation

Following Malinowski, many anthropologists take the view

that religions are adaptive because they reduce the

anxieties and uncertainties that afflict all peoples.


Religious ChangeConversion to one of the world

religions has often been associated with colonization and the expansion of state societies. Can you think of some negative issues

associated with religious conversion?


Cargo Cults
